TIIK MANTIS SHIM Ml'. 823 



arc very a1>iiinlaiit at all times dining warm weather, they can be profitably caught for the 

 market. Barrataria Bay, of the Louisiana coast, ami CiaheMon :nnl Matagorda Bays, of the 

 Te\a- coast, are notable (daces for the shrimp fishery. The fact that these bays afford unusually 

 good feeding grounds and hiding places for the Shrimp will undoubtedly explain (heir great 

 abundance there. Shrimp of marketable size average about four inches in length. Their color 

 tends to imitate that of the bottom on which they dwell. New Orleans and Galveston are the 

 only .itics of the Gulf coast which engage in the shrimp trade." 



227. THE MANTIS SHRIMPS SQUILLIDJE. 



THE MANTIS SHRIMP, OB SEA MANTIS SQUILLA EMPUSA, Say. 



"The Squilla empuAa is a very interesting creature, whose habits are still imperfectly known. 

 It is often thrown on the beaches by the waves, and probably it usually burrows in the mud below 

 low-water mark, but in certain localities it has been found burrowing at or near low-water mark of 

 spring tides, forming large, irregular holes. The very curious, free-swimming young were often 

 taken in the towing-nets. Large specimens are eight or ten inches long and about two broad. 

 The body is not so stoutly built as that of the Lobster, and the carapax or shell is much smaller and 

 softer, while the abdomen is much larger and longer in proportion. The legs and all the other 

 organs are quite unlike those of the Lobster, and the last joint of the great claw, instead of forming 

 a pair of pincers with the next, is armed with a row of six sharp, curved spines, which shut into 

 corresponding sockets, arranged in a groove in the next joint, which also bears smaller spines. 

 By means of this singular organ they can hold their prey securely, and can give a severe wound 

 to the human hand, if handled incautiously. It also uses the stout caudal appendages, which are 

 armed with spines, very effectively. The colors of this species are quite vivid, considering its 

 mud-dwelling habits. The body Js usually pale green or yellowish green, each segment bordered 

 posteriorly with darker green and edged with bright yellow; the tail is tinged with rose and 

 mottled with yellow and blackish; the outer caudal lamella? have the base and spines white, the 

 last joint yellow, margined with black ; the inner ones are black, pale at base; the eyes are bright 

 emerald-green ; the inner antenna are dark, with a yellow band at the base of each joint ; and the 

 flagellum is annulated with black and white." 1 



This species of Squilla ranges from Cape God to Florida, but from its habit of remaining most 

 of the time in its burrows it is not very commonly known or met with on the sea-shore, though it 

 is probably very abundant in some localities. 



The Mediterranean species of Squilla are generally found at considerable depths ; they live 

 in sandy places, where they can easily procure their food, which seems to consist chiefly of annelids 

 and fragments of the Actinia effceta. According to Kisso, the females when they wish to deposit 

 their eggs, which they have under their aftdominal appendages, retire to rocky places. The 

 ,sv/ /// are timid, avoiding danger; they swim much after the fashion of Lobsters."* In Euro|>e 

 wherever Squilta can be found in sufficient numbers it is much esteemed as food, and the American 

 species would probably be as wholesome. On the shores where it abounds it might easily be 

 obtained by digging, and from deej>er water by means of the rake dredge. 



Two other species of Squilla Squilla dubia and Ijyriogquilla glabriuscula also occur on the 

 coasts of the Southern States, where one or more of these three species are said to be used as 

 bait to some extent. 



1 VERRILL: Vineyard Sound Report, 1871-'T2. 

 'WHITK: Popular History of the British Crustacea, 1857. 



