THE CRUSTACEANS 



89 



Fig. 56: COMMON SHRIMP. 

 From Life. Cape -\nn, 



Slassacliusetts. 



fislies are crawling forms. The forward part of the body is en- 

 cased in a delicate shell called the carapace, while the a])domen is 

 segmented and bends sharply downward 

 instead of being in line with the carapace 

 as in the lobsters. This gives a broken- 

 backed appearance to the shrimps. The 

 feelers, eve-stalks, legs and feathery gills 

 are often remarkably long, and there are 

 apt to be little claws on several pairs of 

 legs. The last two segments of tlie abdo- 

 men bear flapper-like appendages wliich 

 constitute a powerful swimming organ. 

 While the shrimps are most abundant in 

 shallow water along the seacoast, there are 

 also many deep water forms, and a few live 

 in fresh water. They feed upon iDoth ani- 

 mal and vegetable matter, and are them- 

 selves devoured by hosts of fislies and other 

 marine animals. Shrimps possess a deli- 

 cate flavor which renders them a favorite food, and almost all 

 of the large species are sold in the markets. The shallow water 

 species are protectively colored, matching the bottom upon which 

 they live, but the deep sea forms are some of them rich scarlet, and 

 are especially distinguished by their vexv long, delicate antemife and 

 appendages, which probably serve as organs of touch in feeling 

 their way over the dark floor of the ocean. 



Shrimps are known to science as the Sehizopoda. This name 

 is given on account of the forked appendages of the thorax, where 

 the inner branch of each appendage is a jointed leg, while the outer 

 fork is a feathered gill which projects freely into the water. 



The Common Shrimp, fCi-angon vithia]'is, Fig. 50 ), is found fronr 

 North Carolina to Labrador, and from Alaska to California. It is 

 especially abundant along the sandy shores of Chesapeake Bay and 

 the coast of New England, north of Cape Cod. 



The shrimp may be recognized by its broad, flat, scale-like 

 expansions at the bases of the antennw. It grows to be about two 

 inches long, and is protectively colored, matching the bottom upon 

 which it lives. It is extremely abundant in shallow water, but will 



