790 CRUSTACEA — SHRIMP. 



THE SHRIMP.' 



Shkimfs possess long, slender feelers, and between them two thin, project- 

 ing laminse; the claws have a single hooked, moveable fang; they have 

 three pair of legs ; seven joints in the tail ; the middle caudal fin subulated, 

 the four others round and fringed ; a spine on the exterior side of each of 

 the outmost. These animals, which are of a delicate flavor, inhabit the 

 shores of Britain in vast quantities, ascend the rivers, and even find their 

 way into the ditches and ponds of salt marshes. Those caught in the sea 

 are, however much better than those of the rivers. They are also found in 

 the United States. 



THE PR AWN. 2 



The prawn is not unlike the shrimp, but exceeds it in size, being at least 

 three times as big ; and is more pleasing in color, it having, when boiled, 

 the most beautiful pink tmt all over its body. The flesh is better tasted than 

 that of the shrimp. It has a long horn in front of its head, compressed 

 vertically, which bends someAvhat upward, and is serrated both above and 

 below. Seaweeds, and the vicinity of rocks near the sliore, are the haunts 

 of the prawn, which, unlike the shrimp, seldom enters the mouths of rivers. 

 It usually swims on its back, but when in danger it throws itself on one 

 side, and springs backward to a considerable distance. 



1 The genus Cranston, or shrimp, has the anterior part of the legs largest, with a com- 

 pressed monodacty, "liand ; the second and third parts more slender ; the fourth and fifth 

 thicker ; exterior antennae setaceous, the length of the body ; the intermediate divided 

 into two filaments ; shell thin, semi-transparent, with a short rostrimi before. 



'■' Palcemon serrahis, Leach. 



