526 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
very beautiful objects in the marine aquarium, moving as they do 
like shadows in the water. 
When prawns are boiled, they become of a delicate pink colour, 
thus adding beauty to the dainty morceauzx. 
Like most other kinds of crustacea, the prawn is much larger in 
tropical climates. On the coast of South America, for instance, they 
attain a size of nine or ten inches in length, three of them being 
considered quite sufficient for a meal. 
The London market is chiefly supplied with prawns from the Isle 
of Wight and the Hampshire coast. 
Like the prawn, the shrimp has many varieties. The common 
shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) is about two and a half inches long from 
the eye to the extremity of the tail. It is also furnished with a 
rounded articulated carapace, with two antennz. The eyes are 
prominent, marked, and near each other ; the tail flat, laminated, and 
hirsute. The shrimp is not very unlike the prawn in general appear- 
ance, but. is of a much less complex and finished structure. In 
colour it is greyish brown, clotted all over with dark brown. 
This is one of the most abundant of all our coast crustaceans, 
swimming about and resting on the sands (which they closely re- 
semble in colour) in immense shoals. Sometimes they are also found 
in deep water; but the margin of the sea is their favourite habitat. 
It may be added that large quantities of the smaller Palemonide 
are caught with and sold as shrimps. Shrimps are in spawn all 
the year through, and cast their shells during the three months of 
spring. 
