THE CRUSTACEANS 89 
fishes are crawling forms. The forward part of the body is en- 
cased in a delicate shell called the carapace, while the abdomen is 
segmented and bends sharply downward 
instead of being in line with the carapace 
as in the lobsters. This gives a broken- 
backed appearance to the shrimps. The 
feelers, eve-stalks, legs and feathery gills > 
are often remarkably long, and there are 
apt to be little claws on several pairs of 
legs. The last two segments of the abdo- 
men bear flapper-like appendages which 
constitute a powerful swimming organ. 
While the shrimps are most abundant in 
shallow water along the seacoast, there are 

also many deep water forms, and a few live 
in fresh water. They feed upon both ani- 
mal and vegetable matter, and are them- Fig. 56; COMMON SHRIMP. 
selves devoured by hosts of fishesand other From Life. Cape Ann, 
: ; . 2 Massachusetts. 
marine animals. Shrimps possess a deli- 
eate flavor which renders them a favorite food, and almost all 
of the large species are sold in the markets. The shallow water 
species are protectively colored, matching the bottom upon which 
they live, but the deep sea forms are some of them rich scarlet, and 
are especially distinguished by their very long, delicate antennz and 
appendages, which probably serve as organs of touch in feeling 
their way over the dark floor of the ocean. 
Shrimps are known to science as the Schizopoda. This name 
is given on account of the forked appendages of the thorax, where 
the inner branch of each appendage is a jointed leg, while the outer 
fork is a feathered gill which projects freely into the water. 
The Common Shrimp, (Crangon vulgaris, Fig. 56), is found from 
North Carolina to Labrador, and from Alaska to California. It is 
especially abundant along the sandy shores of Chesapeake Bay and 
the coast of New England, north of Cape Cod. 
The shrimp may be recognized by its broad, flat, scale-like 
expansions at the bases of the antenne. It grows to be about two 
inches long, and is protectively colored, matching the bottom upon 
which it lives. It is extremely abundant in shallow water, but will 
