ANIMAL LIFE IN PONDS & STREAMS 



engulfed. Within the flesh of the fish they go 

 through a series of changes; they lose their teeth 

 and their tell-tale thread, they become in fact minia- 

 tures of the adult mussels, then they manage to 

 escape from the fish, settle down in the mud and 

 fend for themselves. 



The crabs and lobsters which we know so well 

 have fresh water relatives in nearly every pond. 

 Many of the creatures we have examined have 

 needed careful search to discover their whereabouts ; 

 not so the fresh water Crustacea, as they are called. 

 Their activity, their curious movements in the water 

 compel attention. 



The fresh water shrimp is a curious little creature, 

 sometimes he paddles his three pairs of hind legs 

 and sometimes he jerks his body in a ludicrous 

 manner, in either case he manages to propel himself 

 rapidly through the water. He is about half an inch 

 long, brown in colour and with a curved body not 

 unlike a shrimp. If we examine him under the 

 microscope we notice that his front legs are bent 

 forwards, whilst his hind legs are bent backwards. 

 The male water flea is much larger than the female, 

 a fact which probably accounts for the fact that 

 these little animals often carry their wives about 

 with them by seizing them with their fore legs. 



The water louse we may also encounter, he is not 

 nearly so interesting as the fresh water shrimp. He 

 is closely related to the wood louse which we all 

 know, and has a similar flattened body. 



Very much smaller though exen more interesting 



79 



