44 
4 
Tank No. 23. 
Fig. 67. Dorippe lanata, nat. size. 
everything which can serve as a shield, is annexed without further ado. 
Naturally, when the desired shield happens to be a living animal, there 
often ensue very laughable conflicts between the instinct-obeying crab 
and its reluctant victim. 
Dromia, the Woolly- 
crab (Fig. 68, tank 23), 
covers itself so completely 
with an orange-coloured 
sponge (Suberites, p. 12), or 
with a colony of compound 
ascidians, that, if you look 
at the animal from above 
only its legs are visible. 
Here, too, the living coat, 
which increases in size as 
fast as the crab, is held 
on by means of the two 
last pairs of legs. 
The crabs with a 
round body (tank 23) 
behave very differently, for 
they are extremely clean. 
Calappa, the Bashful-crab 
(Fig. 69), seeks protection 
by burying itself in the 
sand. With a few vigorous 
movements of its large 
shovel-like legs it sinks 
itself up to the eyes in 
the sand, and carefully 
surveys the country from 
this retreat. Ilia (Fig. 7 0) 
acts in the same way. 
The most highly de¬ 
veloped forms of this 
group are the Shore-crabs 
(also in tank No. 23), of 
which we will only men¬ 
tion Careinus (Green Crab 
Fig. 71), Eriphia (Fig. 73) 
and Lupa (Fig. 72). Their 
agility and slyness are 
surprising, and, together 
with their power of living and moving on land, point to a further progress 
in their organisation. Those who have tried to catch one will remember 
the difficulty in obtaining even one of a hundred, and will have 
noticed how cleverly the little fugitive availed itself of every hiding-place, 
and how boldly it defended itself when finally driven into a corner. The 
strong Eriphiae are especially ready to fight, and with their strong claws 
Fig. 68. 
Dromia vulgaris covered with a 
sponge, Vo nat. size. 
Fig. 69. Calappa granulata, 1/2 nat. size. 
