466 



THE SHRIMP. 



If the fishermen find that they have wounded a Lobster, they have recourse to a very 

 strange but perfectly efficacious remedy. Supposing one of the claws to be wounded, the 

 creature would soon bleed to death unless some means were taken whereby the flow of blood 

 may be stopped. The method adopted by the fishermen consists in twisting off the entire claw. 

 A membrane immediately forms over the wound, and the bleeding is stopped. The new limb 

 that is to supply the place of that which was lost, always sprouts from the centre of the scar. 



The accompanying illustration shows the com- 

 mon Cray -fish, or Craw-fish( Astacusflumatilis). This 

 species has an almost exact resemblance to the 

 marine lobster, which it resembles in many of its 

 habits and qualities. Like that creature, it hides 

 itself in some crevice, and does not issue from its 

 concealment except for the purpose of obtaining food. 

 It is equally quarrelsome, and also displays many 

 tokens of its combats in the shape of lost or minute 

 members. It is quite a rare thing to find a large 

 Cray-fish with both its claws of the same size. The 

 illustration is three-quarters of the natural size. 



This creature mostly hides under stones or holes 

 in the bank, sometimes partially scooped out by the 

 inhabitant, but mostly being the deserted tenement 

 of a water-vole. Herein the creature sits, with its 

 head towards the orifice, and its claws thoroughly 

 protecting its home. Even the sharp spikes of the 

 head form no inconsiderable protection, for, if the 

 hand be thrust into a hole tenanted by a Cray -fish, a 

 sensation is perceived as if the fingers had been 

 pushed against a quantity of needle-points. From 

 these dens it issues in search of prey, which consists 

 of dead fish and any similar substances. 

 Cray -fish can be caught in various ways. There are large "pots" or "creels," made of wicker- 

 work, into which the creature is enticed by a bait, but out of which it cannot escape. There are 

 Cray-fish nets, by which many hundreds can be caught in an afternoon. These are simple cir- 

 cular nets fastened inside an iron hoop and having a piece of meat tied in the centre by way of 

 bait. A long string is attached to each net, and a forked stick, something like a clothes-prop, 

 used for laying or taking them up. The fisherman always has several dozen of these nets, which 

 he disposes along the river-bank in the spots which he thinks best suited to Cray-fish. By the 

 time he has laid his last net, he must visit the first, which he pulls up quickly, and in which he 

 mostly finds three or four Cray-fish eagerly eating the bait. The net is then replaced, and he 

 proceeds to the second. On an average, each net produces three Cray-fish every round. 



The flesh of the Cray -fish is something like that of the lobster, but far more delicate 

 and without the indigestible qualities of the larger crustacean. It is only in season for a 

 comparatively short time, and in the other months of the year the flesh is soft, watery, and 

 flavorless. 



THE next family includes the true Shrimps, and contains but one genus. The Shrimp, 

 which is so familiar on our tables, and which, until the marine aquaria became so common, 

 was equally unknown in its living state, inhabits the shores of England, where it is produced 

 in countless myriads. In every little pool that is left by the retiring tide, the Shrimps may be 

 seen in profusion, betraying their presence by their quick, darting movements as they dash 

 about in the water and ever and anon settle upon some spot, flinging up a cloud of sand as 

 they scuffle below its surface, their backs being just level with the surrounding sand. In con- 

 sequence of this manoeuvre, the fishermen call them "sand-raisers." The small prawns are 

 often confounded with the Shrimps and popularly called by the same title. They can, 



CRAY-FISH, OE CRAW-FISH. 



