288 THE BIOLOGY OF THE SEA-SHORE 



e.g, the Lancashire and Essex coasts, it may support a fleet 

 of cutters which employ a trawl or a more or less similar 

 net. This method of shrimping is, however, not so much our 

 concern as the employment at low tide of the push-net or 

 the use of a horse and cart to pull the trawl, methods which 

 are worked from terra firma and so bring shrimping under the 

 head of a shore industry. The term " shrimping " includes, 

 of course, the taking of prawns, which latter name includes 

 a variety of species. The true prawn is Leander serratus and 

 is distinguished byits long serrated rostrum. Another species 

 which appears on the market is Pandalus montagui, known 

 on the Lancashire coast as the " Fleetwood prawn " or 

 shank or pink shrimp. It is said to prefer a more stony or 

 rocky substratum than the shrimp (Jenkins, 1920). Like 

 L. serratus it has a long serrated rostrum, but differs from it 

 in the characters of the first two pairs of walking legs ; 

 Leander squilla, with a much shorter and straighter rostrum 

 than the true prawn, and L. adspersus {L. fahricii) are said 

 to be sold on some parts of the English coast as " Cup 

 shrimps " (Caiman, 191 1). 



Echinoderms. — The body-wall of certain species of 

 large Holothurians or sea-cucumbers when dried and 

 prepared is eaten by the Chinese, who esteem it a great 

 deUcacy. This product is known on the market as " trepang " 

 or " beche-de-mer," and forms the basis of a valuable 

 industry. In the quest of this dainty the Chinaman has 

 penetrated from Japan in the north to Australia in the 

 south, and is continually pioneering the trade and intro- 

 ducing proper methods of curing. One of the bulletins of 

 the Madras Fisheries Department (Hornell, 1917) deals with 

 the future prospects of this industry in India. 



The gonads of another Echinoderm, Echinus esculentus, 

 are eaten in Italy and elsewhere and are regularly marketed 

 in Naples. One of us has derived amusement from watching 

 a number of children fishing up sea-urchins from the harbour 

 at Anzio, cracking the shell and devouring the contents 

 " senz' altro." 



Bait. — Certain shore- dwelling species acquire an economic 



