SPONGES 



bachelor lives, three females dwelt in solitary 

 maiden state, while two male shrimps were each 

 in a large compartment with a jolly, little, rugged- 

 armed, red-and-white crab. The evidence is against 

 the old maid snapping shrimps however, for all 

 three of these solitary females had a pocket of well- 

 advanced eggs. 



When a piece of the sponge surface was left 

 undisturbed in an aquarium, the pale inmates 

 could be observed, after a while, creeping slowly 

 up to a group of small holes at the end of each 

 internal canal, apparently looking out, exactly as 

 the occupants of prisons and asylums may be seen 

 peering through the bars. A sudden movement 

 on my part, even some distance away, sent the 

 shrimps scurrying down their dark alleys out of 

 sight. 



I placed three pairs of shrimps under water, 

 undisturbed, in their original homes, and then 

 annoyed them, and my respect for this race of 

 little beings rose when, in each case, I saw the 

 males advance to attack me, the fact of my being 

 millions of times larger and stronger restraining 

 them not at all. One crustacean gallant scrambled 

 over the body of his spouse so roughly in his efforts 

 to reach and rend me, that he rolled two of his 

 offspring out of their protective covering. The 

 eggs are a most beautiful pale green, the youngsters 

 showing through the translucent film as greenish 

 white. 



There are many species of these snapping 



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