A HISTORY OF SUSSEX conchologist, whose own name in its Italian dress was Bianchi, though anterior to Pennant, had given no definite name to the species, and as Pennant for that purpose chose the first of his descriptive epithets, it was no longer admissible for Leach to substitute the second. The genus Portutius, Fabricius, is represented by four species in Sussex. They have in common the character that the last two joints of the hindmost legs are notably flattened out to a greater breadth than the preceding joint. Leach says of them : ' The Portuni, which are commonly named by our fishermen Jiyifig or fat-footed crabs, have the power of swimming in the ocean ; they effect this by means of their flat hinder legs, which serve the purpose of fins.' ^ Portunus puber (Linn.), the downy or velvet crab, when dry and faded in the cabinet is not greatly admired, but alive and seen glistening in water, with its eyes and a few other points bright red, and having its carapace and limbs all picked out with peacock blue, it is a delightful object. Bell quotes the following note upon its occurrence from Mr. Hailstone : ' In July, 1834, several dozens were taken off Hastings to the astonishment of the fishermen, who had rarely seen them here; and since that influx they have quite disappeared : this advance and retreat is of frequent occur- rence.' ^ The Hastings Natural History records the species as not uncom- mon.^ P. depurator (Linn.), the cleanser crab, is said by Leach to be ' by far the most common species that inhabits the British coast.' * Bell understands this to mean the most common species of the genus, and without some such quaUfication it would certainly contradict modern experience. Bell himself had not found it on the coast of Sussex, where he had found other species in great plenty; but he adds, ' Mr. Hailstone however states that it is frequently caught at Hastings in the shrimping net.' ® White by some accident has overlooked it in his Popular History of British Crustacea, though incidentally quoting the name from Bell.* On crabs of the species P. arcuatus. Leach, Bell remarks : ' They are gregarious, like most of their congeners; and I found them ex- tremely abundant at Bognor, where they constantly infest the prawn pots, and, as the fishermen believe, keep the prawns from the bait.' ' The front, that is the margin of the carapace between the eyes, is granu- lated, evenly arched, and fringed with rather long hair. Leach first described a female specimen with a slight depression in the middle of the front, and this evidently suggested the specific name emarginatus. He then described a male specimen with the front normally arched, and this he named arcuatus. In three successive works, from 1 8 1 3 to 1 8 1 6, he always placed emarginatus in front oi arcuatus, so that under ordinary circumstances the former name ought to prevail. But here the circumstances are rather complicated, for after saying that except for its arcuated front his second species is exactly like the first he adds a curious paragraph about it : ' Malacostraca Podophthalmata Brltanniir, pt. lo (1816), text to pi. 6.
- British Stalk-eyed Crustacea, p. 92. * p. 41.
- Malacostraca Podophthalmata Britannia-, pt. 11 (18 16), text to pi. 9, fig. I.
6 British Stalk-eyed Crustacea, pp. 103, 104. ^ p j, 7 p ^t^ 248
