Macro u ba. CK U STAGE A. Anomo u r a . 
numerous, and some of them are exceedingly common 
on our own shores. 
THE COMMOH OR EDIBLE CRAB [Cancer pagurns) 
represented in fig. 183, is perhaps the best known of 
these. The carapace is large, rounded in front, nar- 
rowed posteriorly, and the dorsal surface is granulated. 
Its colour is reddish-brown, but the hands or claws are 
smooth and black. Of all the Short-tailed Crustacea, 
the crab is the most esteemed as an article of food, and 
its fishery constitutes an important trade on many parts 
of our coast. It inhabits the whole of the shores of 
Great Britain, especially those parts which are rocky, 
and the numbers annually taken are immense. They 
are caught in wicker traps called “ crab-pots,” made of 
tlie twigs of the golden willow, and formed on the prin- 
ciple of a common wire mouse-trap, baited with pieces 
of fish. 
Macroura. — The Long-tailedCrustaceans are easily 
recognized by the length of their abdomen, and by its 
being terminated by two large plates shaped like a fan 
and forming a fin, by means of which they swim with 
considerable velocity. The carapace is almost alwa 3 's 
longer than broad ; the antennae are very long ; the 
thoracic feet are generally long and slender, and the 
first pair in most cases transformed into hands or pre- 
hensile organs. The species are rather numerous, and 
several of them are of great value as forming important 
articles of food. 
THE COMMON LOBSTER [Homarus vulgaris) repre- 
sented in fig. 184, is almost too well known to need 
Fig. 184. 
Tlie Common Lobslar. 
description. The general colour, when alive, is a dull, 
pale, reddish-yellow, spotted with bluish-black. When 
boiled it becomes red. In a commercial point of view, 
this species, from the esteem in which it is held as an 
article of food, is perhaps the most important of all the 
Crustacea. They are taken on various parts of our 
coast, and chiefly on rocky shores. From the coast of 
Scotland and the Orknej' and Lewis islands, it is stated, 
one hundred and fifty thousand are annually sent to 
Billingsgate market. From Norway, six hundred thou- 
sand annually arrive in the same market; and it is no 
uncommon thing to see, in one day in that market, not 
less than from twenty to twenty-five thousand lobsters. 
The consumption, therefore, in Great Britain must be 
287 
immense. According to all accounts they are very 
stationary in their habits, and differ very much in colour 
and appearance in the different places where they occur. 
A curious circumstance in their history is, the readiness 
with which they part with their large claws. When 
seized by one of them, the animal parts with it at once ; 
and when suddenly alarmed by a loud noise, such as a 
peal of thunder or the report of a cannon, they shoot 
their claws immediately. The restoration of the lost 
member takes place slowly, and it is a considerable 
time before the new member attains the size of the old 
one. 
The Spiny lobster (Palinurus vulgaris), the Cray-fish 
(Astacus fluviatilis), i\\Q Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris), and 
the Prawn (Palsemon serratus), &c., are all well known 
and valuable members of this section. 
Anomoura. — The irregular-tailed Crustaceans have 
the abdomen in general slender, in some folded up 
under the body, in others extended ; sometimes entirely 
membranous, at others more or less covered with the 
shell. It is not formed to assist in swimming. The 
penultimate segment has in some a pair of appendages 
more or less developed, in others these organs are want- 
ing. The carapace of the upper part of the body is 
better developed than that of the abdomen, and in 
many cases resembles that of the Brachyura, though 
in others it is elongated. The antennae are generally 
large, and are not capable of being bent back, nor are 
they lodged in cavities as they are in the Short-tails. 
The species belonging to this section are varied in form, 
and constitute several families. 
THE HERMIT CRAB (Pagurus Bernhardus — fig. 
The Hermit Crab. 
185)— may be taken as an example of the Ano- 
moura. This little crustacean is well known to every 
one who has paid a visit to our sea-shores. It is to be 
found in almost every whirled shell existing there. It 
is believed that they attack the true inhabitant of the 
shell, kill it, devour it, and then usurp the place of the 
