80 A Dredging Excursion. 



shades of yellow, and the sapphirine stripes which cover its 

 body and head ; look at the black tail-fin, and the finely arched 

 first ray of the fin on its back. Here is the spotted Goby, 

 Oobius minutus, if you turn him. over you will see under his 

 throat the disk by which he can attach himself to rocks and 

 stones; put him anywhere, he will live a long time out of 

 water. Here is the " stingfish," — get him over the side as soon 

 possible, touch him not, or you will find some of the poison 

 oozing out from each of his hairy hollow spines transferred 

 into your blood. There is a fine specimen of the male " masked 

 crab," Gorystes Oassivellaunus ; look at those long graceful 

 arms, and observe the mask on his carapace when you have 

 washed him; watch how he twirls and brushes those elegant 

 antennas, just as a modern dandy does his moustache. 



There, hopping about in a very lively style, are some long, 

 transparent, shrimp-like animals, their bodies beautifully 

 banded with dotted rings of golden amber, and each leg at the 

 joints similarly ornamented; how their antennae move about 

 as they are put into the water ; those triplet antennae with 

 brown bases, the ends like a whip, these are Squillce. Close to 

 them are numbers of Crangons, " common shrimp," and 

 Pandalus, or " Esop prawns ;" how unlike those yellow and red 

 animals which are such agreeable adjuncts to our tea-table ; 

 admire the notched keel of those " Esops," and their up- 

 turned points ; you had better put them by themselves, else 

 they will be eaten up by so many crabs. Here, hidden under 

 a stone, is a specimen of the " spotted gunnell," with a long, 

 ribbon-like body, which writhes away under the stones, it is 

 spotted along its upper side with brown dots, the dorsal fin 

 extending almost the whole length of the body, the anal for 

 two-thirds. That broad, ungainly-looking crab, stalking about 

 on those shells, is the c ' angular crab," Gonoplax angulatas ; his 

 eyes are set, as you see, on remarkably long stalks, and mark 

 the groove along which they lie when not in use ; what an awk- 

 ward companion he must be with those enormously long arms ! 

 Here are quantities of the common " cross fish," Uraster rubens ; 

 turn them over before you throw them away, you may find some 

 interesting bivalves sticking in their suckers. See there is one 

 with a fine glassy, almost transparent shell, Syndosmya alba ; 

 it is worth looking at at home : there is also a specimen of that 

 apparently shelless mollusc, Philline aperta, a fine specimen 

 for dissection. But here is something we have not seen before : 

 into the jar with him at once, and watch him ; the head seems 

 as large as the body, with large staring eyes at the side, the 

 neck considerably contracted, the body with two wing-like 

 appendages which wave through the water, enabling the little 

 creature to swim ; out of its head grow ten arms, eight of which 



