HABITS OF THE PRAWN. 369 



instant, and it darts rapidly here and there from the 

 surface throughout the path of its transit until it is 

 discovered ; and often, after it has been devoured, a 

 second prawn will, on reaching the same locality, 

 gain the scent, and hunt over every spot in search of 

 that which has been already removed, but which evi- 

 dently had left its odour behind. It has very often 

 occurred, that if some one of the Actiniae had been 

 first fed, the prawn, on gaining the scent, has tracked 

 the food to the Actinia and speedily rifled it of its 

 repast ; and in instances where the zoophyte had even 

 transferred its meal by means of its tentacula into 

 its pouch, the prawn has redoubled its efforts, and 

 frequently dragged the savoury morsel out of its very 

 stomach. This operation it effects in a very sur- 

 prising manner : the Palamon charges, without any 

 apparent fear, full on the extended disc of the Actinia, 

 the tentacula of which it keeps in constant play by 

 means of its three pairs of unarmed feet, while at the 

 same time one of the second, or larger pair of pre- 

 hensile feet, is thrust into the orifice of its maw, and 

 the food forcibly and quickly extracted. The only 

 chance the poor Actinia has of preventing this, and 

 securing its feast, appears to be by contracting the 

 whole of its tentacula together, so as to close entirely 

 all approach to its stomach. The energy with which 

 this attack is effected depends very much upon the 

 keenness of the prawn's appetite ; and in cases where 

 the Actinia is strong, and also very hungry, the con- 

 flict is often severe, and the aggression is sometimes, 

 though rarely, successfully repelled. 



The first pair of didactylous, or forceps-like feet of 



R5 



