BENEATH TROPIC SEAS 



is that of Zoea. And Zoea crumbs fall from ban- 

 quet tables of the fish fraternity and so on. 



In the matter of privacy the famous goldfish 

 lives in an opaque seraglio in comparison with 

 Zoea. The latter is absolutely transparent, and 

 nothing is hidden from friend or enemy, — the 

 heart, beating sometimes fast, sometimes slow or 

 stopping, the food going cheerfully on its way 

 through the body, while we can see the muscles 

 move as behind clear glass. 



For a few weeks Zoea succeeds in keeping near 

 the surface, but as it molts again and again, its 

 oars are blunted and it gets heavier, until it gives 

 up and rolls about helplessly on the bottom. The 

 fifth Zoea now molts into a being somewhat awfully 

 like a crab, but one misshapen and gone all wrong. 

 It is as horrible in disposition as in bodily form. 

 Megalops it is called, and it claws its way through 

 the water, feeding voraciously. Its own brothers 

 and lesser Zoea nephews are especial titbits. An- 

 other month passes while the crab spirit grows 

 stronger and for a week or more it clings to floating 

 nuts or weed or bits of wood and at last crawls 

 unsteadily out on land. Here it is probably 

 devoured by its father, mother or relatives, for it is 

 still only a twelfth of an inch in length. If how- 

 ever, it runs the gauntlet, it digs a tiny burrow 

 and for the first time in its life has a short, safe 

 breathing space. 



When it molts into one-eighth inch of crab, it 

 observes with interest (or should do so) that one of 



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