HABITS OF MARINE ANIMALS 143 



most delicious, though I have never ventured on one 

 myself. 



Occasionally I have had the good fortune to join a 

 dredging party, and then specimens can be obtained 

 which are not to be found on the sea-shore. Amongst 

 the bivalves brought up in the dredge, one of the most 

 interesting is the scallop. There are various members 

 of the scallop family, Pecten maximus, the largest of 

 them, however, is the one shown in the illustrations. 



The living scallop can sometimes be obtained from 

 a friendly fisherman, but if you are desirous of examining 

 this, as well as many other interesting specimens, a 

 naturalist's dredge is not an expensive apparatus, and 

 can be worked from a small sailing boat. 



When you have got your scallop, place him in a 

 basin of water, keep him in a cool, shady place, and 

 if you frequently change the sea water, he will remain 

 healthy and vigorous for a long time. We are most 

 of us familiar with a scallop shell, the cook has served 

 up many quaint dishes in it, and we have also seen it 

 ornamenting the cottage window sill. Let us now 

 examine the living specimen. 



I placed a really fine scallop on a rock in a large 

 glass tank, through which I ran a constant supply of 

 cool sea water from the storage tank used for the 

 spawning ponds at Port Erin. The light was strong, 

 and so for many hours he would not open, which gave 

 me an opportunity for examining the numerous forms 

 of animal life which had fixed themselves upon his 



