THE CHAMELEON-SHRIMP. 



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few 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 fisher- 

 men. It is a very beautiful little creature, being of a translucent white color, 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 neighborhood of 



GLASSY ERICTHUS.-Er/cttus vttreus. 

 ARMED ERICTHUS. Ericthus armatus. 

 CHAMELEON SHRIMP. Mysls chameleon. 



CLUB-HORNED PHYLLOSOME -Phyllosoma clavlcorae. 



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

 of tiny cyliriders. The greater number of Stomapods 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 coloring. It seems to alter according 

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

 are of a gray 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 young. 



