THE OHAMELEON-SHEIMP 



019 



species of this family are found in England. One of the British examples is the GROOVED 

 SHRIMP (Penceus sulcdtus), a common species in the Mediterranean, but rare in the British 

 seas. It has three grooves on the carapace, two long and one shorter in the middle. It is 

 A large species, sometimes attaining the length of seven inches. 



Another species is the SIVADO, sometimes called the SWORD-SHRIMP, or the WHITE 

 SHRIMP, the last-mentioned term, however, being applied very loosely by the fishermen. 

 It is a very beautiful little creature, being of a translucent white colour, dashed and 

 spotted with rich crimson. It is said that this species cannot endure exposure to the air, 

 and that it dies immediately on being removed from the water. 



ANOTHER order of crustaceans now comes before us, called the Stomapoda, or Mouth- 

 footed Crustaceans, so called because their legs mostly issue from the neighbourhood of the 



GLASSY EKICTHUS.-ric/ms mlriru* 

 ARMED ERICTHUS. Ericthus arrndtw. 

 CHAMELEON SHRIMP. Mysis chameleon. 



CLUB-HORNED PHYLLOSOMK-P%Momia clavicorne. 



mouth. The gills are external, and are formed in a most curious manner of a series of 

 tiny cylinders. The greater number of Stoinapods live in the hotter seas, but a few are 

 inhabitants of our own coasts. 



Our first example of these odd-looking creatures is the CHAMELEON-SHRIMP, perhaps 

 the most common of its kind. This species is abundant on our coasts, and derives its 

 popular name from the extreme variability of its colouring. It seems to alter according to 

 the locality in which it resides. Those, for example, which live upon a sandy coast are of 

 a grey hue, those which are found among the large dark sea-weeds are brown, and those 

 that prefer the ulva and zostera beds are green, like the vegetation among which they 

 live. These creatures are sometimes called Opossum-shrimps, from a curious modification 

 of their structure. The last two feet are furnished with an appendage that forms a sort of 

 pouch. In the male this pouch is small, but in the female it is large, and capable of 

 containing a large number of eggs, which are carried about by the crustacean just as the 

 opossum carries its yorng. 



