THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



67 





FIG. 21. Free-swimming pelagic larval starfish the Bipinnaria of 

 Luidia enormously enlarged, showing transparent larval body (A) 

 with curious processes, and the young starfish (B) being formed. 

 (After Mclntosh.) 



animal. Or is it a quite secondary new departure on the 

 part of what one may call autochthonous shore animals, 

 this getting their young into a relatively safer area ? Is 

 it similar to the case of the aquatic habit of the larvae of 

 many insects, such as gnats and mayflies, which is believed 

 to be quite secondary ? There is most to be said for the 

 view that the pelagic phase of some shore-animals is 

 secondary. The larvae are often highly specialized in 

 relation to open-sea life, and not the least like ancestral 

 forms. In certain cases the first view may be enter- 

 tained. 



Parental Care. Returning to the avoidance of infantile 

 mortality, another method of life-saving is to increase 

 parental care and nurture ; and the shore is rich in illus- 



