A TALK ABOUT CRABS 
107 
Spider crabs are experts in the art of con¬ 
cealing themselves, for by fixing pieces of 
seaweed and other marine growths upon their 
rough shells they render themselves quite 
indistinguishable from their surroundings. 
That the crabs realize the protective nature 
of this procedure is proved by the fact that 
some seaweed-covered specimens when placed 
in an aquarium, the bottom of which was covered 
with small sponges, promptly removed their 
original dressing and replaced it by one of a 
nature similar to that upon the ground. 
But the most remarkable of all spider- 
crabs is that known as Kampfer’s crab, which 
claims the distinction of being the largest of 
all crustaceans. It comes from Japan, and 
the males are so huge that they are able to 
span as much as eighteen feet with their out¬ 
stretched legs. 
Belonging to a different family to the spider- 
crabs, but resembling them in the triangular 
form of their shells, is a species known as the 
Northern stone-crab. Found in British waters, 
but restricted in range to the Northern regions, 
the creature is of large size, and peculiar in 
the fact that when viewed from above only 
three pairs of legs (instead of the usual four 
pairs) are visible in addition to the chilipeds 
or those bearing the nippers; the fourth pair 
