ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



LONG LEGS THROWN 

 OVER BACK 



IN POSSESSION OF A SNAILS 

 SHELL 



SWIMMING OFF WITH A 

 BIT OF FOOD 



marked that pike feeding upon such trout ac- 

 quire the same pinkness and delicacy in their 

 own flesh. (Whether a human being can devel- 

 op a pink complexion by feeding upon pike that 

 have fed upon trout that have fed upon shrimps. 

 has not been set down.) The adult shrimps 

 range in color from pale yellow to rich green, 

 with intermediate yellow, orange, brown, gray 

 and green tints and shades, the predominating 

 color being light green. Since they are not 

 pink, it is at first puzzling to know why a fish 

 feeding extensively on fresh-water shrimps 

 should acquire pink flesh, though even so care- 

 ful an observer as Agassiz averred that the 

 more fresh-water shrimps a trout consumed, the 

 redder it became. The heat of the stomach is 

 not sufficient to turn the shrimp pink, nor even 

 to kill it. as a fish's body temperature is low. 

 The shrimps are not killed by a temperature 

 lower than 9(i° and this degree of heat does 

 not change their color. Some turn white when 

 expiring from any cause whatsoever, but never 

 pink. Experiments with a mud minnow proved 

 that this small fish, not over two and a half 

 inches in length, would eat forty fresh-water 

 shrimps in an hour, soon after the end of which 

 time the heat of the stomach proved so low 

 and its aciditv so negligible, that thirty-two 



shrimps were found to be still alive and the 

 eight that had succumbed, cither from the action 

 of gastric juices or (more likely) from suffoca- 

 tion, were still green. 



The sea horse being practically limited to 

 skin and bones, we cannot tell wiiat color its 

 flesh might become had it any. Mr. William 

 Beebe advises that canaries fed on red pepper 

 become reddish, not because of the red in the 

 pepper, but from some chemical action, the pep- 

 per actually working quicker if first bleached 

 in the sun. But aside from the question of 

 coloring the flesh of its consumers, we know 

 that the shrimp furnishes an ideal and tooth- 

 some food for small fishes. This is especially 

 true in the case of the sea horse, which will cap- 

 ture dozens during the course of a day. snap- 

 ping them up with .a smack that literally re- 

 sounds. 



From the shrimp's point of view we are no 

 doubt falling into a common human error in 

 stating that it furnishes an ideal food; but it 

 seems to us ideal not only because it is tooth- 

 some to the sea horse, but because it is more 

 hardy in close confinement than the salt water 

 species (G. locusta), and remains active suffi- 

 ciently long in salt water to attract and tempt 

 the little fish, which can be induced to eat noth- 



A VICTIM OF CANNI- 

 BALS 

 Showing manner in whie 

 the murderers begin. 



ENJOYING THE VEGETATION 



e specimen at the left has found something to e 



hung himself up by three of his long legs, and 



is proceeding to despatch the tidbit. 



HEAD OF NEW-BORN 



VOl'NG 

 Showing 7 segments to each 

 antenna. 3 large eye -spots, 

 and connection of eye with 



