SHALLOW-WATER FAUNA. 33 



less conspicuous than they would be if less 

 brilliantly arrayed. 



I remember on one occasion as I was watching 

 some expanded Polyps in a little shore pool in 

 the Tropics, I noticed something suddenly move 

 close to the coral block on which I was standing. 

 As there was no escape from the little pool, nor 

 any holes in which the creature could hide 

 itself from my observation, I searched with 

 diligence to find it again, but for a long time 

 without avail. Suddenly it moved again, and 

 then I saw, resting on the brilliantly coloured 

 corals, a remarkable little Shrimp called by 

 zoologists Stenopus. Its body, which was al- 

 most transparent, was marked by a number of 

 bands of a bright red colour, it had enormously 

 long antennae similarly banded, and its legs and 

 body were covered with short red-tipped spines. 

 When I succeeded in safely landing it in my 

 collecting bottle I felt perfectly astonished that I 

 had been so baffled by such a lovely little jewel, 

 so bright, so strange, and so generally conspicuous 

 did it then seem to be. 



The colours of the animals I have referred to 

 hitherto may be accounted for by their need to 

 escape the attention of their enemies, or to avoid 

 detection in the pursuit of their prey ; but the 

 animal colour problem is not yet exhausted. 

 The beautiful colours of the Anemones, Corals, 

 Sponges and many other sedentary forms of 

 animal life, and the marvellous patterns on the 

 shells of Molluscs cannot be due to these causes. 

 Many ingenious theories have been brought for- 

 ward to explain away the difficulty, but none of 

 c 



