THE LIVING WORLD. 
45 
EDIBLE PRAWN. 
A yellow, oriental member of the snail family takes his outings under the 
shade of an umbrella, which fact has given rise to its name of the Indian 
Umbrella. 
The Argulus Foliaceus is a parasite living upon various fishes, chief among 
which is the stickleback. 
The Ravina Dentata, or Frog Crab, resembles in body the common frog,, 
although able to draw into its shell. 
Edible Prawn (Pa/iemon serratus ) is a name given to a species of shrimp 
abounding in the northern latitudes, and may be met with even in the ice 
fields of the Arctic regions. It was upon these creatures that Lieut. Greeley 
and his companions subsisted for a time during their desperate privations. 
This creature is the handsomest of his genus, and is frequently made a pris¬ 
oner to enhance the beauties of the 
aquarium, as well as more commonly 
cooked to charm the appetite of those 
who can afford such luxuries. Its body 
is translucent, streaked with brown, pink 
and gray, while the eyes are tinted with 
orange, purple and blue, producing a 
most exquisite effect as it darts through 
the water, or rises to catch a morsel of 
food. Like all of the crawfish family, the female carries her eggs about within 
a fold at the intersection of the caudal scale with the body, and retains them 
until the brood appears. It is a carnivorous creature with most voracious 
appetite, ready to devour not only putrid flesh and offal, but to attack and eat 
its own species, in which respect it is identical with crabs, crawfish and lobsters. 
Shrimps are used very extensively for food, but larger numbers are taken 
for bait, since nearly all kinds of fish bite eagerly at such morsels. There are 
thousands of persons engaged regularly in the work of shrimp-catching, the 
most general means employed being by arranging a wide-mouthed net, which 
is dragged over the sand at a depth of two feet, shrimps being invariably found 
near the shore and in shallows. 
The Opossum Shrimp ( Mysis vulgaris) 
receives its common name from a pouch 
attached to the legs of the abdomen; this 
pouch, like that of the opossum, is used as 
a nest for the eggs, or for the young so 
long as they require parental care. It is 
specially abundant in the Arctic Sea, but species are found on the Southern 
coasts. 
The true Shrimp, or Prawn ( Crangon vulgaris or Palemon vulgaris ), is 
esteemed a great delicacy by lovers of fish, and is a staple especially in South¬ 
ern markets. Our marvellous facilities for transportation are rapidly obliterat¬ 
ing distinctions of climate, and even persons of small means may now experi¬ 
ment upon what but a short time since were the fruits .- "" 
almost fabulous life. Necessarily, this multiplies 
plants and animals contribute to man’s support 
simply being fed upon. ... , r • i j *. 
The Wall Worm ( Oniscus muranus ) is singular from its special adapta- 
OPOSSUM SHRIMP. 
and delicacies of an 
human industries so that 
in other senses than that of 
