Brown Shrimp's Habits; Local Names. 231 



The above brings out the fact that shrimps are not diminish- 

 ing in numbers in the Thames estuary, notwithstanding their 

 enormous fishery. Some seasons have bad beginning and good 

 ending or vice versa. Occasionally there is predominance, or a 

 scarcity up river or seawards, as the case may be. Bad weather 

 may affect numbers caught for one, two or three months, yet 

 the annual quantity stand high. 



Local Name and Habits. (a) In the Thames estuary area the 

 Common Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) is constantly spoken of as 

 the Brown Shrimp, and only on a chance occasion have we 

 heard it referred to as " Sand-shrimp." Yet this latter is that 

 by which it is best known on the Dorset coast, while in Ireland 

 " Gray Shrimp " is its local name. " Dust" and i( Smig" are 

 general terms applied by our estuary fishermen to small brood 

 of whatever species. At Leigh certain supposed young 

 shrimps have another colloquial, viz., " Jerry's Donkeys " ; 

 but these in reality belong to another group of diminutive 

 Crustacea (see Mysidse). 



(6) Concerning their habits generally, parties of the young 

 brown shrimps, when about -| inch to f inch long or over, 

 frequent the sandy and muddy shores within low tide mark. 

 In the spring, as the weather begins to get warm, and during 

 the long summer days, they are seen darting about in the 

 shallow and weedy pools left by the retiring tide. Or they 

 hunt up and down the shallow guts, keenly hanging about 

 such drainage runlets as carry sludge or garbage of any sort. 

 In the pools they so assimilate in colour to the ground that 

 their presence is not perceptible until their quick zigzag jerks 

 betray them. When disturbed, in a second they flash about, 

 are hidden in the mud or sand, and only a cloud of particles 

 left, obscuring their whereabouts. As autumn merges into 

 colder winter, and having increased in size, the brood shrimps 

 gather together in companies and gradually progress towards 

 the deeper water.* Ultimately the recruits swell the ranks of 

 some of the main bodies of the roving adult shrimps. 



* Among several places, Hadleigh Ray and Egypt Bay, &c., form good muster* 

 grounds. 



