Notes ON COLLECTING OF THESE CRUSTACEA; AND THE MAMMALIAN 
AND AVIAN ENEMIES OF SHRIMPS! 
‘Shrimps are considered a favorite tidbit by all of the natives of the 
Belgian Congo whom we saw. Asarule, they are consumed while fresh 
after being boiled and seasoned. The larger kind (Palemonidz) are 
much relished by white men stationed here. 
“The headwaters of the Congo in the northeastern section of Bel- 
gian territory offer in this respect a particularly favorable hunting 
ground. Here the natives need not wait for the dry season. Although 
the shrimps are common in all of the larger streams, it is in the numerous 
shallow forest brooks. that they are caught most easily, as even heavy 
freshets swell them for only a few hours. 
‘To secure these shrimps a party of a dozen or more women and 
children erect a temporary dam at certain favorable places. Branches, 
sticks, large leaves, mud, and sand make this barrier fairly water-tight. - 
For the next few hours, as the section downstream from the structure 
runs dry the natives, of course, pick up everything eatable. The fish, 
crabs, and shrimps stranded there or hiding among and beneath rotten 
pieces of wood, branches, and leaves are rapidly collected. But real 
success comes with the bailing dry of the many pools and puddles still 
remaining. With small hand-nets of narrow meshes stretched on round 
wooden frames the natives scoop out whatever they can. Shrimps often 
hide in crevices on stony ground, or among roots and débris. Very often 
the largest shrimps (Paleemonidz) are taken in regular fish-traps baited 
with manioc. 
‘Another method is commonly observed along the large rivers. 
On the banks of the Congo near Stanleyville in September, at certain 
shallow places near the shore, where the water is nearly stagnant, masses 
of tiny, grayish, dark-speckled shrimps, Caridina togoensis Hilgendortf, 
swim about. Women stand in the water up to their hips catching these 
little creatures. Working in pairs, one drives the hosts of shrimps 
toward her partner’s small hand-net, which, after each successful dip, is 
emptied into the baskets hanging from their shoulders. 
“Among the mammalia the West African otter-shrew, Potamogale 
velox Du Chaillu, being an excellent swimmer and diver, plays greatest 
havoc with shrimps. Its stomach contents, and also its excrement 
deposited on stones projecting above the water or near the bank of the 
i pe er ne RT ME Te Te Te heme Te he 
iFor an account of general ecological conditions of the Congo Estuary and typical photographs 
therest, as well as of the Fiat ocniies farther inland, ef. Lang, in Rathbun, 1921, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist., XLIII, pp. 387-392, Pls. xv1, fig. 2, and LV-LXIVv. 
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