﻿NO. 7 EMERITA ANALOGA WEYMOUTH AND RICHARDSON 7 



It requires only an examination of the structure of the antennae and 

 of the contents of the stomach to make clear the process of feeding. 

 The stomach is found to contain not only " vegetable matter " as noted 

 by Smith, but also microscopic animals. We have, in the antennae and 

 mouth parts, structures admirably adapted for straining such or- 

 ganisms from the waves, and the use, just mentioned, of the antennae 

 is not intelligible on any other assumption. There can be little doubt, 

 therefore, that the food, instead of being swallowed with the sand, is 

 strained from the water and transferred to the mouth. To understand 

 the process more clearly let us consider, first, the structure of the 

 antennae and mouth parts and, second, the stomach contents. 



Fig. i. — Cross section of antenna of adult female Emerita taken near base, 

 showing arrangement of setae. 



The form of the antennae has been accurately described by Smith. 11 

 The concave side is provided with four rows of large diverging setae 

 armed with secondary setae directed inward (fig. i and pi. I, fig. 5). 

 In addition there are 5 or 6 smaller setae lying nearer the median line 

 (8 to 12 are described by Smith for E. talpoida) . One of these, rather 

 thicker than the rest and lacking the secondary setae, occupies a 

 median position and exhibits a pit in the tip suggestive of a sensory 

 organ (a, fig. 1). The antennae thus present to the water flowing 

 against the concave side a very efficient straining apparatus. 



Attempts were made to seize the extended antennae, and by exami- 

 nation, to determine what was being captured, but the animals proved 

 too active and the few taken in this manner showed only sand grains. 

 The antennae of a preserved specimen from Little River near Trini- 



Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. 3, p. 325. 1877. 



