258 



CRANGONIDJi. 



when of small size and sold by measure, they are termed 

 " cup -shrimps." The present species is called the Sand 

 Shrimp, and the smaller prawns the Rock Shrimp. 



In the breeding-season the shrimps approach the estu- 

 aries, and even ascend the rivers to a considerable dis- 

 tance. 



" Although," says Mr. Thompson, " this species chiefly 

 frequents sandy shores, I have occasionally seen it brought 

 up in the dredge from deep water, and at a considerable 

 distance from land, in the loughs of Strangford and Belfast. 

 Mr. E. Ball mentions that shrimps, though taken in large 

 quantities at Youghal, are held in little esteem ; but that the 

 prawn (Paleemon serratus), caught abundantly at spring- 

 tides, is much thought of. This latter is called ' shrimp ' 

 there, the former the ' gray shrimp ;' this term is also used 

 in Smith's ' History of the County of Cork,' written nearly 

 a century since." 



The following observations I have selected from the 

 late Mr. Hailstone's MS. Notes on the Crustacea of Hast- 

 ings. " Although in general this species is very whole- 

 some, yet instances occasionally occur in which it pro- 

 duces effects similar to those which sometimes follow the 

 eating of mussels. They swim in the water or lie upon 

 the sand in shoals, and are taken by a large net with a 

 semicircular mouth, which the shrimper pushes before him 

 along the bottom of the sea during the ebb-tide. In colour 

 they so closely resemble the sand, that, in the pools left 

 by the tide, they are with difficulty distinguished. They 

 are in spawn throughout the year, and cast the shell in 

 March, April, and May." 



