526 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



very beautiful objects in the marine aquarium, moving as they do 

 like shadows in the water. 



\V'hen ])ra\vns are boiled, they become of a delicate pink colour, 

 thus adding beauty to the dainty morceaux. 



Like most other kinds of Crustacea, the prawn is much larger in 

 tropical climates. On the coast of South America, for instance, they 

 attain a size of nine or ten inches in length, three of them being 

 considered quite sufficient for a meal. 



The London market is chiefly supplied with prawns from the Isle 

 of Wiglit and the Hampshire coast. 



Like the prawn, the shrimp has many varieties. The common 

 shrimp {Crangon vulgaris) is about two and a half inches long from 

 the eye to the extremity of the tail. It is also furnished with a 

 rounded articulated carapace, with two antennae. The eyes are 

 prominent, marked, and near each other ; the tail flat, laminated, and 

 liirsute. The shrimp is not very unlike the ])rawn in general appear- 

 ance, but is of a much less complex and finished structure. In 

 colour it is greyish brown, clotted all over with dark brown. 



This is one of the most abundant of all our coast crustaceans, 

 swimming about and resting on the sands (which they closely re- 

 semble in colour) in immense shoals. Sometimes they are also found 

 in deep water; but the margin of the sea is their favourite habitat. 

 It may be added that large quantities of the smaller Patemonidae 

 are caught with and sold as shrimps. Shrimps are in spawn all 

 the year through, and cast their shells during the three months of 

 spring. 



