CRUSTACEAN GOSSIP FROM GREAT YARMOUTH. 333 



Shrimp," has been extremely abundant this summer. I sat 

 down with Jary, the Breydon watcher, in his Noah's Ark, one 

 afternoon, to a dish of " shrimps," which were mostly P. squilla 

 and P. varians, and found them not bad eating, considering the 

 odd things they find to feed on in a tidal water, and having been 

 boiled in water that it would hardly do to analyse. It was 

 getting hack to Nature! Of Porcellana longicornis I received 

 several examples, and found Stenorhynchus tenuirostris and S. 

 plialangium common enough ; and on asking a shrimper to get 

 me a few Pear Crabs (Hyas araneus), he supplied me with 

 one morning's take of nearly a bucketful ! H. coarctatus has 

 been abundantly met with, individuals being remarkably weed- 

 adorned. 



f -r- -»- ',- ',- t- =t? ',- 



I rambled along Breydon banks on May 6th, and made a big 

 haul of Shore-hoppers (Orchestia littorea) ; they swarmed under 

 every bit of drift. I also secured some examples of Idotea 

 pelagica, a very lively little customer. On the 8th I walked six 

 miles in search of I. tricuspidata, and secured — one ! Hippolyte 

 cranchii turned up several times in May ; and on asking one or 

 two of the shrimpers to examine their " riddlings " (they usually 

 drop the small Shrimps through their sieves into the river), they 

 furnished me with dozens ! And among the smaller species I 

 was pleased also to detect Hippolyte varians a number of times, 

 occasionally in berry. The Banded Shrimp (Crangon fasciatus) 

 came to hand sometimes as many as ten in one day. Having 

 urged my friends to watch the Crabs a bit, I had a hairy little 

 fellow, with disproportionately large pincer claws, brought me 

 on May 14th. His sturdy build and brown-barred legs and other 

 " distinctions" satisfied me that I was in the presence of Xantho 

 rivulosus, known to our shrimpers as the "ross"-crab ("ross" is 

 local for rough ground, where big stones and sabella are abun- 

 dant). I secured from them a number of this species, both 

 males and females, which did not hitherto figure on my East 

 Norfolk list. Two or three Edible Crabs (Cancer pagurus), no 

 larger than horse-beans, have come to hand, with some young 

 Lobsters, no bigger than ordinary-sized "Brown" Shrimps. 

 Whilst discussing Shrimps at the tea-table on May 29th, I 

 discovered Hippolyte pandalaformis ; length, 1| in. Pandalus 



