12 
HISTORY OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA. 
paratus nearly quadrilateral, very broad in front, and far re- 
moved from the front. Orbits directed outwards. All the 
Crabs of this tribe seem to be essentially maritime. None ; 
of them live in fresh water, or seem to frequent the shore. 
They are generally found in very deep water ; and, notwith- 
standing the legs in most cases being very long, their mo- 
tions are generally sluggish, and when taken from the water 
they quickly perish. 
The legs of this family of Crabs are generally long and 
very slender ; and, as Mr. Gosse remarks, they tempt us to 
think that, if we were so furnished, “we might cover the 
ground in a style that would put to shame the old giant- 
slayer's seven-league boots.” 
Mr. Couch, in his * Cornish Fauna/ Part I., pp. 66, 67, 
observes that the length of the legs in this set of Crabs “ ne- 
cessarily leads to slowness of motion, but they are well fitted 
to a residence among rocks and stones covered with sea- 
weeds, among which they stride with little difficulty. In the 
winter they become almost if not altogether torpid, conceal- 
ing themselves at this season either in deep crevices of rocks 
or imbedded in the soil ; for the Corwich Crab has been ob- 
served, when caught at the time of its first activity in April, 
to have the inequalities of its carapace covered with the mud 
