FLEMING'S HERMIT-SCKEW. 



625 



prey upon fishes, oysters, or indeed any animal substance that comes in their way. The 

 fishermen, who know it by the name of Pernys, are very angry with this little 

 creature, and declare that it robs them of their mussel harvest. They even assert that it 

 climbs the posts of the complicated woodwork to which the mussels cling, cuts the silken 

 threads by which these molluscs are attached, and having thus let them fall into the sea, 

 eats them at leisure. As is the case with the sand-hopper, the Corophium is greatly 

 persecuted by larger creatures, and is eaten in vast numbers by birds and many fishes. 



All the members of this genus can be recognised by the enormous dimensions of their 

 antennae, which are extremely thick at the base, and look much more like a very large 

 pair of legs than true antennae. 



A, B FLEMING'S HERMIT-SCREW. Phronima sodentdria. C, D. Dactyldcera Nicceensis. 



E, F. CADDIS SHRIMP. Cerapus tubuldris. 



WE now come to some very curiously shaped Crustacea, whose habits are fully as 

 remarkable as their forms. 



The two left-hand figures rn the accompanying illustration represent the same species 

 FLEMING'S HEKMIT-SCKEW, shown of its natural size above, and magnified below. It will 

 be seen that the creature is enclosed in a nearly oval and transparent sac, which is found 

 to be the body of one of the medusae. In this case it is a beroe which has been choseL 

 for this curious purpose. M. Eisso tells us that, like the argonauts and carinarise, these 

 creatures may be seen in calm weather voyaging along in their glassy boats, and rising 

 to the surface or sinking through the water at will. They live on animalculae, and for the 

 greater part of the year remain in the muddy depths of the ocean, ascending to the surface 

 in the spring. How they enter their habitations, and their general economy, are subjects 

 at present obscure. 



There are several species of Phronima, all inhabiting similar dwellings. Phronima 

 sentinella, for example, chooses the bodies of the sequorise and geronise for its home. These 

 creatures are called by the name of Hermit-screws on account of the solitary life which 

 they lead, each shut up in its cell or cocoon, as it may possibly be called. In all the 

 Hermit-screws, the head is large and vertical, with two little antennas, and the body is 

 soft, nearly transparent, and ends in a number of bristle-like appendages. All the legs 

 are long, slender, and apparently weak, except the fifth pair, both of which legs possess a 

 large and powerful claw, and are directed backward. 



A LITTLE crustacean belonging to an allied genus is not uncommon on our coasts. 

 It has habits of a somewhat similar nature, dwelling in the chambers within several 



