. Bulletin - New York State Museum. .4, , Verrill. /. c. 1874. Gelasimus pugnax Smith. /. c. 1870. 2:131, , , , /. c. 1874, P-S4S- Gelasimus vocans var. a. DeKay. /. c. 1844. , , Carapace rather quadrangular; one of the first pair of walkinglegs of the male enormously developed and carried horizontally, bothof first pair of female small. Of the three species G . minax is much the largest, and hasred spots at the articulations of the joints. G. pugnax andpugilator are distinguished by the presence in pugnax (as 148 NEW YORK STA
. Bulletin - New York State Museum. .4, , Verrill. /. c. 1874. Gelasimus pugnax Smith. /. c. 1870. 2:131, , , , /. c. 1874, P-S4S- Gelasimus vocans var. a. DeKay. /. c. 1844. , , Carapace rather quadrangular; one of the first pair of walkinglegs of the male enormously developed and carried horizontally, bothof first pair of female small. Of the three species G . minax is much the largest, and hasred spots at the articulations of the joints. G. pugnax andpugilator are distinguished by the presence in pugnax (as 148 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM in ni i n a X ) of an oblique ridge across the palm of the large claw^while the palm of p u g i 1 a t o r is smooth. These three species are commonly known as fiddlers ; for, whenrunning over the beach with the large claw held out in front ofthem and the small one sawing in front of it, they ludicrouslyresemble a man carrying a bass viol. The old specific nameV o c a n s was given them because, when the tide was out, they. Fig. i6 rt = Gelasimusminax;^ = claw ;r = claw of G. pugilator appeared to stand on the beach and wave their great claws, callingit back again. The species are mostly vegetarians, feeding on algae, which theypick off with their small claws. They live in burrows in the sandand mud, where they are abundant, completely honeycombing habits and mode of life have been interestingly described byVerrill /. c. , and Kingsley, Am. Nat. 1888, 22:888. Theyare easily kept in captivity, on damp sand, and may be fed oncrackers dipped in water. G . m i n a X and p u g n a x are found on the salt marshes,while G. pugilator occurs on sandy or muddy beaches nearhigh water mark and is rarer than the other two. They may befound almost anywhere along the shore, sometimes, as was the caseat Rockaway Beach, in such numbers that the entire shore appearedto be in motion. HIGHER CRUSTACEA OF NEW YORK CITY 149 Family pixnotiieridabPinnotheres ostreum Sa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectscience, bookyear1887
