554 



THE PRAWN, AND SHRIMP. 



THB lOCSIER. 



stomacli and intestines. The animal, while it is moulting, is said to 



feed upon its former sto- 

 mach, which wastes by 

 degrees, and is at length 

 rep] need by a new one. 



Like some of the Crabs, 

 these animals are said to 

 be attached to particular 

 parts of the sea. 



The pincers of one Df 

 the Lobster's large claws 

 are furnished with knobs, 

 and those of the other are 

 always serrated. With 

 the former it keeps firna 

 hold of the stalks of sub- 

 marine plants, and with the latter it cuts and minces its food, very 

 dexterously. The knobbed or numb claw, as the fishermen call it, in 

 sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left side, indifferently. 

 It is more dangerous for a person to be seized by the cutting claw 

 than the other; but, in either case, the quickest way of getting dis- 

 engaged from the creature, is to pluck off its claw. 



In the water these animals are able to run nimbly upon their legs 

 or small claws; and, if alarmed, they can spring, tail foremost, to a 

 surprising distance, almost as swiftly as a bird can fly. The fishermen 

 can see them pass about thirty feet, and, by the swiftness of their 

 motion, it is supposed that they may go much further. When 

 frightened, they will spring from a considerable distance to their hold 

 in the rock; and, what is not less surprising than true, will throw 

 themselves into their hold in that manner, through an entrance 

 scarcely sufficient for their bodies to pass. 



The circumstance of Lobsters losing their claws at thunder-claps, 

 or the sound of cannon, is well authenticated; and the fishermen are 

 often jestingly threatened with a salute by the sailors. The restoration 

 of claws thus lost may always be observed ; for these never again 

 grow to their former size. When the claws of Lobsters become incon- 

 venient to the animals, from being injured, they always break them ofL 



THE PRAWN, AXD SHRIMP. 



Prawns are chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of 

 rocks at a little distance from the shore. They seldom enter th« 

 mouths of rivers. Their usual mode of swimming is on their backs, 

 but when threatened with danger, they throw themselves on one side, 

 and spring backward to very consderable distances. They feed on all 

 the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and devout 

 with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous 

 species of fish ; although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their 

 head constitutes a very powerful weapon of defence against the 

 attacks r>f all the smaller kinds. 



