176 New York State Museum 



On and under stones in various situations occur 

 sponges, as the Sulphur Sponge, hydroids, bryozoans, 

 numerous worms of many kinds, anemones, the Star 

 Coral and Dead-Men's Fingers, the Red and Crimson Sea 

 Cucumbers, Sea Squirts, snails such as the Boat Shells, 

 bivalves such as Mussels, the Bloody Clam and Jingle 

 Shells etc. Incrusting shells are the same or similar 

 forms, such as the Red Sponge, the Boring Sponge, the 

 Star Coral and Dead-Men's Fingers, worms such as the 

 Shell Worm (Serpula), bryozoans such as the Lace Coral- 

 line and False Coral, the Chiton on dead oyster shells, 

 Boat Shells and Cup and Saucer Limpets (Crncibulum) 

 among the snails, Jingle Shells and Mussels among the 

 bivalves. 



Salt marshes have their peculiar life. Fiddler Crabs 

 are characteristic especially Uca pugnax which ranges 

 from Provincetown, Mass., to Georgia and is so abundant 

 that banks are completely honeycombed and undermined 

 by it. Then there are the Salt Marsh Snails (Melan- 

 pus bidendatus) . This species is most abundant upon the 

 stems of the salt marsh grass near high-tide mark from 

 Florida to Cape Cod and is common along the coasts of 

 Long Island and New Jersey. The shell is brown in 

 color and about the size and shape of a coffee berry. The 

 snail itself is a vegetable feeder, but is preyed upon by 

 crabs, sea birds etc. In the life of the salt marshes must 

 be included the life of the eel-grass in brackish waters 

 already touched upon in the discussion of muddy bottoms. 

 Crustaceans, worms, snails and bivalves occur, some of 

 the species the same as on muddy bottoms elsewhere, but 

 not in the same numbers or as great varieties. There are 

 several species of crabs that burrow along banks of 

 streams and ditches in the salt marshes and of these the 



