116 American Fisheries Society 



favorable conditions. The supply, however, being rather limited, 

 is consumed by local markets in the towns and cities along the 

 river, where it is considered a great delicacy. 



The so-called river shrimp and other egg-bearing shrimp 

 of this region possess two pairs of chelate legs, and by this means 

 can be easily distinguished from those shrimp which do not carry 

 their eggs, as all of the latter possess three pairs of chelate legs. 

 In this latter division of shrimp, the Penseidas, the eggs are set 

 free in the water and allowed to shift for themselves, where, after 

 hatching, they pass through a larval transformation. In Louisiana 

 there are three species of the Penasidae, which are available as 

 food and these are all salt water species. Two of these are Penceus 

 setiferus and Penceus braziliensis, while the third, belonging to a 

 closely related genus, is Xiphopenceus kroyeri. 



Xipho penceus kroyeri, a small slender shrimp, the adults of 

 which average three and a half inches, can be easily recognized 

 by its long recurved rostrum bearing six spines on its upper edge, 

 and its long antennas which are about three times the entire length 

 of the animal. Another striking characteristic is that the last 

 two pairs of walking legs are long and slender, the last especially 

 being filamentous and nearly as long as the animal. This species, 

 known on the Gulf Coast as the Sea-bob, appears to pass its entire 

 life in the Gulf, and although it often approaches close to the 

 beach, it seldom if ever enters inside waters. When the sea is 

 rough they are found some distance off shore, but when calm 

 they come in to the very beach itself, where they become at times 

 a veritable pest, as fifty to ninety-five per cent of the catch, 

 under some conditions, may consist entirely of this species. 

 Due to their small size, the market value of the catch is con- 

 siderably lower, and if lake shrimp are abundant and platforms 

 loaded to capacity, these sea-bobs are refused and thousands of 

 pounds must be thrown overboard dead. Because of their 

 small size they are never marketed in their fresh state and the 

 canning factories find it unprofitable to use them, yet if one takes 

 the trouble to pick them, they are a fine dish because of their 

 delicate flavor. 



Aside from Penceus setiferus, which largely concerns this 

 discussion, the one other species which we must consider here is 

 the Brazilian prawn, Penceus braziliensis, a large species closely 



