64 LIVING CREATURES. 



for seizing and crushing the prey. Protected by its 

 hard shell, and armed with these huge pinchers, the 

 lobster ought to fight pretty well. And so it does. 

 Indeed, it is so quarrelsome and ferocious that the fish- 

 erman is obliged to fasten the claws with pieces of 

 wood, even while the animal is waiting to be boiled. 



The crustaceans have a definite head, which is well 

 provided with eyes, ears, mouth and other organs. 

 From the sides of the head reach out two long whip- 

 like things, which are feelers, with which the animals 

 lash the water and touch the objects they meet. On 

 the top of the head is a pair of smaller feelers, at the 

 base of which are the ears. 



We hunted about the mantle of the oyster for eyes. 

 See what eyes the crustaceans have, standing out on 

 knobs or stocks. Unfortunately they are very obscure 

 in the picture. Besides being so prominent, they are 

 not common single eyes, but each stock has many sin- 

 gle eyes packed together. Well fitted, then, the lob- 

 ster and crawfish seem to be for moving on the muddy 

 bottom, for catching and eating the dead fish and other 

 animal matter upon which they live, and for fighting 

 away their enemies. 



Of course the crustaceans are water-breathing ani- 

 mals, and have gills in which the blood and the air of 

 the water meet. These gills are found at the places 

 where the legs join the body. The young are hatched 

 from eggs. To make room for their growth, the shell 

 or crust is shed, or molted, as many as six times dur- 

 ing the first year, a larger crust coming with each 

 change. 



In the spring the crustaceans lay their eggs, which 



