CRABS. 65 



adhere to their swimmerets. A single lobster lays 

 about twenty thousand eggs. After the young are 

 hatched, they cling to the swimming legs of their 

 mothers until they are about a third of an inch long, 

 when, with bright blue eyes and a pair of small feet 

 for swimming, they dodge about in the water at a 

 lively rate. At this period of their existence they are 

 dainty food for large fishes. At three months of age 

 they acquire all the parts of the grown animal, and 

 then settle down on the bottom like the old people, 

 to catch and to be caught. 



14. CRABS. 



TAKE away the rear part or abdomen of the lobster 

 and you have the crab. There are some different ar- 

 rangements about the mouth, and the crab swims in 

 the water instead of gliding near the bottom, as its 

 near relation, the lobster, does. The soft-shell crabs 

 of the sea are considered delicate eating, but every one 

 does not know how to account for the name they bear. 



The soft-shell crab has a hard crust for a covering, 

 as its near friends have. But from time to time it 

 sheds its shell. When the old shell has been thrown 

 off, it is some days before the new shell becomes hard. 

 During this period the crab is very tender, ancl is de- 

 licious food; and on this account it receives its name 

 soft-shell. It is, however, a common crab. 



The whole family of lobsters and crabs is composed 

 L. c. ?. 



