The Seashore Naturalist 7 



In a manner of speaking, many of the fishes may be 

 quite visible but yet unseen. This is because of their 

 shape or coloring, which makes them inconspicuous 

 against the bottom. Unless one had an unusually keen 

 eye for such things, it would be difficult to distinguish 

 some forms from inanimate objects. The slender pipe- 

 fish, for instance, resembles the stemlike fragments of 

 vegetation washed back and forth by tidal currents. 

 Visible forms are plentiful, nevertheless; among these 

 are the sea robin, that strange fish which crawls as well 

 as swims; the skate, an innocuous cousin of the shark, 

 and the shining silverside. Then perhaps on rarer oc- 

 casions one may obtain a glimpse of that quaintest of 

 creatures. Hippocampus, the little sea horse. Crus- 

 taceans, too, are common. Hermit crabs can be seen 

 carrying on their interminable brawls, sand crabs are 

 present, half buried and awaiting their prey, while 

 shoals of shrimps frequently go flashing by. 



As I have hinted, muddy shores are not without 

 their interest. These are usually associated with 

 marshy regions of brackish water or with shallow bays 

 and estuaries. Burrowing in the muddy banks will be 

 found the fidciler crab, a grotesque creature with a 

 claw almost as large as the rest of his body. 

 In the groves of eelgrass, which are submerged at 

 every tide, many small animals are living which are 

 seldom seen elsewhere. The eelgrass is a flowering 

 plant and is one of the very few which will grow in 

 salt water. Among the animals which crawl over its 

 bladelike leaves is a little snail which attaches its egg 

 cases to the plant, and these look so like the seeds that 

 are formed in the grooves of the leaves that they cannot 



