Reptile^^. 99 



REPTILES (REPTILIA). 



Beside Ampliioxus and the numerous orders of fishes only one 

 other vertebrate animal is found in the Aquarium, but this one is all 

 the more imposing-. It is the Caouana, Thalassochelys (Fig. 64), a 

 Mediterranean turtle, which grows to more than 3 feet in length and 

 may attain a weight of 400 pounds. It is found on all coasts of the 

 Mediterranean and on the European shore of the Atlantic. It feeds 

 on crabs and other small animals and fights most desperately when 

 caught, its sharp Jaws being a most formidable weapon. In captivity, 

 too, it retains its ferocity for some time, and the specimens in the Aqua- 

 rium have occasionally had such severe fights that now they are mostly 

 isolated. In the winter they become lazy and lose their voracious ap- 

 petite. They are economically speaking valueless, as the tlcsh is tasteless 

 and the shell or carapace cannot be worked. 



