Crustacea; Shrimps. 225 



market product. They, nevertheless, constitute an unfailing 

 supply of food for fish, &c., and consequently are most advan- 

 tageous to the well-being of our fisheries in general. To this 

 richness in minor crustacean life may be attributed much of 

 the abundance of immature fishes in our flats and estuaries. 



The Shrimp and Prawn Families (Crangonidae and Palce- 

 monidae). To the ordinary person and trade requirements 

 shrimps are of two kinds, viz., the Brown and the Pink Shrimp. 

 The first (Crangon) typifies the true shrimp, which, off-hand, may 

 be distinguished by its brownish grey colour (when alive), not boil- 

 ing red, and its short flat nose or prow. The second (Pandalus), 

 more nearly allied to the prawn (Palcemon), is of a whitish, 

 pinkey tint (when alive), boils to a bright reddish hue, and has 

 a prominent, long, toothed beak or rostrum. There are other 

 intermediate so-called shrimps (Hippolyte), to be noticed in due 

 course. Separate species of all three sorts haunt our shores. 



The Family Crangonidae, equivalent to the true shrimps. 

 (1) The BANDED SHRIMP (C. fasciatus). Only on one occasion, 

 10th May, 1898, have we been fortunate in obtaining a couple of 

 specimens, and these between the W. Grirdler Buoy and the 

 Oilman, at 4 to 5 fathoms depth. It is a small, insignificant- 

 looking shrimp, f to f inch long, and therefore easily overlooked. 

 Its most readily distinguishing feature is a purple brown band 

 about where the body bends behind. Patterson,* of Yarmouth, 

 notes its rarity there, only having had a few brought him by 

 the shrimpers in April and May. 



(2) The YELLOW SHRIMP (locally " Yellow Hammer ") of 

 the Harwich shrimpers. We presume this is the Three-spined 

 Shrimp (0. trispinosus ?), inasmuch as this species at Yarmouth 

 gets the name of " Yellow Shrimp," and has been identified by 

 Patterson (" Zool.," I.e.). We ourselves did not meet with them 

 when accompanying the shrimpers from Harwich some years 

 ago. Our informant, Robert Johnson, sen., is so reliable and 



* Stalk-eyed Crustacea of Great Yarmouth, " Zool.," April, 1898. 



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