96 SEA-SHORE LIFE 
It becomes about ten inches in length, and lives in long, winding 
burrows below low tide level. It extends from Florida to Cape 
Cod. The carapace, or back shield, of the creature is short and soft, 
while the abdomen is about three times as long as the carapace and 
is broad, flat and segmented. The large pair of feelers end in 
three branches, while at the base of each of the small feelers there 
is a broad, flat scale having its edges fringed with hairs. ‘The eye- 
stalks are curiously bent, and project above the head. The last 
joint of the great claw is bent forward over the second joint, and is 
armed with six sharp spines which fit into corresponding sockets 
at the bottom of a groove on the outer side of the second joint. 
This constitutes a formidable weapon, and serves in the capture of 
many sorts of marine animals upon which the Squilla feeds. There 
are three pairs of weak walking legs which arise from the first 
three segments of the abdomen. ‘The leaf-like, hair-edged gills, 
are seen attached to the lower surface of the abdominal seginents. 
The posterior end of the body is blunt but beset with sharp spines, 
while a pair of spiny jointed flippers arise from each side. 
The Squilla is an active creature, and when seized it makes 
effective use of its sharp claws and tail spines, and will inflict a 
painful wound. It is very attractively colored, for the body is pale 
green, each segment being bordered posteriorly with dark green 
and edged with bright yellow. The tail is tinged with rose color 
and mottled with yellow, green and black. It is nocturnal, remain- 
ing hidden away in its burrow during the day, and wandering about 
at night in search of prey. The eggs are laid within the burrow 
and a current of water is made to flow over them by fanning with 
the abdominal appendages. The transparent larve are found, dur- 
ing the summer, swimming at the surface. In the Mediterranean 
and tropical Pacific various species of Squilla are highly esteemed 
as food. The species eaten in Tahiti is the most delicately flavored 
crustacean the writer has ever partaken of, and it is possible that 
our Squilla may also be palatable. Certainly the large species of 
the Florida coast and Bahamas bears a close resemblance to the 
edible one of Samoa and Tahiti. 
THE SAND FLEAS 
These little crustaceans live upon our beaches, remaining dur- 
ing the day in burrows under heaps of decaying sea weeds upon 
