76 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



The prismatic nature of the worm's outer cuticle causes it 

 to flash with the most resplendent colours. Like many- 

 others of this order it is highly predacious and is quick 

 to use its powerful jaws on the fingers of the fisherman 

 who uses it for his line. 



An interesting relative is the chocolate and white 

 striped Hermit Crab Worm (Nereis fucata\ which is 

 invariably found in association with the common hermit 

 crab. It hides in the uppermost part of the crab's borrowed 

 tenement, and as soon as the crab embarks upon a meal 

 the worm " comes down to dinner " and gliding beneath 

 the crab's busy jaws takes its full share of the feast. 



The Sea Mouse (Aphrodite aculeata), also known as the 

 Sea Mole, is the Bristle Worm so broadened as to at first 

 suggest a large slug. Despite its dense covering of 

 vividly iridescent bristles it is eaten by many fish. Each 

 bristle is enclosed beneath two limp covers and when the 

 stiff bristle with its barbed edges comes into contact with 

 a soft object, it at once penetrates the surface of the limp 

 cover, crumpling it out of the way. This contrivance 

 is a remarkable parallel to the " stiletto " of the common 

 mosquito. The Sea Mouse is common on sandy or gravelly 

 ground, where it partially covers its upper portion by 

 shovelling up the loose soil. 



Allied to the Sea Mouse are the various Scale Worms, 

 with big sequin-like scales arranged in two parallel rows. 

 Scale Worms are to be found on most shores under 

 boulders at low tide, but one species some two inches 

 long habitually hides in the grooves of the undersurface 

 of the common starfish. 



The Leaf Worms (Phyllodoce) are so called owing to 



