. The sea-beach at ebb-tide : a guide to the study of the seaweeds and the lower animal life found between tidemarks . n the bases of the posteriorpair of feet. During the spawning season it is so charged with eggsthat often it projects out almost at right angles with the carapace. The 276 MARINE INVERTEBRATES crabs of this species are very active and can swim rapidly. They alsohave the habit of pushing themselves backward into the mud for con-cealment, They are predaceous and pugnacious, and have great strengthin their claws, which they use with dexterity. They not only fight theirown kind, b
. The sea-beach at ebb-tide : a guide to the study of the seaweeds and the lower animal life found between tidemarks . n the bases of the posteriorpair of feet. During the spawning season it is so charged with eggsthat often it projects out almost at right angles with the carapace. The 276 MARINE INVERTEBRATES crabs of this species are very active and can swim rapidly. They alsohave the habit of pushing themselves backward into the mud for con-cealment, They are predaceous and pugnacious, and have great strengthin their claws, which they use with dexterity. They not only fight theirown kind, but show a bold front to all enemies, including man. Theaverage size is six inches across the carapace. GENUS Ovalipes O. ocellatus (Rathbun), PlatyonicJtus oceUatus (Latreille),the lady-crab or sand-crab. A species common on sandy shores fromCape Cod to Florida. It is found among the loose sands at low-watermark, even on the most exposed beaches, and also is abundant on sandybottoms offshore. At low-water mark it buries itself up to the eyesand antennae in the sand, where it watches for prey and foes, and quickly. Ovalipes ocellatus, the lady-crab. disappears beneath the sand when danger approaches. It possesses thepower of burrowing in common with other marine animals which inhabitexposed beaches of loose sand. By burying itself deep in the sand it isprotected from the action of the breakers. This species is easily dis-tinguished by the color and shape of its carapace, taken in connectionwith its posterior swimming-feet. The body is nearly as long as it isbroad, with five prominent spines on each side. The front margin isindented on each side of a three-spined rostrum, to form cavities for theeyes. The first limbs are large and have claws; the posterior ones areflattened into swimming-feet, and the intermediate three pairs are sim-ple in structure, ending in points. In color it is white, covered withspotted rings of red and purple. CRABS 277
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectmarinea, bookyear1901
