PORTUNUS. 
45 
obtaining food in the summer only, at which season the 
fishermen’s nets intercept then^ and their prey together ; 
and it is probable that in colder weather they keep at the 
bottom in deep water; from which however I have never 
seen them brought in the stomachs of fishes. So far as my 
observation extends, it is chiefly or only the male that pur- 
sues this actively predaceous existence ; but that for a time 
they also remain quietly at the bottom appears from the 
fact, that while for the most part the smooth and flattened 
carapace is clean, I have seen it covered with small coral- 
lines (Sertularire) ” 
Gen. 15. PORTUNUS, Fair. 
Carapace broader than long; front narrow, projecting. 
Outer antennse inserted on the same line as the eyes and 
the inner antennae, their basilar joint united to the front, 
and completely separating the orbit from the antennary fos- 
sette. The tarsus of the second, third, and fourth pairs of 
legs elongated, narrow, pointed, and grooved ; tarsus of the 
hind legs very w 7 ide, oval. Abdomen of male triangular. 
Mr. Gosse found the young of a species of Portunus on 
the Devonshire coast. They were about one-fifth of an inch 
in length, and had assumed much of the form of a crab, 
