INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS or VINKVAKD SOUND, ETC. 1 (J!) 



cies is yellowish brown in color. The larva of a fly belonging to the Moa- 



cid;e, and growing to the length of three- quarters of an inch, occur- 

 beneath the sand at low-water mark, and was also dredged off-shore in 

 three or lour fathoms of water. 



In the shallow waters and on the flats the common shrimp, Cranf/<ni 

 rnlyai'is, (p. 339, Plate III, fig. 10,) is always to be found in abundance 

 where the water is not too much freshened by the rivers. The prawn, 

 J'ultnnonetes vulgaris, (p. 339, Plate II, fig. 9,) is also frequent on the sandy 

 bottoms, though more abundant among the eel-grass, and this species 

 extends Car up the estuaries into the mouths of rivers, where the water 

 is but little salt. 



The most abundant Annelids are Nereis virens, (Plate XI, figs. 47-50,) 

 3T. limbata, (Plate XI, fig. 51,) Rhynchobolus dibranchiatus, (Plate X, figs 

 43, 44,) B. Americanus, (Plate X, figs. 45, 46,) and Scolecolepis viridis V., 

 (p. 345,) all of which burrow in the sand at low-water mark in the same 

 way as on the shores of the sounds. 



Under vegetable debris and stones, at high-water mark, the Halo- 

 drillus littoraUs (p. 324) and Clitellio irroratus (p. 324) occur in abun- 

 dance. The Lumbriculus tenuis burrows among the roots of grass at 

 high- water mark. 



The most abundant Gastropod shells are llyanassa obsoleta, (Plate 

 XXI, fig. 13,) Tritia trivittata, (Plate XXI, fig. 112,) Blttium nigrum, 

 (Plate XXIY, fig. 154,) Astyris lunata, (Plate XXI, fig. 110,) which occur 

 on the flats and on the bottom in shallow water, but all are more com- 

 mon among eel-grass. The Melampus bidentatus (Plate XXV, figs. 169, 

 169a) is very abundant among the grass and weeds at and just above 

 high-water mark. It contributes largely to the food of the minnows 

 and other small fishes, as well as to that of many aquatic birds. The 

 Crcpidula convexa (Plate XXIII, fig. 128}is frequent on the dead shells 

 occupied by the small hermit-crab, Eupagurus l-ongicarpus, (p. 313,) 

 which is abundant, running over the bottom in shallow water. 



The most abundant bivalves are the long clam, Mya arenaria, (Plate 

 XXVI, fig. 179,) and Macomafwca, (Plate XXX, fig. 222.) These both 

 occur burrowing in the sand between tides, and both occur far up the 

 estuaries, where the water is very brackish, but they are most abun- 

 dant where there is a mixture of sand and mud. In the estuaries the 

 long clam is extremely abundant all along the coast from New Jersey 

 to the Arctic Ocean, as well as on all the northern coa sts of Europe 

 It also occurs south of Cape Hatteras, as at Beaufort, North Carolina, 

 but in greatly diminished numbers. North of New York it is very ex- 

 tensively used as an article of food. North of Cape Cod it is the com- 

 mon "clam " of the fishermen ; and north of Boston it almost entirely 

 displaces, in the markets, the u round-clam, 77 or " quahog," Venus mer- 

 <r)i'iri, which is the common clam at New York and farther south. 

 Along the southern coast of New England both species are abundant, 

 and both are sold in large quantities in the markets. South of New 



