ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1465 



Left: SQUID {LOLIGO PEALII) JUST HATCHED. 

 Right: ADULT. 



nevertheless, that he possesses a diminutive, 

 segmented abdomen. This being flexible, serves 

 as a valuable little rudder during his migra- 

 tions through the water. 



It is not until after the crab has acquired his 

 adult shape that he abandons the joys and risks 

 of travel in the open sea, though countless ene- 

 mies are there with gaping jaws, ready to swal- 

 low many thousands of zoaeas and megalops 

 at a single gulp. But when he recognizes at 

 last that he is a crab — and the increasing weight 

 of his shell forces this knowledge upon him — 

 he drops to the floor of the ocean, engaging 

 thenceforward in his favorite game of "hide and 

 seek." 



A mother toadfish lays her eggs in a recep- 

 tacle, if she can find one, and entertains strong- 

 prejudices in favor of rusty old tin saucepans, 

 which are not infrequently to be found on the 

 bottom of the ocean off our eastern coast. 



Left: ZOAEA STAGE OF CRAB— JUST HATCHED. 

 Right: ADULT CRAB. 



The toadfish is one of the species in which 

 the parent, commonly the male fish, guards the 

 fishlets and even corrals them, the better to 

 drive off hungry intruders. The father toad- 

 fish swims into the pan where the eggs have 

 been laid and rests devotedly upon them till 

 after the young hatch, for all the world like a 

 brooding bird on its nest. The fishlets are 

 weighted down for some days after hatching, by 

 the heavy yolk sac which furnishes them with 

 highly nutritious food until they can shift for 

 themselves. They soon grow tired dragging 

 around the bulk of food, and are content to lie 

 still and absorb the nourishment which Nature 

 has thus provided. 



It was John Bright's brother Thomas who 

 wondered "where, considering what charming- 

 things children are, all the queer old men come 

 from." And his observation might be applied 

 with equal aptitude — phj^sically, at least — to 

 some of the fish families. When one compares 

 an attractive young toadfish just out of the egg 

 with its formidable-looking parent, he cannot 

 fail to marvel at the curious transitions which 

 will gradually change the expressionless little 

 face into a countenance of such unmistakable 

 and consummate ugliness. But, as all lovers of 

 animals well know, ugliness is in itself a charm. 



The manatee from the Upper Amazon (Man- 

 atus inunc/uis) received last July is as active as 

 ever. It is the only lively and really sociable 

 and friendly manatee ever brought to the 

 Aquarium. 



Left: MARINE WORM (8ERPULA DIANTHUS) FOUR 



DAYS OLD. Right: ADULT MARINE WORM 



IN ITS LIMESTONE SHELL. 



Left: TOADFISH (OPS ANUS TAU) JUST HATCHED. 

 Right: ADULT TOADFISH. 



