68 



THE WONDER OF LIFE 



trations of that. One of the British starfishes, Asterias 

 miilleri, seems to skip the usual free-swimming larval stage, 

 for a specimen has been seen on the shore with the 

 miniature young ones crawling about on their mother's 

 body, as shown in the subjoined figure of one of the Chair 

 lenger starfishes. The marine leech, or skate-sucker, lays 



Fig. 22. — A starfish, Leptoptychaster herguelensis, with the young ones 

 (y), clambering about on the mother, the free-swimming larval stage 

 having been suppressed. {After the ChaMenger Report. ) 



its eggs in the empty shell of a bivalve mollusc, and mounts 

 guard over them week after week, carefully removing any 

 mud or debris that might smother them. In a number 

 of shore crustaceans the young are carried about by the 

 mother, and may move about on her body in a very quaint 



