CRUSTACEANS. 
477 
an unfortunate mussel, holds the valve open with one claw, while with 
the other it rapidly detaches the animal, carrying each morsel to the 
mouth, as one might do with the hand, until the shell is entirely 
empty. The crab does not kill its prey directly, like the lobster ; it is 
swallowed also, but with greater appreciation. 
M. Charles Lespes surprised upon the shore at Eoyan a shoal 
of crabs at their repast. This day they seemed to have dined in 
common, and “ God knows the enjoyment,” as the good Fontaines said. 
They were in rows, every head turned to the same side, and nearly 
on end on their eight feet. They seized the small objects on the 
shore, which were earned to the mouth, each hand in its turn in 
regular order: when the right hand reached the mouth the left 
was on the ground. Let us just figure to oneself a company of 
disciplined soldiers messing together from the same plate ! 
The Long-horned Corophius (Corojphium longieorne), remarkable fol- 
ds long antennae, knows perfectly well how to cut the byssus by which 
the mussels suspend themselves, in order that the bivalve may fall on 
the weeds among them. Other Crustaceans, also great oyster-eaters, 
have the cunning or instinct to attack the mollusc without exposing 
themselves to danger. When the bivalve half opens its shell to enjoy 
the rays of the sun or take food, the evil-disposed Crustacean slips a 
stone between the valve. This done, it devours the poor inhabitant of 
the shell at its leisure. 
The Corophius, respecting whom this question is hazarded, are 
extremely numerous on the shores of the Atlantic towards the end of 
summer and autumn. They make constant war upon certain marine 
worms. Off the coast ol La Rochelle they may be seen in myriads 
beating the muddy bottom with their long antennae in search of their 
prey. Sometimes they meet one of these Nereida or Areriicola many 
times their own size, when they unite in a body to attack it. In the 
oyster-beds of La Rochelle they are useful friends to the oyster by 
destroying these enemies, although they do not hesitate to attack the 
mollusc when it comes in then- way. During tho winter the mud of 
the bouchots gets piled up in unequal heaps, and when the warm 
season returns, it has become hard and unfit for the cultivation of the 
mollusc. It is necessary to level and dry these mud-heaps— a process 
which would be both difficult and costly. Well, the Corophia charge 
themselves with the task. They plough up annually many square 
