Echinoderms 67 



in case of injury of growing new parts, 

 including internal organs. 



Certain kinds of sea cucumbers 

 " Trepang " being specially rich in 

 gelatine are regarded as great delicacies 

 in the East. The principal fishery is on 

 the Barrier Reef, and gives a turnover 

 of some millions of pounds annually. 

 The cucumber having been split, cleaned 

 and dried in " smoke houses " where they 

 shrink to about one-third their natural 

 size, resembling charred sausages, are 

 shipped to every quarter of the globe 

 where orientals congregate. 



One species of sea cucumber makes a 

 habit of harbouring within its body 

 slender fish half a foot in length. A num- 

 ber of fish may inhabit the same cucum- 

 ber, and in the aquarium at Naples as 

 many as seven have been recorded as 

 passing into the echinoderm one after 

 the other. The entrance of the fish is 

 obtained at the time when its host is 



