4698 Crustacea. 



of short hairs standing out at right angles to the claw. The power of 

 motion with which these are endued is most wonderful, and their use- 

 fulness is applied in every conceivable direction, — around the eyes, 

 and among the apparently complicated apparatus of mandibles, anten- 

 nae and palpi, at the head, within or beneath the carapace, and for 

 some distance between it and the body, particularly when the period 

 of moulting is approaching; also for the cleansing of the abdominal 

 false feet or swimming webs and the expanded lobes of the tail : and 

 the appearance of the prawn during the execution of the brushing or 

 scrubbing operation at these more distant parts is grotesque in the 

 extreme ; the body is supported and raised high on the four pair of 

 legs, the abdominal part and tail being curved forward between them, 

 so that the whole posterior division of the creature can be brought 

 within the reach of the first pair of feet, and thus the necessary 

 cleansing operation be readily effected. 



When in full swimming action, the appearance of these beautifully 

 transparent creatures is most elegant. The front feet are generally 

 laid backward and tucked under the body, like the fore legs of the 

 deer tribe in the act of leaping; the long and delicate antennae stream 

 gracefully on each side of its body, and float for some distance beyond 

 its entire length, while its strong abdominal paddles propel it rapidly 

 through the water. In the aquarium under consideration, the whole 

 of these elegant creatures were in the habit, on the summer evenings, 

 of careering to and fro for upwards of an hour's duration, close to the 

 glass front of the case and towards the room, presenting a most 

 pleasing object, and one which must be observed in order to be appre- 

 ciated, as no description can convey an adequate idea of the interesting 

 scene. 



It is also a curious and striking phenomenon to observe these Palae- 

 monidae by the aid of a lighted candle or lamp in a dark room during 

 the night, in consequence of the bright reflection of the luminous body 

 from their prominent pedunculated eyes ; and as the prawn does not 

 retain a stationary position, but slowly roams about through the water 

 and over the rock-w T ork seeking for its food, it adds an increased inte- 

 rest to the appearance to behold these small globes of bright light, 

 like the bull's-eye signal-lamps of a miniature railway engine looming 

 through the distance in a dark night, moving slowly along, the body 

 of the creature being quite imperceptible, and nothing visible but 

 these pairs of globular balls of fire shining from out the dark water. 

 Even the small eyes of an allied species, that remarkable little crusta- 

 cean the Athanas nitescens, exhibit the same effect, although, from 



