40 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



The Decapod Crustaceans, as the name implies, have 

 ten walking limbs, two of which are usually developed 

 into large and well-formed pincers characteristic of the 

 Crabs, Lobsters and their allies. The group's distribution 

 is world-wide, its representatives abounding both in the 

 shallows and the abyss, and are not only of great com- 

 mercial value but have played an important part in the 

 beliefs and folk-lore of various nations. The Ancient 

 Greeks and Romans promoted the crab to be an important 

 constellation — Cancer being the fourth Zodiac or sign of 

 the heavens. Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, and 

 a great disseminator of" unnatural history" in the sixteenth 

 century, placed on record that the seas around the Hebrides 

 harboured a lobster capable of capturing a man and similar 

 stories may be found amongst the legends and beliefs 

 of many primitive people to this day. 



The group is divided into the Long-tailed, Short-tailed, 

 and Anomura, which by some is regarded as an aberrant 

 offshoot of the first-named. The long-tailed crustaceans 

 are exemplified by the graceful prawns abundant on all 

 rocky shores and represented both in coastal waters and 

 the uttermost depths. Deep water species are usually 

 of a vivid red tint and are often poised on abnormally 

 long legs, a provision for walking upon shifting and 

 unstable ooze, much as some Fenland shepherds tend their 

 flocks on stilts. 



A large number of species of shrimps and prawn are 

 found around our coast, the prawns usually being caught 

 in baited pots whilst the shrimps are dredged. A common 

 edible prawn {Pandulus montagui) is taken in the trawl, 

 and being of delicate structure is cooked on board. 



