CERTAIN CITIZENS OF THE WARM SEA 
159 
have another method of catching them, 
known as “bullying.” They drop over a 
sleeping turtle the “bully,” an iron hoop 
four feet in diameter covered with a net 
like the crown of a hat. The Turtle be¬ 
comes entangled in the meshes and is then 
easily brought to the surface. 
When alarmed, the Turtle will hide its 
head, much as the Ostrich is said to do, 
and then considers itself quite safe from 
observation. At the Miami Aquarium 
one of the turtle specimens has found a 
conveniently located hole in the rocks of 
its tank and spends most of the time with 
its head thrust in the opening, its body 
dangling outside. Scores of times visitors 
have rushed to the office of the director to 
inform him that one of his prize specimens 
was caught in a crevice and was strangling 
to death. 
THE CRAWFISH, PRIZED COUSIN OF THE 
NORTHERN LOBSTER 
Crustaceans play no mean part in the 
life of the sea. They cover a wide range 
in size, from the most minute of creatures 
to the great Japanese Crab of the western 
Pacific, whose claws have a spread of 15 
or 16 feet. High in the rank of the 
American crustaceans stands the Crawfish 
or Spiny Lobster {PanuUrus argus)^ of 
southern salt waters. It is smaller but of 
even a more delicate flavor than its 
northern cousin {Homarus americanus). 
This species should not be confounded 
with the fresh-water Crawfish, which is 
an entirely different form. 
The PanuUrus argus^ or Southern 
Lobster, is one of the largest of the crus¬ 
taceans known to inhabit the Atlantic, 
the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas 
and is generally conceded to be the most 
toothsome. Reaching at times the ex¬ 
treme length of four feet, the Crawfish 
provides an abundance of food material. 
Large numbers are shipped every year 
from the Florida markets. It dwells 
among the coral reefs and heads and is 
usually caught in traps baited with small 
fish, although “bullying” and spearing 
are also practiced to some extent (Color 
Plate, page 153). 
The Crawfish is not only a delicacy 
from the standpoint of human consump¬ 
tion, but is relished, too, by the inhabit¬ 
ants of the sea and is an excellent bait for 
most fish in the Florida waters. In the 
Miami Aquarium it is the staple food for 
nearly all kinds of fishes. Even the most 
purely herbivorous fishes eat, and appear 
to relish, the fine white flesh of the Craw¬ 
fish. 
Crawfish are easily kept in an aquarium 
and make an interesting exhibit. This is 
true particularly of the female during 
the spawning season, when she is busy, 
almost constantly, combing her eggs in her 
efforts to give her prospective progeny a 
fair start in the arduous life into which 
they are about to enter. The figure on 
the left (Color Plate, page 153) shows a 
specimen carrying her eggs. On the last 
leg may be noted a pincer, which is used 
in removing the dead eggs and debris 
which may adhere to the egg clusters. 
Large numbers of the eggs have been 
hatched and scientifically observed at the 
Miami Aquarium with a view to increas¬ 
ing this valuable food supply. 
At the Aquarium many laboratory tests 
are made of the structure and compo¬ 
sition of marine forms peculiar to local 
waters. Every stage in the life of fish 
is studied. Some interesting discoveries 
have been made, and others will undoubt¬ 
edly follow, whereby man will benefit. 
More and more are the peoples of the 
earth looking to the sea for sustenance 
and even for leather substitutes and 
various other products. Science has 
helped much in garnering the sea’s valu¬ 
able materials for the use of the land’s 
dominant animal. 
Whether looked upon merely as poten¬ 
tial food in a world in which food is be¬ 
coming relatively scarcer; as interesting 
or beautiful creatures worthy of study 
and admiration, or as furnishing the ma¬ 
terial for a thrilling sport, the fish of the 
southern Gulf Stream are receiving more 
and more attention, from the all-too- 
small group of distinguished ichthyolo¬ 
gists who specialize in this investigation. 
Ages before Izaak Walton wrote of 
the fascination of catching fish only large 
enough to bob a tiny cork, the lure ex- 
