144 NATURAL HISTORY OF OUR SHORES 



In use it is thrown, a small quantity at a time, in some 

 spot selected by the angler, free from tide run, and 

 mullet and other fish, sniffing the none too agreeable (at 

 least to us) substance from afar, flock to the source of 

 supply, where daintily bait-tipped hooks compete with the 

 " Chevrin " for attention. 



A small group of crustaceans which seems to have no 

 abiding city in classification may be introduced here. This 

 is the Cumacea. 



These are small, elongated forms, the carapace nearly 

 circular and about the size of a large pin's head (common or 

 workbox pin). The tail is slender, about half-an-inch long, 

 and of equal thickness all along. 



They are ivory-white. Several species are found on our 

 shores, mostly swimming at the sea surface. Reference 

 will be made to them later on in dealing with the use of 

 the tow net. 



The Anomoura (" Irregular- tailed "). This division of 

 the Crustacea is always described as " transitional between 

 the Macrura and the Brachyura " (" long-tailed " and 

 " short- tailed " crustaceans), a definition which I so strongly 

 resent that I shall use this opportunity to raise objections 

 to it. 



The Anomonra comprises the Hermit Crab, the Gala- 

 theas and Porcelain Crabs, the " Stone Crab," and Dromia. 

 The type is the common hermit crab. 



Pagurus Bernhardus (Fig 58). This is superlatively 

 abundant on all our shores. A full-grown male measures 

 about three inches in length by three quarters of an inch 

 across the back. Its colour is pale red, one claw always, 

 the right in this genus (no rule obtains in ordinary 

 crustaceans), is much larger than the other. The abdomen 

 is not calcified, but is simply membraneous (in some foreign 

 species there are calcified plates marking each segment). 

 The sides of the carapace which cover the gills are also 



