68 
HISTORY OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA. 
carapace bent down. The eyes are short, and lodged in 
well-formed orbits : the inner antennse are very short, and 
lodged in a groove. 
Gen. 23. DEOMIA, Fair. 
Carapace thickly covered with short hairs ; two hind pairs 
of legs small, raised above the others on the back, and end- 
ing in a double claw, by means of which they can attach 
themselves to marine substances, such as sponges. 
Haan tells us that the Dromia Rumphii and other species 
are not eaten by the Japanese, who regard them as poison- 
ous.^ 
Dromia vulgaris, M. Edw. (Plate Y. fig. 1.)— Carapace 
strongly knobbed above ; the sides between the eyes and 
the middle with four broad teeth, of a deep brown colour, 
with pinkish claws. 
When young, the abdomen very much resembles that of 
the Macroura , being thick, and ending in a fan-like expanded 
fin, and furnished beneath with false swimming-legs. In 
this state the Dromia seems adapted for swimming; but 
in the adult state, when the abdomen is smaller and bent 
under the body, the creature seems to be very sedentary. 
First recorded as British by Dr. Gray, who obtained a spe- 
* Faun. Jap. 107. 
