Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/557

* KING-CRAB. 505 KINGFISH. and then leaves theni at the mercy of the waves until the young hatch. They are laid in the Nortlicrn States, according to the locality, from the end of May till the end of June — sometimes in July. The young hatch from a month to sis weeks after oviposition. The female lays at spring tide at iiigh water, and the eggs are fer- tilized by the male after they are extruded, he being slightly attached by his claws to the ab- domen of his mate. Before hatching the shell bursts open, while the .serous membrane within distends, acting as a thin, transparent, vicarious egg-shell. The young or larva just before hatch- ing passes through a 'trilobite stage,' the seg- ments being distinctly marked and the body di- vided into three longitudinal lobes. The caudal spine is rudimentary, becoming longer after each molt. The first molt occurs between three and four weeks after hatching, the shell or skin split- ting open around the front. The king-crab burrows in the sand and mud of quiet bays and shallow estuaries, and is not to be found on the outer rocky shores of New Eng- land. It lives on .shellfish and worms, seizing them in a haphazard way as it burrows through the soft sand or mud, for which the body is ad- mirably adapted. When it burrows the head is A KING-CBAB In the attitude of begiuning to dig. or of turning over. bent down at right angles to the hindbody, and if disturbed the caudal spine is held vertically, as a means of defense. It is extremely large and abundant in Delaware Bay and on the coast of New Jersey, where after being dried it is used as a fertilizer; it is also fed to swine and poultry. It also serves as a bait for eels and other fish. In the Moluccas the animal may be seen for sale in the market, being eaten by the lower classes of people. In the Southern I'nited States it is called 'casserole-fish,' from its resemblance to a sauce-pan or casserole. The distribution of the king-crab (Limitlus Poli/phemiis) on our coast is very wide; it ranges from a point between the mouths of the Ken- nebec and Penobscot rivers of Maine to Jlexico, the Spanish Main, and the West Indies, swming to attain its greatest size at Cajje Hatteras and on the Delaware and New Jersey shores. The five existing species of Ijimulus (one American and four Asiatic) have been recently divided by Pocoek and also by Packard into three genera. One species of Tachyplcus (TncIiijpIruR tridfiita- Ills) abounds in Southern .Japan and the Chinese seas; another (Tnrhiifileti.i ifoliiccnniifi) inhabits the Molucca Islamls. Formosa, the Philippines, and Southern China : and Tnrhypleux ipjins. Ma- laysia. Gulf of Siani, Sinjiapore, and Torres Straits. Carcinnxrnrpitis rntun(Jirnurln (Latr.) occurs in the IMolucca and Philippine Islands, Si.am. and Malaysia. This last-named genus is the most primitive form, all the head-appendages ending in forceps much like those of the female; while the most specialized form is Tachypleus, in which the .second and third feet end in for- ceps; Limulus Folyphemus is intermediate be- tween the two. None has survived in Europe and other parts of the world except as stated above. The systematic position of the king-crab is unsettled, but it is allied to the trilobites on the ouc hand and to the arachnids (scorpions) on the other. It represents, acciirding to Packard, a class (Merostomata of Dana) which is inter- mediate between the trilobites and the Arach- nida, with no near afiinities to the Crusta- cea. Limulus is an ancient form, of great vital- ity, withstanding exposure for a day or two to the dry air or sun, and is an example of a per- sistent tjpe. Allied to the order Xiphosura, of which Limu- lus is the tj'pe, is the order Eurypterida. a gioup of fossil form, ranging from the Cambrian to the end of the Carboniferous. It is represented by Eurypterus, Pterygotus, Slimonia. etc. (See Meeostomata.) The family to which Limulus belongs began to flourish in the Devonian, and the Limulus of the .Juiassic and present times was represented in the Carboniferous period by small king-crabs (Prestwichia, Belinurus) which were scarcely over two inches in length. Bini.ioGKAPHY. Van der Hoeven, liecherches sur I'histoirc natureJle et I'linniomie des limules (Leyden, 1838) ; A. Milne-Edwards, "Reeherches sur I'anatomie des limules," in Annalcs de Science y aiureUc, tome -avn. (Paris, 1872) ; Pack- ard, "Embryology of Limulus Polyphemus," in American "SalurdUnl. vol. iv. (Salem. 1870) ; "Development of Limulus Polyphemus." in Mem- oirs of the Boston Society of yatiiral History, vol. ii. (Boston, 1871) ; "Anatomy. Histologj', and Embryology of Limulus Polyphemus" (ib. 1880) ; "Further Studies on the Brain of Limulus Polyphemus, with Notes on its Embryology," in Memoirs of the Xntiomil Acndemy of Sciences, vol. vi. (Washington, 180."!) ; Kingsley. "Notes on the Embryology of Limulus," in Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, vol. xxv. (Lon- don, 1885) ; "Embryology of Limulus." in Jour- nal of Morphology, vol. vii. (Boston. 1802); part ii. id., vol. viii. (Boston, ISM) : Pocook, "Taxonomy of Recent Species of Limulus," in Annals and Magazine of Xatural History, ser. 7, vol. ix. (London. 1902). KING-CROW. A drongo (q.v.) ; specifically, the black drongo {Dicrurus ater) of all India and eastward. It is black, with a steely blue gloss, and is one of the most familiar and con- spicuous birds of India, where it is often seen searching for insects on the backs of cattle. It nests in trees. Consult the books of Gates, Jcrdon, Blanford, and other East Indian zoolo- gists. KING DUCK. The spectacled eider (q.v.). KING EAGLE. The European imperial eagle (nalidi'liis hrliaca). Sec Eagle. KINGFISH. Any of several fishes, conspieu- <nis for -itrenulh or some other quality: fll The cero, or 'kingcero.' See Cero. (2) In California, the 'little roncador' {(Icnyonennis lineatus). (! ) The moonfish {Lanipris luna). See Op.ii, and colored Plate of Game-Kishes, under Trout.