RABH AM : MARINE ZOOLOGY OF SCARBOROUGH. 8* 



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a small cluster of eight or nine Lepas a nut if era (Ship or Goos< 



Barnacle). The Acorn Barnacle (Ba/anus balanoidcs) so common 

 on all rocks, submerged piles, etc., is known to everyone- I had 



brought to me a large specimen of the shell Fusus auti/uus, on 

 which were a flourishing colony of exceedingly large Acorn Barnacles, 

 one of them measuring five inches in circumference at the base, 

 which must have proved a veritable 'old man of the sea' to the 

 unfortunate Fusus if he had to crawl through life with such nn 

 incubus on his back. (2) Of Isopods, the swift-footed Ligea oceanica 

 is to be found amongst the large boulders in Cayton Bay. (3) Of 

 Decapods, Macrura, the Sand-hopper (Talitrus locust a) is to be found 

 in great numbers, and the entrances of its little burrows are to be 

 seen plentifully in the sand. The Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) seem- 

 to be getting scarcer every year on the Yorkshire coast, and the 

 Prawn (Palatum serratus) is few and far between. The common 

 Lobster {Homarus vulgaris) still seems to keep up its numbers, and 

 the Blue or Spinous Galathea (Galathea strigosd) is occasionally 

 caught in the lobster-pots, but when preserved the colours fade, and 

 ^ive one very little idea of its beauty when alive. (4) Of Decapods, 

 Brachyura, Eupagurus bernhardus (the Hermit Crab) is to be found 

 everywhere, and of all sizes. The Great Crab ( Cancer pagurus), the 

 Shore or Dog Crab (Carcinus m&na$\ are common. The Velvet 

 Swimming Crab (Portunus puber) and the Masked Crab (Corystcs 

 cassivelaunus) are rarer, as is also Hyas araneus and Stenorhyncltus 

 phalangium (the Spider Crab). Some fine specimens of the Northern 

 Stone, or King Crab, as the fishermen call it (Lithodes main), are got 

 n the trawl-nets. Of Cephalopods, the Common Calamarv (Loligo 

 vulgaris), known to the fishermen as 'Squid, 5 and much used for 

 bait, is the commonest. The Octopus {Octopus vulgaris) is the next 

 most common species, and the Cuttle-fish (Sepia vulgaris) is the 

 rarest. It is from this last that the true Cuttle-fish bone is obtained 

 which, when ground up, is largely used in the legal profession for 

 rubbing over sheets of parchment to make them easier to write 

 on and retain the ink better. It is then known as ' pounce.' It is 



1 used in some patent foods for caged birds. The & arborough 



-triet is not a good or prolific coast for sea shells, though some of 

 the species that do occur grow to a great si/.e. I have mentioned 

 above a large Fusus antiqums. I also had a large Patwpaa 

 norvegica and a very large Cyprina islandica brought to me, the 

 former taken in a trawl-net, and the latter captured on one of the 

 books of a long line set for cod; and I have en some huge Horse 



-Mussels (Modiola), covered with the pretty zoophyte Sertularia 



Ucula. It is a curious thing that the Common .Mussels here only 





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