52 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
a palm branch, seize a goat as it was passing beneath and lift it almost clear 
of the ground, a feat which we may well discredit. 
The King Crab ( Gecarcinus ruricola ), or more commonly called the horse¬ 
shoe crab , is a large species found on the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, 
and also among the West Indies, where they are called Malacca crabs. The 
popular name, horse-shoe , is a very appropriate designation on account of its 
shape, which is very like the under surface of a horse’s foot. The shell cover¬ 
ing is composed of three pieces, viz., a hemispherical anterior, composing two- 
thirds of the carapax, a heart-shaped posterior, which is articulated on the 
frontal shell, and a long spinous tail terminating in a very sharp point, and 
barbed along the upper edge. The tail of this creature is frequently converted 
into a dangerous weapon by West Indiamen, for upon affixing a handle, or 
even using it without this adjunct, it becomes a veritable stiletto. A singular 
feature of the oval shell is the appearance of two glassy orbs, one on either 
side of the shell, which 
have such a remark¬ 
able resemblance to 
eyes that they are cal¬ 
culated to deceive any 
save those thoroughly 
familiar with the 
animal. 
The king crab holds 
a disputed ground be¬ 
tween crab and scor¬ 
pion, having been 
classed with both, and 
still continues the sub¬ 
ject of much argu¬ 
ment. It rarely ven¬ 
tures out at sea, con¬ 
fining its range within 
a short distance of 
the sandy beach, into 
which it burrows after insects. It has no large claws, but is provided with 
ten small nippers, sufficiently large, however, for its quiet and timid habits. 
While the shell sometimes attains considerable size—a foot or more in diameter—• 
the animal itself is comparatively very small, occupying scarcely a third of 
the hollow, or scooped, space under the dome of its carapax. The young of the 
king crab , just before leaving the cellular membrane of the egg, and a short 
while after the egg-shell is ruptured, bear a rather striking appearance to the 
fossil trilobite. 
The Spider Crab ( Maia squmado ) is found in many waters, but attains its 
greatest size in the Japan seas, where it holds the mastery as being the larg¬ 
est, though almost defenceless, of all the Crustacea. They are so named on 
account of the hairy covering of the back and legs, which added to their shape 
gives them an appearance very spider-like. Some of the species are careful of 
their toilet and appear with clean bodies, but others seem very careless and 
become so covered with grime of the sea that they attract numerous parasites 
KING OR HORSE-SHOE CRAB. 
