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ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY

ITHACA, N. Y.

Cornell University Library

QL 122.M46

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SEA-SHORE LIFE.
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Kew Pork Aquarium ature Series

SEA-SHORE LIFE

THE INVERTEBRATES OF
THE NEW YORK COAST

BY

ALFRED GOLDSBOROUGH MAYER

Direcror or tHe Marrye Brotroctcat Lanorarory or THE

‘ 1 ‘
Carnecie Insvirurion ar TorvruGas, FLoripa

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK AND CHICAGO

THE A. 5. BARNES COMPANY
1916
COPYRIGHT 1905
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

EDITED AND ARRANGED BY E. R. SANBORN.
PRINTED BY FRANK PRESBREY CO.
ADVERTISEMENT

The present work is the first of the New York Aquarium
Nature Series. It is designed chiefly as an aid to the study of
the marine invertebrate life of the region about New York. It
will be found a valuable reference book for visitors studying
the collections of the Aquarium, as the species herein considered
are very largely those which may be seen there alive, from
time to time. The book is a gift of the author to the New York
Zoological Society, and the proceeds from all sales are devoted to
the increase of the collections of the Aquarium.

C. H. TOWNSEND,

Director of the Aquarium.
OFFICERS
OF THE
New york Zoological Socictp

President
HON. LEVI P. MORTON

First Vice-President Second Viee-President
HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN JOHN L. CADWALADER

Executive Committee

CHARLES T. BARNEY, Chairman

HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN MADISON GRANT
JOHN S. BARNES WILLIAM WHITE NILES
PHILIP SCHUYLER SAMUEL THORNE

LEVI P. MORTON, Bx-Oficio

Secretary Treasurer
MADISON GRANT PERCY R. PYNE
J1 Wall St. 52 Wall St.
Director of the Zoological Park Director of the Aquarium
WILLIAM T. HORNADAY CHARLES H. TOWNSEND
183d St. and Southern Boulevard Battery Park

Aquarium Committee

CHARLES H. TOWNSEND, Chairman
CHARLES L. BRISTOL, University of New York
WILLIAM E. DAMON
CHARLES B. DAVENPORT, Director Biological Laboratory,
Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.
BASHFORD DEAN, Columbia University
ALFRED G. MAYER, Tortugas Laboratory of Carnegie Institution
THOMAS H. MORGAN, Columbia University
ROSWELL MORSE SHURTLEFF
EDMUND B, WILSON, Columbia University
PREFACE

Apes little work attempts to present in clear, untechnical lan-

guage, a description, accompanied by photographs, of the larger
and more conspicuous marine invertebrates of the coast of New York
State. In order to increase the general usefulness of the work,
however, accounts of the habits of a few creatures from other re-
gions are introduced. Such are: Commercial sponges, crayfishes,
the spiny lobster, the edible shrimp, the orchid land-crab, fresh-
water mussels, the giant clam, the pearl oyster, the giant squid,
and the chambered nautilus. <A brief description of some of our
common ‘sea squirts,” or tunicates, is also given on account of
their interesting position among primitive vertebrates.

This work is intended for readers who may be unfamiliar with
the technical terms in use among specialists, and consequently
such terms have been avoided whenever a simple English equival-
ent could be substituted.

Its aim is to increase intelligent interest in the habits and life-
histories of our marine animals, and to disseminate a knowledge of
their appearance and relationships. It is not a textbook of syste-
matic zoology.

It is designed to be of use to the beginner, and with the hope
that a perusal of its pages may stimulate to further study, many

yeferences to works in the English language of a more thorough
10 PREFACE

and pretentious character are given. We hope that it may thus
serve as a stepping-stone to those whose love of nature may lead
them to achieve to that greater delight in her works which can
come only through long and thoughtful study of her manifold
forms and wonderful ways.

Lastly we hope that these pages may serve to render the col-
lections of the Aquarium, and of the Natural History Museums of
New York and Brooklyn more intelligible, and to aid, even if it be
but little, in the educational work which it is the high mission of
these institutions to perform.

It gives the author sincere pleasure to express his gratitude to
the authorities of the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
Sciences in allowing him to take photographs of specimens upon
exhibition within the Museum.

Of the 119 figures; 111 are derived from photographs of living
or dead specimens, while eight are taken from hitherto unpublished
illustrations. Of the illustrations; three representing a coral reef
of the Bahamas, the giant squid, and the American octopus are from
paintings by Herbert B. Judy, Esq. The originals are on exhibi-
tion at the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.
Five illustrations are from drawings by the author. Of the 111
photographs of animals; one, that of Sagartia leucolena was pre-
sented by Mr. William F. Patterson, while the remainder were

taken by the author.
NOTE

The present work is the first of the New York Aquarium
Nature Series. It is designed chiefly as an aid to the study of
the marine invertebrates of the region about New York, but on
account of the wide distribution of the species found along our
shores it is applicable to the Atlantic coast generally. While it
is primarily a book for the seaside, it will be found a valuable
reference book for visitors studying the collections of the Aqua-
rium, as the species herein considered are very largely those
which may be seen there alive from time to time.

Although the work will be accepted as authoritative from a
scientific point of view, having been prepared by a professional
zoologist of the highest standing, it is popular in character. It
presents the facts of modern zoological investigation so clearly
that it will be attractive to the general reader as well as to the
nature student and teacher. The illustrations are mostly from
photographs taken by the author of living specimens in the New
York Aquarium and elsewhere.

The book is a gift of the author to the New York Zoological
Society, and the proceeds from its sale are devoted to the publica-
tion fund of the Aquarium.

C. H. TOWNSEND,

Director of the Aquarium.
ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE

70
71
12
73.
74
75

7

oo

89
90
91
92
93,
95
96

GULF-WEED Crap

Jona Cras; Rook Cras

frMALE Oyster Cras .

Guost Crap

Fivpter Crap és

Burrows or Fipprer Crap

Orentp Lanp Cran

Mave Serper Cras; FEMace
Sproer Cras; Guost Cran;
Mop Cras en

AGANTHOPLEURA GRANULATA

MUSSELS EXPOSED AT LOW TIDE .

 

AMERICAN Oysti
Surr Cram .

ER

2 Sort-sHet, Cham

Littee-Neck Ciam
Razor Cram . u
ND-BAR CLAM . 1.
Swinuina Ci
Bioopy Cray
Sar Wor
PROTRUDING

Cop CLAM
Ipipte Musser .

 

 

 

WITH = SIPILONS

trBBED Musser
Rock-Boring Mussen
VAZOR SMELT: 2% 4.
Common Scattop

Arctic SCALLOP

PAGE

101

103

104
105
105
106
107

109

. 1i4

i
122
123
124

125

. 126

126

eli

127

128
129
130
130
13]
131

. 153

154

  

 

 

 

13

FIGURE PAGE
97 JINGLE SHELL UPON A ROCK . 135
98 Norvrurrn Sanp-Cotiar Snain 139
99 Sournern Sanp-Cottar Swart . 140

100 Norruern Sanp-Cottar Svat 141

101 Kyopsen Wuerk; CoANNELLED

WuELK eee 142

102 ENotisn WieLk anp ec

Cocooss ... . 143
94 Horse Musser . 143

103 Rock Swarts . 144

104 TEN-rippep SNAIL . 145

105 Oysrer Dritt Tone 146

106 Nassa Trivitrata; Nassa Opso-

ERIN, 146

107 PertwINkLes CLUSTERING UPON 4

ROCK . 147

108 PeriwiNKLE Bets 147

109 Pertwinkie; Sea-weep SNAIL. 148

110 FLoative SNart 149

111 Eri Grass covereD with

PERIWwINKLES - 150

112 Decker SHELL 150

113 Ocrorus Americanus ; Lod

114 Ciamperen, or Pearty Navvinos 157

115 Brownt-rainep Squip . . 160

116 Gianr Saurp . . 162

117 Paper Naotitvus - 164

118 Crona Investinanis . . 168

119 Mortaura Manuatrensis 170
INTRODUCTION
NATURALISTS have come to believe that all of the higher ,

animals and plants have descended from simpler forms which |
lived in the past; and that these in turn were derived from even
simpler ancestors. Indeed, it is possible that all animate nature
is the offspring of one primitive living cell which contained within
itself the power of giving rise to all of the plant and animal life
of our world.

But although we know not how or when life originated, science
has been able to make known some few of the remarkable changes
which have come over animate forms under the influences of evolu-
tion, and natural selection.

Excellent examples of such changes are exhibited in the great
Hall of Vertebrate Fossils at the American Museum of Natural
History, where we may see a series of fossil skeletons which prove
that the horse was once a four-toed creature hardly larger than a
fox but that now it walks upon its middle toe, the side ones having
disappeared. Another series of fossils shows that in Eocene times
the camel was also a little four-toed creature; but now there are but
two toes on each foot, the side ones having disappeared.

A careful study of living creatures has shown that, while off-
spring usually bear a close resemblance to their parents, a few
depart widely from the parental types, and that some of these de-
partures show a strong tendency to maintain themselves, through
inheritance, for generation after generation. But this is not all,
for we know that animals and plants tend to increase at a rate so
enormous that, should all survive, the land would soon be densely
covered and the ocean completely filled with living creatures.
This, however, is prevented by the constant competition for life.
Only those few that are able to conquer in the strife for food and
space can survive, and myriads of the weak and unfit must perish.
Whole races have succumbed to this competition. Not one of the
16 SEA-SHORE LIFE

trilobites, more than 1700 species of which existed in the Cambrian
and Silurian rocks, survives to-day; and the sea lilies, which once
grew in vast colonies along our shores, are now represented by only
a few rare species in the deep ocean.

The older naturalists did not realize the vastness of the destruc-
tion which this battle for life has wrought, and thought that each
species was a separate creation that had existed unchanged since
the beginning. We now know that species appear to be distinct
one from another because the intermediate forms have died out;
and the longer a once closely related group of species has existed,
the wider do their differences become until we may look in vain
for the “linking forms” which once connected all of them.

For example, we know that the vertebrates are recent, and are
descended from the far more ancient invertebrates. Accordingly,
we find that there are but few breaks in the chain of forms rang-
ing from the lowest fishes to the mammals. Indeed, the embryos
of the highest mammals display gill slits in their necks, which soon
close over, but which were of use throughout life in their fish-like
ancestors. When we study the invertebrates, however, we find
wide gaps so that no one has yet been able-to determine the rela-
tionships of some of the greatest groups.

For example, we can not tell how the sponges, jellyfishes, echi-
noderms or worms may be related one to another, but on the other
hand we have reason for the belief that crustaceans and insects are
descended from worm-like ancestors, and that mollusks may pos-
sibly have had a somewhat similar origin.

It is interesting to observe that we meet with the same condi-
tions among plants. ‘The alge and fungi show wide gaps which
prevent one from arranging them in any connected series, whereas
the flowering plants, which are certainly more recent and have
descended from non-flowering forms, can be arranged in a fairly
regular chain, leading gradually from the lowest to the highest.

We must bear in mind, however, that recent studies by Bate-
son, de Vries and others tend to show that new species may appear
suddenly as the offspring of old and well known forms; and that
these new and peculiar animals or plants may, through inheritance,
perpetuate their new peculiarities. There may then be no inter-
mediate or “linking” forms between the old and the new species.
INTRODUCTION 7

A large number of marine animals whose true home is among
the Bahamas, or West Indies, are drifted upon the southern coast
of Long Island by the southerly winds of the summer months
and become quite abundant along our shores in August. From
November until April, however, the northerly and easterly winds
prevail, and these drift down upon us a host of creatures whose
home is in the cold arctic water. We see then that tropical and
sub-tropical animals are found along our coast in summer and early
autumn, while arctic creatures live there in winter and spring.
There are, however, an even greater number of creatures which are
permanent residents, and are to be found with us in some stages of
their lives at all seasons of the year.

Many marine animals or plants thrive only between tides, and
must be exposed to the air for at least an hour or two every day.
Such are the barnacles, some snails, and the great masses of olive-
green seaweed with gas filled cavities in its stems called Mucus.
Others, such as the brown, salmon-pink, and white sea anemones
(Metridium marginatum) and the common starfish (Asterias forbe-
sit), delight in the shallow tide-pools but do not thrive if long ex-
posed to the air.

Great numbers of creatures live along the coast beyond the
influence of the tides and find their homes among the eel-grass,
under stones or mud, or roaming freely through the water.

Others, such as the Portugese man-o-war (Physalia), the beau-
tiful, purple floating snail (Janthina), and a host of jellyfishes and
crustaceans find themselves at home far out at sea and never come
near land unless drifted along the coast by accident. Such are
the creatures which even thousands of miles from land cause the
ocean to glisten with brilliant flecks of phosphorescent light, if
the water be agitated at night.

But there are other creatures which spend their whole lives
upon the bottom of the deep sea, and have been dredged from all
depths down to four and one-half miles. Here they live in the ice-
cold water of the depths, where the darkness is profound and where
no current moves. Many of them have very large eyes, or are pro-
vided with remarkably long or delicate “feelers,” and phosphores-
cent areas upon their skins, and thus they find their way around
in their cold, dark, changeless world. A considerable number of
18 SEA-SHORE LIFE

these deep-sea creatures belong to types which once lived in shallow
water along our coasts, but which died out long ago, and are
known to us only through their fossils in the rocks.

Marine animals are much more abundant along or near conti-
nental coasts than in the open sea far from land, for we must bear
in mind that animal life can subsist only upon plant life and that
the great food supply furnished by the shallows of a shore are most
favorable for the development of a varied fauna.

The great ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream in the At-
lantic, and the Kuroshiwo of the Pacific are the bearers of vast
hordes of floating creatures which are thus carried from the tropics
far into the temperate regions. Temperature is also a great factor
in determining the distribution of marine life. On our own coast,
for example, we find that the cold arctic water creeps down the
New England coast to Cape Cod, while south of that place the shore
water is warmed during the summer by the drift from the Gulf
Stream. Accordingly a great number of southern forms extend
only as far north as Cape Cod, and similarly many of the arctic
creatures can not survive in summer in the warm water south of
that cape.

It is even more interesting to see that at Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia, we find a number of creatures whose true home is south of
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but which are able to live in the warm
water at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, where the Gulf Stream
approaches the coast for the last time before its final deflection
into the midst of the Atlantic.

So important is temperature in determining the distribution
of marine life, that while the creatures of the tropical Atlantic and
Pacific on opposite sides of the Globe are, broadly speaking, quite
similar, those living north of Cape Cod are almost wholly different
from those of the Florida coast.

But the most remarkable condition is seen in the distribution
of the creatures of the deep sea, for here the temperature is nearly
the same everywhere, being only slightly above the freezing point.
Accordingly many of these animals range from Arctic to Antarctic,
and from Atlantic to Pacific.

Many forms that live only in deep, cold water, south of Cape
Cod come into the shallows on the Maine coast.
INTRODUCTION 19

In the Arctic regions we find vast numbers of individuals of
but few species, whereas in the tropics the individuals are little or
no more numerous, but the number of species much greater than
in cold regions.

It is a mistake to assume that animals invariably become rarer
as we approach the limit of their range; for example, the common
scallop is very abundant in Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod, but is
all but unknown north of that place.

An interesting account of the distribution of deep sea animals,
and of the floating life, is given by Alexander Agassiz in ‘‘ Three
Cruises of the Blake,” 2 vols., 1888, Bulletin of Museum of Com-
parative Zoology at Harvard College; and a very general discussion
of the distribution of animals as a whole is given by Professor A.
Heilprin in “The International Scientific Series,” Vol. LVII, 1887.

The study of intelligence in lower animals is a subject of fas-
cinating interest. Nevertheless popular writings upon such mat-
ters are usually in error, for the authors are too apt to conclude
that when the actions of an animal appear ‘‘sensible” from our
point of view, or evidently serve a useful purpose, they must
necessarily be conscious. For example: the caterpillar of the mon-
arch butterfly (Danais arehippus) feeds only upon milkweed, and is
generally found upon the tender young leaves near the top of the
plant, where it is surrounded by the juiciest and most nutricious
food. Experiments by the author show, however, that we can not
conelude that the caterpillar exercises any conscious choice or
reason in the matter, for its being there is due to two simple reac-
tions. It has an inborn tendency to crawl upward rather than down-
ward, and it is also strongly inclined to crawl toward the light. If
one plant a milkweed in a flower-pot, and then turn it upside-down
the caterpillars will soon crawl upward toward the light of the sky,
and will thus wander away from the plant and starve to death,
although under normal conditions these two reactions would serve
to maintain them in the best situation for obtaining food, and pre-
vent their roaming away from the plant.

Nagel and Parker have also shown that if we place a picce of
meat upon certain of the tentacles of a sea-anemone, the meat is
rapidly thrust into the mouth. If then we place a piece of paper
soaked in a weak solution of meat juice it is at first swallowed, but
20 SEA-SHORE LIFE

after a few trials it is invariably rejected. The tentacles on the
other side of the animal will, however, conduct the paper to
the mouth even after those on the side first experimented upon
no longer accept it, and it is evident that the experience of one side
of the animal has no effect upon the other side.

It seems reasonable to assume that if an animal can be trained
or can learn by experience it has associative memory, and therefore
must be conscious, but it is certain that sponges, jellyfishes and
worms have no trace of associative memory.

On the other hand Robert Yerkes has shown that the green
crab can learn to travel by the shortest path through a labyrinth to
its food.

It is also believed that the squids and octopi, which are the
highest mollusks, have associative memory.

However, practically all of the instincts of marine inverte-
brates are inherited, and the behavior of the animal is not altered
by personal experience or association with its fellows. They re-act
to external stimuli with almost machine-like regularity, and we
can generally predict what effect a ray of light, a current of elec-
tricity, the attraction of gravity or a change of temperature will
have upon the behavior of the animal.

Essentially the same statements may be made concerning the
re-actions of our own heart, lungs and digestive organs, and there
is no more reason for the assumption that the lower marine animals
are conscious, than that these organs of ours are conscious. The
instincts of most marine animals are inborn and are inherited from
generation to generation, whereas in higher forms some of the
instincts are acquired by personal experience, and are not present
at birth or necessarily predestined to appear during life.

Interesting studies of this subject are given by C. Lloyd
Morgan in ‘“‘Animal Intelligence,” London, 1896; and by Jacques
Loeb, in “Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Comparative
Psychology,” 1902.

It has been proved that each and every animal and plant be-
gins life asa single cell, and that the body of the individual is
built up asa result of the division and consequent multiplication
of this cell. Indeed, in one great group, the Protozoa the entire
animal consists of but a single cell, which performs all of the life-
INTRODUCTION 21

functions. In higher forms, however, the body is composed of an
organized system of cells wherein we see a division of labor, some
of the cells being digestive, others muscular, others serving to con-
duct nervous impulses, etc.

In the great majority of marine animals the eggs or young
larvee are cast out into the water, and it is interesting to ob-
serve that even such sedentary forms as clams, oysters, starfishes,
sea anemones, corals, etc., are nearly all free-swimming in their
early life.

It has long been known to naturalists that, in their develop-
ment, animals pass through stages which recall the adult states of
their more simply organized ancestors of the remote past, and when
it was discovered that the vast majority of marine larva are free-
swimming, it seemed probable that the most ancient marine ani-
mals were so, and that the sedentary habits of life seen in sponges,
corals, mollusks, etc., were of comparatively recent origin. We must
not forget, however, that the free-swimming habits of the young are
of immense advantage in leading to a wide distribution of animals,
and that it may therefore have been maintained through the agency
of natural selection at all times, or have been brought about as a
result of adaptation.

The stages passed through in the development of all animals
are so complex, and yet show such a striking similarity of plan
that there can be no doubt of the blood relationship of all forms one
to another.

As this is a most interesting and important matter, we will
devote some space to its consideration.

We will first speak of a typical case of development, such as
is seen in the common starfish, and will then consider the more
complex conditions exhibited in the worms, crustaceans and
mollusks.

The immature eggs of the starfish resemble a minute sphere, in
the centre of which we find a small round body called the nucleus.

When the egg is cast out into the water this nucleus divides
into two nuclei, both exactly like the original nucleus. One of
these new nuclei is, however, soon detached from the egg asa minute
ball, and is thrown out into the water. The nucleus which still
remains in the egg then divides into two half-nuclei, and one of
22 SEA-SHORE LIFE

these is constricted off and cast out, leaving the egg with only a
half-nucleus.

The egg is then mature and ready to be fertilized. This is
accomplished by a single male germ cell, called a spermatozoon,
myriads of which are cast out into the water by the male starfishes
at the same time that the females are setting free their eggs. Each
spermatozoon is an exceedingly minute cell with a globular front
end, and a long lash-like extremity, the movements of which drive
it rapidly through the water.

The globular front end of a single spermatozoon penetrates the
egg and fuses with the half-nucleus; and it is most interesting to
observe that this front end of the spermatozoon is itself a half-
nucleus, in appearance similar to the half-nucleus of the egg. In
this manner then is the final nucleus of the egg made up of two
half-nuclei, one of which is introduced by the male, while the
other is maternal and belongs to the egg itself.

After fertilization a wonderful process sets in. This is called
cleavage or cell division. First of all the nucleus divides into two
similar nuclei, and these separate while at the same time the egg
becomes cut into two, so that each half contains a nucleus. The
halves of the egg do not, however, remain far apart but apply them-
selves closely one to another, so that soon only a shallow furrow
marks the position of the cleft which cut them in two. After a
few minutes of rest the egg suddenly divides again, each half being
cut into two, and this process is repeated again, and again, until
we have a great number of little cells all gathered together into
a ball hardly larger than the original egg.

Soon, however, we see that the ball is not a solid mass of cells,
for the centre becomes hollow and filled with fluid, while the cells
range themselves round the central cavity ina single layer. The
creature thus becomes a hollow hall, the wall of the ball being
composed of a single layer of cells. It is then that we first observe
any active movement on the part of the embryo, for the outer sur-
faces of the cells become covered with minute hair-shaped lashes
the rapid movements of which cause it to spin through the water.
This little, hollow, ball-like embryo is called a blastula. Soon an
interesting change takes place, for a part of the wall becomes
pressed inward as one might squeeze in the side of a hollow rub-
ber ball. This process is called “invagination,”
INTRODUCTION 25

The little embryo then has an inside layer of cells as well as an
outside layer, and is called a gastrula. The cells of the pressed-in
part are destined to give rise to the stomach, intestine and diges-
tive glands. On the other hand the outer surface of the embryo
gives rise to the skin and nervous system.

All animals from the sponges up to man pass through a gas-
trula stage in which the body consists only of an outer and an inner
layer. In many cases, however, as in worms, crustaceans, insects,
mollusks, amphibia, reptiles and birds, the eg@ contains more or
less yolk to provide nutriment for the developing embryo, and this
introduces modifications of the process of cleavage, and formation
of the gastrula so that it has taken long and careful study to
discover that all embryos are at one time in the gasirula stage.
Indeed, Huxley discovered that the jellyfishes were practically gas-
trule even when adult, for they have only a digestive cavity and an
outer skin. In all forms above the jellyfishes, however, we find a
system of cells which come to lie between the digestive sac and the
outer skin, and which gives rise to the muscles, and in higher forms
to the skeleton. Although it will be impossible to do more than to
present this crude sketch of the general processes of embryology,
one will find a most fascinating field for thought in the study of
such admirable works as “The Cell in Development and Inher-
itance,’ by Edmund B. Wilson, or the “ Text-Book of the Embry-
ology of Invertebrates,” by Korschelt and Heider, Macmillan Co.

A most readable and yet condensed discussion of general em-
bryology is given by Richard Hertwig in ‘Manual of Zoology,”
1902, translated by J. 8. Kingsley, p. 139-164.

A list of a few of the more general and popular works upon our
marine animals may be of aid to those who desire to seriously study
the subject

For beginners who are engaged in collecting marine animals,
and who desire to learn of their relationships, habits, structure and
names, we would suggest:

i. C. and A. Agassiz: Seaside Studies in Natural History, Tick-
nor and Fields, 1865. 155 pages; 186 illustrations. <A clear,
popular, account of the structure and habits of our jellyfishes, sea
anemones and star fishes and sea-urchins.

C, B. and G. C. Davenport : Introduction to Zoology, Macmil-
24 SEA-SHORE LIFE

lan Company, 1900. 412 pages; 306 illustrations, many of them
being photographs from life. Most readable accounts of the rela-
tionships of various forms, and also of their habits and anatomy.

A. F. Arnold: The Sea-Beach at Ebb-Tide; Century Company,
1901. 490 pages; 85 plates and numerous figures, most of which
are taken from previous publications. A good description of each
species, and interesting chapters upon the relationships of each
great group of the invertebrates.

A. E. Verrill and 8. I. Smith: Report upon the Invertebrate
Animals of Vineyard Sound and Adjacent Waters. Report of the
U.S. Fish Commission, 1871-2, 478 pages, 38 plates, 287 figures.
Excellent accounts of habits and distribution, together with clear
outline drawings of some of the animals.

G. B. Goode, etc.: The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the
United States. U.S. Fish Commission, 1884. Two vols., 895 pages,
277 plates. Valuable to fishermen and collectors.

Good general textbooks upon zoology, embryology and anat-
omy for those who have had the benefit of an elementary course in
zoology :

Richard Hertwig: A Manual of Zoology; Henry Holt & Co.
1902. Translated by J. 8S. Kingsley. Korschelt and Heider,
Textbook of Embryology of Invertebrates, Macmillan Company,
4 volumes, 1895-1900. Arnold Lang: Textbook of Comparative
Anatomy, Macmillan, 1891-’96, 2 volumes.

Every student of zoology should read Darwin’s “Origin of
Species.”’ This work is to the natural sciences what Newton’s ‘‘ Prin-
cipia”’ is to the physicaland mathematical sciences. But it is more
than an epoch making work, throwing a flood of brilliant hght upon
the dark mysteries of life. Its greatest inspiration to us comes
because it is the record of one, who, after years of studious labor,
performed under conditions of extreme distress which only love of
truth could conquer, came into a realm of thought wherein he saw
darkly and imperfectly, what we were, what our race had been, and
what our possibilities. His characteristics were simplicity, honesty,
and courageous thoroughness; fearlessly following the lead of truth
far toward the limit of human understanding.
SPONGES OR PORIFERA

w{PONGES are animals. The ordinary bath sponge is only the

horny skeleton which in life was encased by living cells. In
every living sponge, water is drawn in through numerous small open-
ings, and thrown out through large ones. This water passes through
the intricate channels of the sponge which are lined with thousands
of minute cells, each provided with a collar, and a thread-like lash,
which serves to capture and engulf the minute animals and plants
that are drawn in with the water. In some sponges the skeleton is
calcareous, and is composed of a vast number of curiously shaped
spicules. In others it is mainly horny and fibrous as in commercial
sponges, while in some, such as the Venus basket of the China
Sea, it is glassy. The eggs develop within the sponge itself and
are usually cast out as minute spherical or oblong larve covered
with cilia which enable the little creatures to swim rapidly through
the water. In a few hours or days, however, they settle to the bot-
tom and soon grow into sponges. Sponges of the same species often
vary greatly in form, in accordance with the situation in which they
grow, and they possess so little individuality that two sponges
growing side by side will often fuse into one large mass. Sponges
may also be cut into pieces, and each piece will grow into a perfect
sponge. Good accounts of our American sponges are given by
Hyatt, Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1875 and
1877, and Lambe, Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada,
1892-94, 1896, 1900.

COMMERCIAL SPONGES

Our commercial sponges are found living only in the warmer
seas, such as the waters of Florida, the West Indies, the Red Sea
and Mediterranean. The sponges from Florida and the West
Indies are inferior to those of the old world. There are many va-
rieties of the commercial sponge but they all belong to the genus
Spongia and have a skeleton made up of tough, closely meshed, horny
26

fibres.

SEA-SHORE LIFE

The fleshy parts which cover the skeleton are dark brown

or black, and as the living sponge is usually more or less covered

 

Fig 1; LIVING COMMERCIAL SPONGE

(Glove Spovoge) The Bahama Islands.

captures the minute organisms upon which it feeds.
sponges do not grow at depths greater than

majority are obtained in
water less than thirty
feet deep, the best varie-
ties being found at the
greatest depth.

The water is so won-
derfully clear in the re-
gions where they grow,
that the fishermen mere-
ly use a bucket having a
pane of glass in the bot-
tom through which they
look in scanning the bot-
tom for sponges. The
sponge is drawn up by
a pair of hooks fastened
to the end of a wooden
pole.

Fig. 2;

with mud or silt it is far from
attractive in appearance, or
pleasant in odor.

There are always a great
number of little pores on the
sides of the sponge, and water
is drawn through these by
meaus of the constant lashing
of vast numbers of cilia which
are borne upon the cells lining
the passages. This water is
forced out through one or
more larger openings at the
top of the sponge. In this
manner the sponge tissues
are aerated and the sponge
Jommercial
200 feet, and the vast

 

THE HORNY SKELETON OF THE
COMMERCIAL SPONGE (Glove Sponge)
from the Bahama Islands.

It is allowed to die, and is buried in dry sand until it is
SPONGES OR PORIFERA 27

much decomposed, and then it is washed in the water to remove all
of the fleshy parts, leaving only the tough, horny skeleton, which
may be bleached in weak hydrochloric acid and hyposulphite of
soda.

Sponges grow best on hard bottoms where there is a consider-
able current to bring food, and to pro-
vide them with an abundance of aerated
water. In Florida there are five varie-
ties of sponges called ‘‘sheepswool,”
“yellow,” “grass,” “velvet” and “glove
sponges.”

The Sheepswool Sponges, (Spongia
equina gossypina,), are most valuable,
the fishery being worth about $250,000

 

annually. The fibrous skeleton is very
tough and fine meshed, and the inter-
ior of the sponge is cavernous while
the outer surface is covered with woolly
looking tufts of fibres. This is the common large bath sponge.

The Yellow Sponge, ( Spongia agari-
cina, ), lacks the woolly tufts characteris-
tic of the sheepswool, and its surface is apt
to be fairly even, with numerous pit-like
pores. The fishery is worth about $15,-
000 annually.

The Grass Sponge, (Spongia grami-
nea,), has the shape of a truncated cone

Fig. 3; RED SPONGE, Long
Island Sound.

 

the broad end being uppermost. The up-
Fig. 4; RED SPONGE, Long

aie eee per surface contains all of the large open-

ings and is usually depressed, giving the
sponge a cup-shape. ‘The sides are furrowed with numerous small
openings between the ridges. The fishery is worth about $20,000
annually.

In the Velvet Sponge, (Spongia equina meandriformis, ), the
surface is apt to show winding channels bordered by flat ridges of
fibre. The least valuable is the Glove Sponge (Spongia officinalis
tubulifera, Figs. 1, 2), in which the surface is quite even with dense
fibres which project outward in fine tufts. The sponge is usually
28 SEA-SHORE LIFE

dome-shaped, not more than eight inches in diameter, and the fibres

 

fig. 5; Clam Shell infested with Boring
Sponge, Long Island Sound.

become brittle with age.

Sponges are reproduced
from eggs which develop into
free swimming larve, but soon
settle down upon the bottom
and grow into the sponge form.
They will also grow very read-
ily from cuttings or spores, and
almost any fragment of a
sponge is capable under favor-
able conditions of regenerating
a perfect sponge.

A well illustrated paper
giving an account of the com-
mercial sponges of Florida is
given by Dr. H. M. Smith in

Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. XVIJ, 1897,

p. 225-240.

Among non-commercial sponges, the Red Sponge, (Microciona
prolifera, Figs. 3,4), is found in shallow water from South Carolina

to Cape Cod, and is very abundant
upon oyster and scallop shells in
Long Island Sound. It can be at
once recognized by its brilliant
crimson color. When young it
forms broad, thin incrustations,
but later it gives rise to branches
which may be four inches in
height.

The Boring Sponge, (Cliona
sulphurea, Fig. 5), a sulphur-col-
ored sponge, is very destructive
to the shells of oysters, clams, etc.
It completely honeycombs and
dissolves the shell, riddling it

 

Fig. 6; THE FINGER SPONGE, Salem
Harbor, Massachusetts.

with galleries and holes, and finally growing over the outside. It
is abundant along the shores from South Carolina to Cape Cod.
SPONGES OR PORIFERA 29

The Finger Sponge, (Chalina oculata, Fig. 6), is dull red or
yellow in color and grows upon rocks or shells, forming finger-
shaped masses about six inches high. At intervals there are large
openings on the sides of the sponge which serve to allow the escape
of water from the interior. This sponge is common north of

Cape Cod at depths greater than fifteen feet.

The Sulphur Sponge, (Suberites compacta,), is a compact, heavy
sponge which grows on sandy bottoms off the Long Island coast.

When living it is bright yellow, but soon
darkens into an ugly brown after death.
The surface of the sponge is smooth, rounded
and nodular.

The Urn Sponge, (Grantia ciliata, Fig.
7 ), is common in tide pools on Long Island
where it grows in clusters of little urn-shaped
sponges, each urn being dull yellow, gray
or drab in color, about one-half of an inch
high, and with a large opening edged with
spicules at the summit. It is found along
our coast northward to Greenland, and is
abundant on the northern coasts of Europe.

It

Fig. 7; URN SPONGE,
Woods Holl, Mass.

Water is constantly

being drawn in through sieve-like openings on the sides of the
sponge and forced out through the large terminal opening.
JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS

JELLYFISH is an umbrella-shaped creature with tentacles
and sense organs arranged at intervals around the outer edge
of the umbrella, while the mouth and stomach occupy the position

oe,
ANP LER LM ALN SB

Fig. 8; PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR.

     

of the umbrella handle.
This description apples
well to the large jellyfishes
called Seyphomeduse, but
the smaller kinds called
Hydromedusce have a deli-
cate membrane extending
inward all around from the
umbrella-edge forming a
diaphragm which partially
closes the opening of the
umbrella. Jellyfishes swim
by rythmatically opening
and closing their umbrella-
like bodies.

Jellyfishes are carni-
vorous, feeding upon small
fishes, crustacea, or one an-
other. ‘They capture their
prey by means of their ten-
tacles which are armed
with thousands of little
cells each containing a
minute coiled tube so slen-
der that it appears to be
a mere thread. When ex-
cited these cells burst, and
the little threads are shot

out with such force that they penetrate the skin of the victim, carry-
ing with them a poison which quickly paralyzes a small fish. The
JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS 31

victim is then held in the stomach of the jellyfish for a few hours
or days and the undigested remnant is ejected through the mouth.
In common with other low invertebrates, the rate at which jellyfishes
grow is dependent upon their supply of food. Indeed one can ob-
serve them enlarge after every meal, and when starved they con-
tract in size.

The great majority of the jellvfishes are so small as to escape
ordinary observation, but are on the other hand so numerous as
often to cause a brilliant phosphorescence of the sea at night.

The eggs of jellyfishes do not usually develop directly into
new jellyfishes. In the large jellyfishes (Scyphomeduse ) the egg
develops into a little pear-shaped creature whose body is covered
with vibrating cilia which enable it to swim rapidly. Soon it set-
tles down, and the narrow end adheres to the bottom. Then a
mouth and a row of tentacles appear at the upper end. The little
creature then grows for some months until suddenly it begins to
constrict at intervals, and finally to split up into a series of thin, flat
disks, each one of which swims off and grows into a separate
jellyfish.

In the smaller jellyfishes (Hydromeduse) the egg changes
into a beautiful little tree-shaped animal called a hydroid, and this
gives rise to many little jellyfishes which bud out from it in various
ways. Some jellyfishes, however, do not give rise to hydroids and
many hydroids do not develop jellyfishes.

Descriptions of the jellyfishes of our Atlantic coast will be
found in ‘North American Acalephe,” A. Agassiz, 1865; ‘“ Contri-
butions to the Natural History of the United States,” Vol. III, 1860,
by Louis Agassiz; C. W. Hargitt in “The American Naturalist,”
1901, Vol. XXXV; ‘“ Das System der Medusen,” by Haeckel; 3 vols.,
1879-80, and ‘‘Medusz from The Tortugas, Florida,” in the Bul-
letin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, Vol.
XXXVII, 1900 by A. G. Mayer.

The Portuguese Man-of-War, (Physalia arethusa, Fig. 8). This
beautiful animal is sometimes seen floating along our coast late in
summer, but its home is in the tropical Atlantic and the Gulf Stream.
The large pear-shaped float is filled with atmospheric air, and beau-
tiful iridescent blues and pinks play over its surface and along its
comb-like crest. Attached to the float there is a complex colony of
32 SEA-SHORE LIFE

tentacles, finger-shaped feeding mouths, and grape-like clusters of
reproductive organs. The tentacles are arranged in clusters, some
being long and others short. When the wind blows, the long tentacles
stretch out fully fifty feet, thus forming a drag to prevent a too
rapid drifting of the colony. ‘These tentacles are flat and ribbon-
like and along one edge we see a purple line of bead-like stinging
organs, which serve in the capture of fishes upon which the Physalia
feeds. They inflict a most painful sting, and almost instantly par-
alyze small fishes. When a fish comes in contact with the tentacles
they immediately adhere to it, and the struggles of the fish cause
the tentacles to contract, thus bringing the prey within reach of the
numerous mouths which soon fasten upon it. If the fish does not
struggle the tentacles soon cease to contract, and thus the mouths
may be unable to seize upon their food. Despite its formidable
weapons, however, the Physalia is greedily devoured by Loggerhead
turtles, but the turtle always closes its eyes when it seizes the prey.

When very young the Physalia may sink for a time beneath
the surface upon discharging the gas from its float; but in later life
it loses this ability and remains constantly floating over the ocean
at the mercy of the winds and currents. Only male Portuguese
men-of-war are known, the female never having been observed.

Velella mutica, is an exquisite creature rarely seen along our
coast, but it occurs in great swarms in the tropical Atlantic. The
body is an oblong disk about four inches long, and deep blue-green
in color. The upper side of the disk is occupied by the chambered,
gas-filled float which is chitinous, and gives rise to a sail-like crest.
On the under side of the disk we find a large central feeding-mouth
surrounded on all sides by numerous little mouths and reproduc-
tive polypites. Near the outer edge of the under side of the disk
there is a row of long blue tentacles. Large numbers of little jelly-
fishes are constantly budding off from the sides of the reproductive
polypites and swimming away in the water; but their further de-
velopment is unknown.

Porpita linneana, is related to Velella but is smaller, being
only about one inch in diameter. Also the disk is flat and circular,
and there is no sail-like ridge to the float. When seen in the water
it appears asa deep blue circle, while the chambered float at the cen-
tre glistens with a beautiful greenish iridescence. Underneath we
JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS 33

find feeding polypites, reproductive polypites and tentacles very
much as in Velella.

Porpita is rare along our coast, but between Cuba and South
Carolina it is sometimes so abundant as to fleck the ocean for miles
with specks of brilliant blue.

The Sea-Blubber, (Cya-
nea aretica), is the largest
known jellyfish. Inthe cold
waters north of Cape Cod it
grows to huge proportions,
and one was found by Dr.
Alexander Agassiz which
measured seven and one-half
feet across the disk and
whose tentacles were fully
one hundred and twenty feet
long. On the Long Island
coast, however, it grows to Fig. 9; MILKY-DISK JELLYFISH,
a much smaller size and Maney and Rewed:

 

thrives only in spring and early summer, disappearing about the
middle of June. Large as these creatures are, however, when
dried in the sun it is found that the animal substance is only
zy part of the whole; the vast bulk of the creature’s body being
composed of sea water.

The disk is amber-colored with a rosin-colored centre marking
the stomach-space. There are sixteen notches at regular intervals
around the edgeof the disk, and eight of these notches are occupied
by sense organs which contain granular concretions.

On the lower surface of the disk one finds the central mouth
surrounded by veil-like lips, and eight clusters of tentacles.

The eggs are caught in the veil-lke folds of the lips and set
free as little pear-shaped larvae which swim rapidly through the
water by means of their cilia. Soon, however, each larva settles down
upon the bottom and develops into a polyp having a terminal mouth
surrounded by tentacles. After feeding and growing for some
months the polyp begins to display constrictions at regular inter-
vals, and soon it splits up into a series of disks, each one of which is
set free and becomes a jellyfish.
34 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The Milky Disk, (Aurelia flavidula, Fig. 9), is common north
of Cape Cod to the Arctic Ocean, but is not very abundant along
our coast. The disk is about one foot in diameter, is flatter than
a hemisphere and is slightly milky in color, while the four horse-
shoe-shaped reproductive organs near the centre are yellowish-white
or pink. The mouth is at the centre of the concave side of the
disk and is surrounded by four long frilled lips. Sixteen straight
and sixteen pitchfork-shaped vessels extend outward from the

central stomach to the
edge of the disk. The
little pear-shaped lar-
vee are cast out in im-
mense numbers, and
after swimming about
for a few days, they set-
tle upon the bottom
and develop a ring of
tentacles in a zone
around the mouth.
Finally the body of the
larva splits up into a
series of disks, each
one of which swims off
and develops into a
- full-grown jellyfish.
| The Speckled Jel-
lyfish, (Dactylometra
quinqueeirra, Fig. 10),
| is found in a few local-
ities, as at Tiverton,
Rhode Island, in great
abundance, during the
latter half of the sum
mer, and it occurs in
the upper reaches of
many other bays and estuaries from Florida to Cape Cod.

The disk becomes about one and one-half feet in diameter,

and its margin bears thirty-two notches and, when fully grown,

 

Fig. 10; SPECKLED JELLYFISH.
JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS 35

forty tentacles. The veil-like lips around the mouth form long,
graceful curtains often two and one-half feet in length. This me-
dusa can be at once distinguished by its amber-pink coloration, and
the sixteen spoke-like areas of reddish specks upon the convex side
of the disk. There are eight sense organs, each containing a
spherical mass of concretions. These are situated at regular inter-
vals within notches at the disk-margin.

The Milky Cross, (Staurophora laciniata), is abundant along
the Atlantic coast north of Cape Cod, during the summer months,
and is occasionally seen along our coast in spring. The appear-
ance of a milky-colored cross is produced by the large cruciform
mouth bordered with veil-like frills containing the reproductive
organs. It is from four to eight inches in diameter. There are
numerous little eye spots at the base of the tentacles, upon the bell
margin.

The Thimble-Jelly, (Melicertum campanula). This little Arctic
jellyfish resembles a large thimble of clear jelly-like substance
with eight, yellow, radial canals extending from the stomach at the
centre of the concave side of the thimble to the edges forming, so
to speak, the spokes of a wheel. The edge of the bell is provided
with numerous tentacles. It is exceedingly abundant until mid-
summer, north of Cape Cod, but is
found on our coast only in the spring.

(Gonionemus murbachit, Fig. 11).
This interesting little jellyfish is famil-
iar to all who study at the Woods Holl
Laboratory, for it is very abundant in
the Kel Pond at that place. The bell
is transparent, somewhat flatter than a
hemisphere, and when full grown it
becomes about one inch in diameter.

About eighty long, flexible tenta-
cles arise from the side of the bell near "8: 77" Jellyfish, Gontonemus

: murbachiz, Woods Holl, Mass.
the rim. Each of these bears a sucker-
like disk upon its upper side near its extremity, and the extreme tip
of the tentacle bends sharply at right angles. The tentacles are cov-
ered with wart-like clusters of minute thread-cells each containing a
coiled tube which can be turned inside out as we might do with the

 
36 SEA-SHORE LIFE

finger of a glove. If the tentacles come in contact with a small
fish or crustacean these little stinging-threads are instantly dis-
charged, and on account of their minute size they penetrate the
skin of the prey carrying with them a poison, believed to be formic
acid; which quickly paralyzes the victim, Scattered between the
tentacles there are numerous little balancing organs, which may
also serve to detect
vibrations in the
water, These organs
consist of minute
capsules each con-
taining ahard spher-
ical concretion. The
stomach of the me-
dusa is a four-sided
tube at the centre
of the concavity of
the bell.

Four canals ra-
diate outward from
this stomach and ex-
tend 90° apart, to a
vessel which encir-
cles the bell margin
at the bases of the
tentacles. The geni-

 

tal organs are devel-

fig. 12; PASSION-FLOWER HYDROID (Irom Life).

Annisquam, Mass,

oped upon these ra-
dial canals. They
are ribbon-like, but each ribbon is longer than the portion of the
canal upon which it is developed, and its edge is therefore folded
sinuously from side to side,

The stomach, genital organs and tentacles are rich brown in
color with green spots, while the other parts of the jellyfish are
transparent and gelatinous,

According to Perkins, the jellyfish is very active upon cloudy
days, when it swims rapidly upward to the surface, opening and
closing its umbrella-like bell with powerful pulsations. Upon
oy
=|

JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS

reaching the surface, however. it becomes suddenly quiet and then
Frequently it

Qa
oD
=

slowly sinks down with tentacles widely disten
clings to seaweed and other objects by means of the suckers upon
its tentacles.

This jellyfish lays its eggs during the summer at about one
hour after sun-set. The little larve are pear-shaped and swim with
the blunt end forward. Soon they settle with the blunt end down-
ward and four tentacles soon develop at the narrow end, surround-
1 out from

 

ing the mouth. Other little pear-shaped larve often bur

 

the sides of the original one, are set free. and after swimming
for a time settle down as did their parents. It is probable that the
larva finally changes directly intoa little jellyfish. This medusa was
first discovered in the Eel Pond at Wo
1895. Yerkes and Ayer,
Vol. IX, 1903, have made a careful study of the
medusa to light.

The Passion-Flower Hydroid, (Thamnocnidia spectabilis, Fi
12), often grows upon sunken ropes, or within shaded tide-po

 
 
  
 

 

 

It consists in a dense
cluster of delicate am- =
ber-gray stems, each
terminating in an en-
larged, pink-colored
polyp-mouth sur-
rounded by two rows
of tentacles. The stems
are each about three
inches long, and the
beautiful flower-like
heads give the creature
the superficial appear-
ance of a plant: but it
is an animal, and the

 

tentacles serve to cap-

Fig. 137; EEL-GRASS HYDROID, Long Island Sound.

ture its prey of small
crustacea and etc., which it stings to death by its thread-cells.

The Eel-Grass Hydroid, (Pennaria tiarella, Fig. 13). grows
abundantly apon eel grass or in tide-pools. It is from three to six
38 SEA-SHORE LIFE

inches high, and resembles a little dark-colored tree with branches
arranged alternately on either side of the main stem. Each branch
gives rise to a series of side branches on its upper side and they
each and all terminate in white or pink flower-like heads. These
polyp-heads bear the mouths, and each is surrounded by two rows
of tentacles which wave through the water intent upon the capture
of the small marine animals upon which the Pennaria feeds. Jelly-
fishes grow out from the sides of the polyp-heads, and within these
the eggs develop At times the eggs are cast out before the jelly-
fishes are set free, but often the jellyfish escapes from the
hydroid and swims about, car-
rying its eggs with it. The
eggs then develop into little
pear-shaped larvee which swim
rapidly through the water but
soon settle down and change
into tree-like hydroids which
in turn develop another genera-
tion of jellyfishes.

In spring and early sum-
mer large, pale colored, stocks
of Pennaria are found upon
rockweed, piles, etc.; but about
the middle of August small,
highly colored stocks, with pink
heads, are found in great abund-
ance upon eel grass. This was
observed by Professor Hargitt
in “The American Naturalist,”
Vol. XXXIV, p. 390.

The Sea Plume, (Obelia com-
missuralis, Fig. 14), is common

 

upon the wooden posts of wharves
fig. 14; SEA-PLUME (Obelia), Growing oy attached to stones or sea-weed.

Upon Seaweed (Fucus). From Life. . i
The main stems are fully six
inches long, and they give rise to spirally arranged branches which

run nearly at right angles to the stem. The creature thus resem-
JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS 39

bles a delicate seaweed or plume, but is in reality an animal. Each
branch gives rise to a number of little flower-like polyp-mouths
surrounded by tentacles which capture prey.

Jellyfishes develop within capsules at the angles of the stems.
These jellyfishes are set free and swim about for a long time,
finally growing to be about one-quarter of an inch in diameter.
Then they cast out their eggs which develop into plume-like hy-
droids which in turn give rise to jellyfishes.

The Rainbow Jelly, (Mnemiopsis leidyi), is one of the comb-
jellies or Ctenophore. It is exceedingly abundant along our coast
during the summer, but is so transparent that it would escape
observation were it not for the brilliant flashes of prismatic red
and green that play over its eight rows of comb-like flappers.
When full grown the creature is about four inches long, and
the outline of the body is pear-shaped with broad wings on the
sides. At the narrow end there is a sense organ consisting of a
capsule filled with a ball-like mass of concretions. This sense
organ enables the creature to maintain its proper position in the
water. The central stomach gives rise to a complex system of
ramifying tubes which extend through the wings and along under
the eight rows of combs. This creature is so delicately formed that
it can not be lifted from the water without serious injury, yet it
readily captures small fish and crustacea upon which it feeds. At
night it gives out a brilliant green phosphorescence when disturbed.

One often finds a long, pink, worm-like parasite imbedded
within the gelatinous substance of the Rainbow Jelly. This is not
a worm, however, but is a sea anemone, Hdwardsia leidyt.
SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS

SEA ANEMONE is a barrel-shaped animal. The bottom of

the barrel is fastened to some rock or other firm anchorage,
while the upper end bears a slit-like mouth which is encircled by
a fringe of tentacles. The mouth leads into a simple tube-like
throat, which is bound to the inner sides of the barrel by means of
radiating partitions.

The throat-tube is, however, only about one-half as long as the
height of the barrel, so that the radial partitions in the lower half

 

Fig. 75; EYED-CORAL, From Life. Nassau, Bahamas.
Orbicella acropora.

of the barrel cavity do not meet at the centre, but leave an open
space which is the “stomach” of the anemone. Sea anemones are
among the most attractive of marine animals, beautiful both in
SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS 41

form and color. They vary in size from that of a pin’s head to
several feet across, and they live at all depths and in a great variety
of situations.

A coral polyp is only a sea anemone which deposits a plate of
lime salts at the base of its barrel-like body and between the

 

Fig. 16, Star-Coral Showing Living Polyps. From a Specimen in the New York Aquarium.

radial partitions of the stomach cavity. These lime salts form
a stony “skeleton” or substance which we commonly call “coral.”
It is well to remember that the coral animals are not “insects”
but are merely sea anemones which form stony “skeletons.”
Although sea anemones and coral polyps resemble beautiful
flowers when fully expanded, they quickly contract into a mere
dome-shaped mass when disturbed. In this way the coral polyps
are protected by withdrawing into their stony cup-shaped bases.
42 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Sea anemones are found in all oceans, but the stony corals are
practically confined to tropical and sub-tropical regions and will

 

Fig. 17, Stony Skeleton of Star-Coral.
Long Island Sound.

not usually live in water which
is colder than 66° F. In the trop-
ical Atlantic and Pacific thousands
of coral islands called atolls have
been gradually built up by the con-
stant growth of coral polyps, and
every grain of sand on the Baha-
mas, Bermudas, or Florida Keys
was once part of the skeleton of a
coral polyp or belonged to some
animal or plant which lived among
the coral reefs.

The Star-Coral, (Astrangia
dane, Figs. 16, 17). This stony
coral extends farther into the tem-

perate zone than any other species, being found from the Carolinas

to Cape Cod.
forms encrusting masses of
star-like cups upon stones, dead
shells, etc.

The coral polyps are glassy
white, and translucent, and
have each from eighteen to
twenty-four long, tapering ten-
tacles which end in a white
knob and are speckled over
with white warts. These are
the stinging organs which en-
able the coral to capture its
prey of small marine animals.
When fully expanded the pol-
yps are about one-eighth of an
inch wide and three-eighths
high, but when disturbed they

suddenly contract so as to become practically invisible.

It is abundant in Long Island Sound where it

 

fig. 18; FLESHY CORAL,
Woods Holl, Mass.

The colony

starts with a single polyp but soon others bud out from its base,
SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS 43

and the cluster increases by further budding from the bases of the
older polyps until it may be several inches in diameter.

The Fleshy Coral, (Aleyonewm carneum, Fig. 18), is found from
the eastern end of Long Island to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is

 

fig. 19; BROWN SEA-ANEMONE. Expanded. From Life.

rarely seen in shallow water but is common upon rocks at depths
greater than 20 feet. When first brought up from the bottom it
appears as an ugly, tough gelatinous mass covered with dull
yellowish-pink finger-shaped processes. If placed in water, how-
ever, the whole mass soon appears studded with beautiful star-
shaped polyps, which expand so as to give the appearance of a
stump covered with delicate pink flowers.

Each of these polyps has a terminal mouth surrounded by
eight tentacles, the sides of which are bordered with rays giving
a feathery appearance. The whole colony of polyps develops
through constant budding from the sides and bases of the older
parts of the colony.

Aleyonaria or fleshy corals are extremely abundant in the
tropical Pacific where they often cover the reefs for acres in extent
with a tough, leathery-looking carpet studded with eight-rayed
44 SEA-SHORE LIFE

polyps. Others form hemispherical heads bearing beautiful star-
like polyps each having eight feathery tentacles, while still others
form the sea whips and sea fans so characteristic of an Atlantic
reef. In the sea fans, however, the polyps secrete a horny axis
which forms the internal framework of the fan and gives a tough
support for the fleshy parts which cover its surface. Nothing is
more strangely beautiful than these coral reefs where the rich pur-
ple sea fans and the chocolate sea whips wave gracefully to the
surges in the crystal depths, while brilliant fishes glistening in
green, blue, purple and yellow, glide in and out among the shad-
ows of the coral caverns.

The precious coral of the Mediterranean is allied to the sea
whips. Its polyps are brilliant white, and have each eight feathered
tentacles ; while the internal axis of the colony is red and stony.

The Brown Sea Anemone, (Metridium marginatum, Figs. 19,
20), is our common sea anemone, which extends from New Jersey
to Labrador. It is abundant in tide pools, and upon the posts
and rock work of wharves in Long Island Sound, but it attains
a much larger size and more brilliant color north of Cape Cod.

 

Fig. 20. BROWN SEA-ANEMONE, Contracted. Showing the white
thread-like filaments called acontia which are extruded
as a means of defense.

Although usually brown in Long Island Sound, individuals of
a pure white, delicate salmon-pink, or olive, are common at Newport
SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS 45

and farther north. Large specimens are about three inches wide
and four high. When expanded the body is cylindrical with a
dense fringe of tapering tentacles surrounding the slit-like mouth.
The tentacles are covered with minute hair-shaped organs, or cilia,
which wave outward so as to create a current from the base toward
the tip of the tentacle, and they are also armed with thread cells
that sting the small creatures upon which the anemone feeds.

These sea anemones develop from eggs, but they also slowly
divide; an originally single anemone sometimes splitting longitu-
dinally until two are produced. In addition Mrs. M. L. Hammatt dis-
covered that little anemones are often budded out from the base of
large ones.

The body of the anemone contains powerful muscles, and when
the animal is disturbed these contract so that the tentacles are rolled
inward and hidden away, while the body becomes a mere dome-like

 

Fig. 27, WHITE-ARMED ANEMONE. From Life.
Specimens in the New York Aquarium.

mass. Long, white, thread-lke filaments are also extruded through
pores in the sides of the body. These filaments (fig. 2U), are called
acontia, and bear great numbers of stinging thread-cells.

The White-Armed Anemone, (Sagartia leucolena, Fig. 21), is
common off the Long Island coast, and extends from the Carolinas
to Cape Cod. Itis slender, the body being somewhat more than
two inches long, while the tentacles are about one inch in length.
46 SEA-SHORE LIFE

It lives in dark situations on the under sides of stones, or upon the
shaded piles of wharves below low tide level. Sometimes, how-
ever, it is found almost buried in gravel or coarse sand. The body

 

Fig. 22; SAND-ANEMONE, Long Island Sound.

is of a delicate amber-brown, and is semi-translucent while the
long tapering tentacles are white or translucent-brown in color.
This species thrives well within a salt water aquarium.

The Passion- Flower Anemone, (Condylactis passi flora), is found
in the West Indies and Bermudas, where it is abundant upon
broken rocky bottoms. It attains a large size, often being more
than a foot in diameter and six inches in height. It is a very
beautiful anemone. The body is vermillion, while the tentacles are
rich turquoise-green with purple tips.

The Sand Anemone, ( Haleampa producta, Fig. 22), is common
from South Carolina to Cape Cod in sandy or muddy beaches, the
elongate worm-like body being buried quite out of sight with only
the tentacles exposed.

It is three or four inches long and about one-half of an inch
in diameter, but when disturbed it may contract so as to be not
more than two inches in length. There are about twenty short, blunt
tentacles and twenty longitudinal rows of whitish warts along the
SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS 47

sides of the body. The color is dull yellowish gray, and altogether
it is not an attractive object.

The Orange-streaked Anemone, (Sagartia lucie ), is now the
most abundant species in rocky tide-pools of Long Island Sound.

It appears to have been introduced upon oyster shells from
the south, for previous to 1892 it was unknown along our coast.
In that year it was found by Miss L. L. Verrill, near New Haven,
and it has gradually spread northward, reaching Salem, Massa-
chusetts, in 1901; beyond which place it appears not to exist.

It is only about one-quarter of an inch wide and three-eighths
high, and there are about forty-eight slender tapering tentacles.
The body of the anemone is olive green or brown, usually with
twelve fine longitudinal orange, or lemon yellow, streaks; while the
tentacles are light brown, almost white.

The best description of this anemone is that of Mrs. Gertrude
C. Davenport in the ‘Mark Anniversary Volume,” p. 137-144. She
discovered that the anemone often splits into two, and the halves
soon separate, and grow to their original size. Fragments may
also be separated from the base, and then regenerate into new
individuals.

The Crimson Anemone, ( Tealia crassicornis ), is of moderate
size, being about two inches high and one and one-half in diame-
ter. It has about 160 blunt tentacles, and the body is covered with
tubercles. It is found in tide-pools, and upon rocky bottoms
north of Cape Cod, and may be recognized by its rich cherry-red
or crimson color, although some specimens are mottled with red
and bluish-green. A drawing of this species is given in Agassiz’s
“Seaside Studies,” p. 13, under the name of Rhodactinia davisit.

The Parasitic Anemone, ( Ndwardsia leidy:). Sea anemones
live in almost every conceivable situation upon rocky shores, in
muddy or sandy beaches, or upon shells which are being carried
about by hermit crabs, while others float over the ocean, or swim
freely about. Some are even parasitic, and among these Wdwardsia
leidyi is most remarkable. It lives within the transparent Rain-
bow Jelly (Mnemopsis leidy:. See page 39), and its long, dull
pink, threadlike form caused it to be mistaken for a worm.

It is about one and one-half inches long and only about one-
sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and there are sixteen blunt
48 SEA-SHORE LIFE

tentacles. Its nearest relatives are slender little sea anemones with
eight longitudinal furrows on the body and sixteen tentacles.
They live in rocky tide-pools.

The Cake-Anemone, (Stoichactis helianthus, Mig. 25 ), 18 com-
mon in the West Indies and Bermudas, where it lives in shallow
water under rocks or in crevices. It resembles a “ pancake” from

 

Fig. 23; CAKE-ANEMONE, Tortugas, Mlorida,

three to five inches in diameter, the oval mouth being in the centre,
and numerous short blunt tentacles covering the upper surface,
This anemone adheres to rocks by means of its sucker-like base,
but it can slowly move from place to place. It is usually olive-
yellow, often mottled with green or olive-brown.
STARFISHES
SEA-URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS

NTAREFISHES, sea urchins, sea lilies and sea cucumbers are
called Echinoderms. In the form of their bodies and ar-
rangement of their organs they usually display five rays, and are
therefore known as “radiates.” For example, most starfishes have
five equally developed arms, 72° apart, recalling the rays of a
conventional star. In the Echinoderms the skin usually contains a
skeleton composed of calcareous plates of definite shapes, all hinged
together in an orderly manner, so as to make a veritable armor
which gives rigidity to the body, and protects the soft organs of
the interior. In the living starfish one willsee hundreds of little
tubular feet which arise from the grooves on the lower side of the
arms. When the starfish is turned over upon its back these feet
stretch out to a remarkable length and wave about, seeking to
fasten upon something in order to right the animal. It is then
we may see that each of these feet is a hollow tube ending in a
cup-shaped sucker.

Similar tube-feet will be seen in five double lines along the
sides of the sea urchins. The mouth of the starfish is at the centre
of the lower surface. On the upper side, and a little away from
the centre between two arms, one will see a spongy-looking area.
This is called the madreporic plate, and is the sieve-like entrance
to the water-tubes of the starfish which extend down the arms and
give rise to little bladder-like vessels one above each tube-foot.
The contractions of these little bladders cause the tube-feet to
elongate by pressing water out into their cavities.

The upper surfaces of most of the starfishes are covered with
spines, but these are much better developed in the sea urchins
where, in addition to spines, we find calcareous pincers mounted
upon rods, which are used to remove any injurious foreign sub-
stance that may fall upon the body of the urchin.

The sea cucumbers, or Holothuria, are worm-like in appearance,
but are nevertheless closely related to starfishes and sea urchins.

2
50 SEA-SHORE LIFE

They have no spines and their skeleton is often reduced to minute
anchor-shaped spicules within the skin. The mouth is at one end
of the worm-shaped body, and is surrounded by feathered or
branching tentacles. In some species there are five double rows

 

Fig. 24; Variations of the COMMON STARFISH.
From Long Island Sound.

of tube-feet down the sides of the body, but in others these are
absent. When disturbed sea cucumbers have the curious habit of
casting out their viscera, and afterwards regenerating them. They
are sluggish creatures, and either live within the sand or under
rocks or crawl slowly over the bottom, feeding upon minute organ-
isms that are contained in the sand or mud which they swallow.
Sea urchins or Hchint may be compared to starfishes without
arms. They are usually provided with a skeleton made for the
most part of six-sided plates fused or rigidly joined together.
They have five sharp-edged teeth with which they gnaw off minute
or

STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 51

seaweeds from the rocks. Some species can even gnaw away the
rock itself, and in many parts of the world we find that the sea
urchins have literally honey-combed the rocks; indeed we often
find a sea urchin living in a cavity whose opening is too small to
allow of the animal’s escape. The common sea urchin of Europe
is sold in the markets during the season when it is full of eggs.

The sea lilies or Crinoidea are now among the rarest and most
graceful of marine animals. It is probable that all other sorts of
Echinoderms are descended from ancestors resembling the sea
lilies, for in long past ages they were far more abundant than any
other Echinoderms, and even in the age of the chalk they lived in
countless numbers in shallow water along our shores, their flower-
like bodies mounted upon long delicate stems that formed veritable
forests beneath the sea. The sea lily is not a plant, however, but
may be compared to a starfish mounted upon a long stem which
arises from the middle of its back and anchors it to the bottom of
the sea. The mouth is turned upward, and is surrounded by
branching arms which sweep gracefully to and fro in search
of prey.

The Echinoderms live only in salt water, but they are found
at all depths and in all oceans, from the Tropics to the Poles. The
vast majority crawl over the bottom, but at least one holothurian*
swims through the water, and was at first mistaken for a jellyfish.
Most of them cast their eggs out into the water, and the larve
develop bands of waving cilia, which enable them to swim about
for a considerable time. Suddenly the body of the Echinoderm
begins to develop within the larva, and most of the old larval
body is absorbed or cast off.

The Common Starfish, (Figs. 24, 25). There are two well
marked varieties of the common starfish ; one called Asterias forbesii
extends along the coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts
Bay but is rare north of Cape Cod. It is found from low tide level
to a depth of 120 feet, and may be recognized by its somewhat
blunt-tipped arms, tough, spiny skin, and the bright orange madre-
poric plate.

In the North it is replaced by another form called Asterias vul-

* Pelagothuria natatrix, Memoirs Museum Comparative Zoology at Harvard, Vol. XVII, No.
3, 1894, Plate XIX.
52 SEA-SHORE LIFE

garis which is found from North Carolina to Labrador, but is com-
mon only north of Cape Cod. In this starfish the arms are more
pointed than in A. forbesii, the skin is not so rigid, and the madre-
poric plate is of the same color as back of the animal, which may be

 

Fig.25; Left: HORSESHOE CRAB. Right: COMMON STARFISH.
Below: GREEN SEA-URCHIN.

purple, yellow, brown or beautiful shades of pink or red. It ranges
from low tide level to a depth of 1200 feet. Many naturalists con-
sider these two forms to be identical, but the writer found that in
Asterias forbesit from Long Island Sound, 78 individuals in 10,000
had more or less than five arms, whereas in A. vulgaris from Mas-
sachusetts Bay only 23 in 10,000 had more or less than five arms.
It seems, therefore, that the southern form is more than three times
as variable as the northern.

There is a minute red eye-spot at the tip of each arm of the
starfish. Hundreds of sucker-like tube-feet arise from a deep
groove that extends down the mid ventral side of each arm, and
between two of the arms on the upper side of the disk one may see
a bright colored area called the madreporic plate. Its situation
marks the sieve-like entrance to the water tubes of the starfish.
STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 53

The mouth is at the centre of the lower side of the disk and is sur-
rounded on all sides by the tube-feet.

In summer and autumn the starfishes are found on rocky
places in shallow water, but in winter they live at greater depths.

Starfishes feed upon almost any kind of mollusk, but will also
devour barnacles, worms, and occasionally sea urchins or even the
young of their own species. It is estimated that in 1888 starfishes
destroyed $631,500 worth of oysters on the beds of Connecticut
alone. Their mode of feeding is interesting. The starfish folds
its arms over the clam or oyster, and hundreds of the sucker-like
tube-feet fasten themselves to the valves of the shell, so that finally
the mollusk yields to the constant pull of the starfish, and the shell
gapes open. Then the starfish turns its stomach inside out and
engulfs the mollusk. It has been found by experiment that a large
starfish can exert a steady pull of over two and one-half pounds and
that this is sufficient in time to open the valves of a clam or mussel.

The eggs of the starfish are discharged into the water in great-
est abundance during the last three weeks of June, although they
are also to be found throughout the summer, and occasionally even
in winter. These eggs soon develop into little transparent larve cov-
ered with tortuous lines of waving cilia, and provided with long
flexible tubercles. They swim slowly about near the surface, and
feed upon minute organisms until they grow to be about one-eighth
of an inch long. Then the upper and lower halves of the star be-
gin to develop upon both sides of the stomach, and in a few hours
all of the anterior part of the larva and the tubercles are absorbed,
and only a minute star, about as large as a pin’s head, is seen upon
the bottom of the ocean.

Myriads of these little stars settle upon sea weeds and eel grass,
and begin at once to devour the young clams which also begin life
in the same places. Professor Mead found that one of these little
stars devoured over 50 young clamsin 6 days. The starfishes grow
rapidly, and in one year they may have arms 24 inches long and be
ready to spawn.

It is certain that the menhaden devour myriads of starfish larvee
as they swim through the water.

Normal starfishes have five arms, but oceasionally one is found
54 SEA-SHORE LIFE

having more or less than this number. Some of these variations
are the result of accident, but others are congenital.

Starfishes regenerate readily, and although a single detached
arm will not regenerate a new star, it will do so if it be torn off to-

 

Fig. 26; BLOOD-STAR. Massachusetts Bay, Tide Pools.

gether with about one-fifth of the central disk. Also the central
disk if deprived of all of the arms will soon regenerate them.
When an arm is injured it 1s usually cast off voluntarily very near
to the central disk, and regeneration begins at this point. Regen-
eration from the injured tip of an arm is very rare.

By means of their hundreds of sucker feet starfishes are
enabled to glide rapidly over the softest mud. They can also
climb readily and if turned over will quickly right themselves.
When the water is perfectly flat and calm they can even move
sucker-side uppermost along the surface of the water.

The Blood Starfish, (Cribrella sanguinolenta, Fig. 26), is smaller
than the common starfish, and its arms are rarely more than an inch
long. It is pink or reddish and the arms are almost smooth, be-
ing covered with numerous little warts. The leathery skin is quite
soft and flexible, and the arms are rounded in cross sections, and
taper to a point.

The eggs are not cast out into the water, but are held around
the mouth of the mother until they have developed into little star-
fishes. This creature is abundant within rocky tide-pools from the
eastern end of Long Island to the Arctic Ocean.
STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 56

The Mud Starfish, (Ctenodiscus erispatus, Fig. 27), is abund-
ant upon muddy bottoms at depths greater than 100 feet from Cape
Cod to the Arctic Ocean. The upper surface is covered with a
flexible skin beset with numerous regularly arranged granulations.
The sides of the arms are straight and vertical, giving the starfish
the appearance of a five-rayed cake cut out of a thick sheet of
dough.

At the centre of the upper surface of the disk there is a pro-
jecting papilla. In this connection it is interesting to observe that
starfishes are probably descended from forms which were attached
to the bottom by means of a stalk that extended downward from
the middle of the aboral side, and it is possible that the little blunt

 

Fig. 27; MUD-STAR. From a Depth of 120 Feet Off Cape Ann, Mass.

papilla seen in the mud star is the remnant of the base of such a
stalk that has long since ceased to serve as an organ of attachment.

The feet of this starfish have no terminal suckers, and serve
merely to push the animal along as it glides over the mud. The
arms are sharp-pointed although short and blunt, and the creature
is about two and three-quarters of an inch in diamter, -

The starfish is dull ochre-yellow or slightly greenish in hue.
It swallows large quantities of mud, and probably subsists upon
minute organisms contained therein.

The Giant Starfish, (Pentaceros reticulatus, Fig. 28), is found
on sandy bottoms, usually at depths greater than ten feet, off the
Florida coast and West Indies. It is the largest of our starfishes,
56 SEA-SHORE LIFE

the disk being about five inches thick, and one and one-half
feet in diameter. The five arms are short and blunt, and the up-
per surface is covered with short, blunt, rounded spines, with
a network of ridges
between them. The
color is brown, or
brownish-yellow.
The Green Ser-
pent Starfish, (Ophi-
ura brevispina),
is a West Indian
and Tropical Atlan-
tic species, but it
is conimon in some
parts of Long Isl-
and Sound where
the bottom is cov-
ered with eel grass,
as in Great Peconic

 

Bay. It is dark, rich
olive green in color,
and the central disk
is five-sided and
about one-half of an inch wide. The long, slender arms arise
sharply from each of the five angles of the central disk. These
arms are each about two and one-half inches long, and are covered
with scales which give rise to short spines along the sides. In
life they thrash about in a snake-like manner.

The Serpent Stars are the most active of all starfishes, for
their long, flexible arms and tube feet enable them to clamber
rapidly over the ground. Although no eyes are known to exist
they readily perceive the approach of an enemy, and will dart into
the nearest rocky crevice with remarkable rapidity. If one of the
arms be seized, it is immediately thrown off leaving the remaining
parts of the Star to escape.

The Brittle Starfish, (Ophiopholis aculeata, Fig. 29), is readily
distinguished by its mottled coloration in light gray and purplish
brown, no two individuals being alike in pattern. The disk is

Fig. 28; GIANT STARFISH.
From Sandy Bottom at Tortugas, Florida.
STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 57

granulated with minute spines, and the arms are provided with
rows of stout, blunt spines, usually six in a row. There are ten
egg-pouches on the lower side of the disk near the points of origin
of the five arms.
The starfish is rare
in shallow water
but is abundant at
a depth of about
100 feet, where it
crawls about among
the rocky crevices.
It extends from the
coast of New Jersey
to the Arctic Ocean,
and is common on
the northern coasts
of Europe, and the
Pacific coast of
North America. It
is figured by Lyman
under the name
Ophiopholis bellis.
The Basket
Starfish, (Astrophy-

 

ton agassizti,) 18 a
species of serpent Fig. 29; BRITTLE STARS.
star which is inter- From Life. Tide Pools; Annisquam, Mass.
esting in that the arms branch in a forked manner. The central
disk is five-sided, and the arms arise from the five angles. At each
angle we see two main branches of the arms, then each of these forks
giving four branches, and these soon fork again, giving eight.
This process is repeated, until, according to Governor John Win-
throp of Connecticut, who first described this creature in 1670, the
arms give rise to 81920 terminal branches.

The basket star walks upon the tips of these branches, with its
body elevated above the ground, and a perfect trellis work of arms
sloping outward, so that the creature is about one and one-half feet

in diameter. It is dull yellow and brown in color, and is covered
oe
58 SEA-SHORE LIFE

with a tough skin. The basket star feeds upon unlucky fishes
which may seek a retreat within the branches of the trellis, only to
be seized and devoured.
It is found along our
North Atlantic coast
from the eastern end of
Long Island north-
ward, and although
rare in shallow water,
it isabundantat depths
of twenty feet or more,
being especially com-
mon off Provincetown
or in Eastport Harbor.

The Purple Sea Ur-
chin, (Arbacia pune-
tulata, Hag. 51), a dark
brown or brownish-purple sea urchin, is quite common on broken
rocky bottoms along our coast from Mexico to Cape Cod. The body
is globular and hemispherical,

 

Fig. 30; BASKET STAREFISH. Tortugas, Florida.

and about one and three-quar-
ters inches in diameter. It is
protected by a skeleton formed
within the skin, and composed
for the most part of six-sided
calcareous plates arranged in
an orderly manner. The body
is covered with conical spines
of various lengths up to about
three-quarters of aninch. These
are found chiefly in five broad

 

radii regularly spaced around
the body, while between these

f : Fig. 31; PURPLE SEA URCHIN.
Spiny areas one sees five nar- Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island Sound,

row spaces almost devoid of

spines. There are five double rows of tube feet provided with ter-
minal suckers. These arise in the spiny areas and may stretch
out so as to become longer than the spines themselves. At the
STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 59

centre of the under side is the mouth with its five white teeth pro-
vided with powerful muscles which enable them to grind the vege-
table food upon which the sea urchin lives. The mouth leads into
a coiled intestine which opens by a pore at the summit of the
body. Around this opening in the areas devoid of spines, are five
little pores which are the openings of the reproductive system.
In summer the eggs are cast out through these pores, and float
in the water where they rapidly develop into little translucent
larvee with reddish spots, and provided with eight long processes
which are rendered straight and rigid by calcareous rods. After
swimming about, and devouring small creatures for several weeks
the sea urchin suddenly develops in the posterior end of the larva,
most of the body of which is absorbed and withers away in a few
hours, leaving, upon the bottom, a minute globular sea urchin not
larger than a pin’s head.

The Green Sea Urchin, (Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis, Fig.
25), is found in the deep waters of Long Island Sound but north of
Cape Cod it occurs in shallow tide-pools, and on the Maine coast it
literally covers the rocks. It extends into the Arctic Ocean, and is
found on the north Pacific coast. It may be at once recognized by
its resemblance to a greenish chestnut bur. The body is flatter
than a hemisphere, about two inches in diameter and densely cov-
ered with sharp pointed spines not more than three-eighths of an
inch long. In some individuals these spines are tipped with dull
violet. In addition to the spines, there are also a large number of
little pincers mounted upon rod-like bases. These are used for the
removal, or retention, of refuse material which may fall upon the
sea urchin. The five double rows of long, slender, tube-feet allow
the animal to cling to the rocks over which it slowly glides in search
of the alge, and small organisms upon which it feeds. It often
covers itself with bits of seaweed and other fragments.

The Stinging Urchin, (Diadema setosum), is abundant along
the Florida coast and in the West Indies, where it is often seen in
clusters upon the sandy bottoms. These urchins are velvety black,
about four inches in diameter, and are covered with sharp pointed
black spines, some of which are fully four inches long. These
spines wave rapidly about upon the approach of an enemy, and if
the urchin be seized, they penetrate the skin of the attacking per-
son and break off, inflicting a most painful sting.
60 SEA-SHORE LIFE

When young the spines are banded with dark gray and white,
but they become dark brown or dark purple in the adult urchin.
The body of the urchin is sprinkled over with glistening blue eyes
each one of which is provided
with a number of prismatic
lenses, a retina and nerves.

The Sand Dollar, (Hehi-
narachnius parma, ig. 32), is
found in swarms upon sandy
bottoms from New Jersey
northward to the Arctic Ocean
and the Pacific. Itis flat with
a rounded edge, about three
inches in diameter, and dense-
ly covered with short brown
spines. The mouth is at the
centre of the under side,
while the vent is at the mar-
gin. Radiating outward from the centre of the upper side one
will see the slightly raised pattern of a five-rayed star, the borders of
which are outlined by numerous little pores, through which gill-like
organs project upward. The sand dollar is enabled to glide over
the bottom through the action of its numerous sucker-like feet.
When turned over on its back it is unable to right itself, however,
and thousands are cast ashore by every great storm. An indelible
ink is prepared from sand dollars by pounding them up in water.

The Brittle Sea-Cucumber, (Synapta inherens, Fig. 35.), lives
in sand tubes within sandy or muddy beaches from the Carolinas to
Cape Cod, and is also found on the coasts of Europe. At first sight
it resembles a worm, but it is an Echinoderm closely related to the
starfishes and sea urchins. Its body is highly contractile, but when
extended is about one-eighth of an inch in diameter and more than
a foot long The creature is translucent with five white lines
marking the places where muscle bands extend down the body. The
skin is covered with little white dots that indicate the places occupied
by minute calcareous anchors which enable the animal to obtain a
hold when moving. The mouth is at the front end of the long worm-
like body and is surrounded by twelve feathered tentacles. The coiled

 

Itz. 32; SAND-DOLLAR.
STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 61

intestine extends the entire length of the body, and may be seen
through the translucent skin, especially when it is distended by the
sand which the creature constantly swallows in order to obtain the
minute organisms upon which it feeds.

The Synapta lives within a tube made of fine sand particles
aglutinated with adhesive slime. This tube is made up of a series
of rings. The Synapta selects little particles of sand with its ten-
tacles, and then fastens them together so as to
form a ring around the mouth. The ring is then
foreed down the sides of the body by muscular
contraction, and thus a tube is finally made with-
in which the creature lives.

Our Synapta has the curious habit of break-
ing itself into pieces by muscular constriction,
and if placed in unfavorable conditions, it soon
breaks up into numerous short lengths.

A good figure of it is given in Agassiz’s
‘“‘ Seaside Studies,’

’

under the name of Synapta
tenuts,

The Red Sea-Cucumber, (Synapta roseola),
closely resembles Synapta inheerens but can be
at once distinguished by its reddish color, and by
the fact that it lives under stones or in gravelly
beaches, never in sand or mud.

The Crimson Sea-Cucumber, ( Cuvieria squa-
mata), is found along the New England coast pes ee
north of Cape Cod. It is of a brilliant red color,
and the sides and back are shingled with round-edged scales. The
lower side of the body is free of scales, but is provided with three
rows of tube-feet bearing suckers.

There are ten tentacles which branch profusely and resemble
beautiful red trees almost as long as the body. The creature becomes
about eight mches long. The brilliant red larvee, about as large as
a pin’s head, occur in myriads in the ocean during the spring and
early summer months.

 
THE WORMS

FFXUE worms include a large number of creatures which differ

greatly one from another, both in form and in habits of life.
They are found in almost every imaginable situation, although
generally dependent upon moisture for their development. Many
sorts of worms are parasites, and no animal is wholly free from
their attacks.

Although repulsive at first sight, worms are really among the
most interesting of all animals, for a careful study of their develop-
ment and structure shows that crustaceans, insects and mollusks are
probably descended from worm-like ancestors.

The flatworms or Platodes are among the simplest of all worms.
The free-swimming flatworms are common upon seaweed-covered
rocks, or upon dead shells. They are generally small creatures
more or less leaf-shaped with the front end of the body bluntly
rounded. They crawl or swim with a wave-like motion. The sucker-
like mouth is upon the lower surface, never at the extreme front of
the creature; and the intestine ends blindly, so that undigested
particles of food are cast out through the mouth. Numerous little
eye-spots and sensory hairs are often seen on the upper surface of
the worm, and the nervous system is well developed. The brain is
near the front end, and gives rise to two main nerve branches which
extend down the body near the lower surface and are joined at regu-
lar intervals by cross fibres, making a ladder-like arrangement.
The flatworms often lay their eggs in cocoons or capsules, each cap-
sule containing a considerable number of eggs, only a few of which
develop; the remainder being devoured by the successful larve.

The tapeworms and flukes are related to the flatworms, and are
parasitic within many animals. The development of these para-
sites is interesting, for example the tapeworm produces eggs which
develop into little embryos, each with four or six hooks and suckers,
and which are then cast out and die, unless accidentally swallowed
by some other animal. In this event, however, the little tapeworm
gets rid of its egg-shell, and bores its way through the wall
THIE WORMS 65

of the stomach of the animal, and lives somewhere within its body.
The worm, however, does not usually grow to any great size or
develop any segments, but remains little more than a ‘“‘head” with
hooks and suckers. If, however, the animal within which it is
living be devoured by another, the little head is set free and attaches
itself to the walls of the stomach of the new host, and then it grows
to an enormous length, forming hundreds of segments which
develop thousands of eggs, and are finally cast out one after another
through the alimentary canal of the host.

The highest of the worms are called Annelids, for their bodies
are ringed or divided by constrictions into a number of segments.
The head segment contains the mouth and is often provided with
feelers and eyes. Then follow a large number of body segments
quite similar each to each. These often bear flapper-like side
appendages which are both gills and feet. The posterior segment
usually has one or more pairs of feelers. The intestine runs straight
through the body from one end to the other, and the throat which
is often armed with teeth, can be turned inside out. There is a well
developed brain in the head segment and a chain of nerve fibres
extends down the lower side of the body, with a knot-like mass
of nerve cells in each segment. The eges of many Annelids
are cast out into the water where they divide into a number of
cells, and soon develop into little free-swimming larve which
are apt to be tack-shaped, the body being elongated, and the head
broad and flat. There is a ring of waving cilia around the edge of
the broad head of the larva, and another at its posterior end. The
mouth is at the narrow edge of the head of the tack, and the intes-
tine bends at right angles and runs entirely through the body, open-
ing at the posterior end. There is usually a sense organ or brain
at the centre of the head of the tack, and often we find sensory bris-
tles or hairs at this place. Larvee of this sort are so common that a
special name, trochophora, is given to them. Soon the flapper-like
legs develop along the sides, and the body becomes segmented and
gradually changes into the form of the adult worm. But in addi-
tion to this development from eges many worms increase in even
more interesting ways. For example, in some forms called Syllide,
we often find that eyes and feelers begin to develop at regular
intervals upon certain segments of the body of the worm, and then
64 SEA-SHORE LIFE

the original worm breaks up into a number of individuals each pro-
vided with eyes and feelers.

In the Palolo worms (Hunice) of the tropical Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, the eggs are contained only in the posterior end of the worm;
and this end is cast off early in the morning of the day of the last
quarter of the moon, at the Tortugas, Florida, in July; and in the Pa-
cific in November. ‘This cast off end then swims upon the surface
for about an hour, and finally contracts so as to squeeze out all of
the eggs after which it sinks to the bottom and dies, leaving the
eggs to develop, and the forward end of the worm to regenerate a
new posterior part.

The Ribbon-Worm, (AMeckelia ingens, Fig. 34), is common in
muddy or sandy beaches from South Carolina to Cape Cod where it
lives buried beneath the ground near low water line. When fully
stretched large individuals are about ten feet long, but when con-
tracted even the largest are not more than five feet in length. Com-
monly the worms are not more than three feet long and about three-
quarters of an inch wide, being flat and ribbon-like with bluntly
pointed ends, and of yellowish-white color. The body is slimy and
the skin is covered with minute cilia which wave constantly. These
however can be detected only with the microscope.

This worm is remarkably active and is an excellent burrower,
forcing its way through the sand with considerable rapidity. It is
also a good swimmer, throwing its ribbon-like body into sinuous
waving lines as it moves through the water. When disturbed it
rapidly shoots out a long tubular proboscis which arises from a pit
on the dorsal side of the head and is not a part of the throat. This
proboscis is sometimes thrown out so violently that it breaks off,
and then wriggles about very much as if it were a complete worm,
while another proboscis is soon regenerated. The proboscis is cov-
ered with an adhesive slime, and serves in the capture of prey; for
this worm feeds upon other worms which it devours entire. The
mouth is on the lower side of the head.

The development of the ribbon-worms or Nemerteans is interest-
ing. The larva is helmet-shaped with a broad head region, and
covered with cilia which enable it to swim rapidly. After a time
parts of the outer skin sink down in four pit-like depressions into
the body of the larva and these grow together around the intestine,
THE WORMS 65

and thus the little worm develops, as it were, within its own larva,
which shrivels and is cast off.

The Pink Ribbon-Worm, (Meckelia rosea), is smaller than Af.
ingens, never being more than about ten inches long and one-quar-
ter of an inch wide. It has a thread-like proboscis which can be

 

 

Fig. 34; Upper. RIBBON-WORM.
Lower. OPAL-WORM.

shot out with remarkable rapidity, and is fully ten inches long. This
worm is dull red or flesh colored, and lives in sand near low water
mark. The sand adheres tenaciously to the slime-covered body of
the worm.

The Sea Mouse, (Aphrodite aculeata, Fig. 5d). This remarka-
ble worm is oval in shape, and about three inches long and one and
one-half wide. The skin is dull brown but the sides are covered
with numerous hair-like bristles, many of
which glisten with brilliant green, red and
yellow iridescence. The head bears a pair of
tapering feelers, and there are about forty
pairs of legs provided with short, stiff, brown-
colored bristles, which extend outward at the
edges of the flat lower surface. This worm
lives in mud below tide level, and is found
from Long Island northward, and is abundant
on the northern coasts of Europe.

The Clam Worms, (Nereis, Fig. 56), are
very common in muddy beaches where they
live between tide levels in burrows lined with
mucous. They are segmented, or ringed, each ring of the body
bearing a pair of flapper-like gill-feet. The head segment, however,
is more complex, for it bears ten feelers, two fleshy “palps,” and

 

fFrg. 35; SEA-MOUSE,
66 SEA-SHORE LIFE

four black eyes. When disturbed the worm turns its throat inside
out displaying a pair of sharp, horny jaws. The posterior segment
of the body has no gill-feet but bears two long feelers.

There are three species of clam worms to be found on our coast.
The largest of these is Nereis virens which is even more abundant-
northward and extends to the northern coasts of Europe. It becomes

 

Fig. 36; CLAM WORM. From Life. Long Island Sound.

about one and one-half feet in length, and the body is olive browu
or olive blue with a beautiful pearly iridescence. The gills, which
are attached to the upper sides of the feet, are leaf-shaped, and are
green on the front and salmon red on the middle and hinder parts
of the body. The teeth are black.

Nereis limbata is also common. It may be recognized by its
horny, yellow colored teeth and small size, being not more than six
inches long.

Nereis pelagica is more abundant on the coast of New England
north of Cape Cod. The body is widest in the middle, while in the
other species of Nereis it is widest very near the head end. On
calm nights, during the summer months, these worms leave their
burrows, swim about near the surface, and cast their eggs out into
the water, where they develop into little pear-shaped larva which
swim rapidly through the water by means of waving cilia. The
development has been thoroughly studied by E. B. Wilson in “The
American Journal of Morphology,” 1892, Vol. VI.

Nereis is a carnivorous worm and greedily devours other
worms, and various marine animals. It is, however, a favorite food
with fishes and makes an excellent bait. It is also preyed upon by
the ribbon worm.
THE WORMS 67

The Opal-Worm, ( Lumbriconereis opalina, Fig. 34), is abund-
ant in muddy beaches from New Jersey northward. The body is
ringed, and each ring bears a pair of bristled feet. It is about

 

Fig. 37; RED THREAD WORM. Long Island Sound.

eighteen inches long and one-eighth of an inch wide in the
middle, the ends gradually tapering. The head is simple and
pointed, without feelers. The worm is of a rich bronze color
with a brilliant play of opalescent colors over its surface.

The Red Thread, (Lumbriconcreis tenuis, ig. 7). A shovel

 

Fig. 398; FOUR-JAWED WORM. From Life, Long Island Sound.

thrust into almost any of our muddy beaches will show that the
mud is infested with slender, thread-like worms of deep dull-red
68 SEA-SHORE LIFE

color, and about one foot in length. They are so fragile that it is
extremely difficult to dig them out unbroken.

The Four-Jawed Worm, (Huglycera americana, lig. 38), is a
stout, active worm about one foot in length and one-quarter of an

 

Fig. 39; FRINGED WORM. Long Island Sound.

inch wide. The side appendages are small, and function more as
gills than as feet. The worm resembles a reddish, iridescent earth-
worm with a thick body, sharply pointed at both ends. When
disturbed it everts its throat, shooting out a balloon-shaped pro-
boscis which is armed with black teeth situated at the four
corners of a square. It is a remarkably active worm, and is pro-
vided with powerful muscles so that it burrows through the sand
very rapidly, aud is common in our beaches between tide limits.

The Fringed Worm, (Cirratulus grandis, Fig. 69), is common
in burrows in sandy or gravelly beaches at low water mark. The
body is dull brownish-yellow, tapering to a point at both ends,
but a large number of long, red or orange colored threads arise
from the sides, being especially
numerous near the head. These
are the gills and, when expanded,
they are often as long as the body
itself, and are thrust out into the

water above the worm, which

lies safely hidden within its tube-

like burrow. When the gills are

broken off they squirm about and
remain alive for several days.

The Tufted Worm, (Ampht-

trite ornata, Fag. 40), is found in

Fig. go. TUFTED WORM. muddy beaches near low tide lev-

el, where it constructs a U-shaped

tube of mud particles aglutinated together with mucous. The

mud around the opening of the tube is heaped up into a crater-like

 
THE WORMS 69

rim with the opening in the centre. The body of the worm is dull
flesh colored with two rows of bristles on the sides of each segment.
It isnot more than eight inches long and one-half an inch wide
near the head, but it tapers gradually from this point, the posterior
end being still quite blunt. The head end is provided with three
pairs of blood-red, tree-like gills, and a large number of pale flesh-
colored tentacles which are constantly expanding and contracting,
and by means of which the worm captures the minute creatures
upon which it feeds. These tentacles are also used to gather parti-
cles of sand or mud with which to construct the tube. The body
of the worm remains within the tube with the head near the open
end, while the tentacles spread out over the ground in all direc-
tions. It is abundant from Cape Cod to New Jersey.

The Blood-Spot, (Polyeirrus eximius, Fig. 41), is not more than
four inches long, and lives in our sandy beaches immediately below
low water mark. The
forward half of the
body is blood-red and
thick, while the hind-
er part is dull flesh-
colored and _ slender.
Each segment of the
forward half of the
body is provided with
a pair of branched
gills, while the sur-
face of the hinder part
is smooth and has no
gills. The most
marked characteristic
of this worm, howev-

 

er, is the great cluster

of blood-red tentacles

surrounding the Fig. 41; BLOOD-SPOT WORM.

mouth. These are con-

stantly expanding and contracting as the blood flows through them.
The Shell Worm, (Serpula dianthus, Fig. 42), is common along

our coast. It secretes a crooked, stony, white tube wpon the sur-
70 SEA-SHORE LIFE

face of rocks, dead shells, ete. Often a number of these calcareous
worm-tubes are seen clustered together, as in our illustration.
When undisturbed the worm protrudes its beautiful feathered
gills, which resemble a little passion-
flower projecting from the mouth of
the tube. These gills are variously
colored in different individuals, some
being purplish-brown banded with
white and yellow, while others are
yellowish-green, orange or lemon-
yellow. At the least disturbance
such as a shock, or a shadow, the
gills are instantly withdrawn into the

 

stony tube, and the opening stopped
Fig) 42; Dead Scallop Shell covered by a horny disk called the ‘“ opercu-
sith uubes) ofthe shell Worn. lum.” These worms are rarely more
Long Island Sound. :
than three inches long, and one-
eighth of an inch wide. The body tapers gradually to the posterior
end. In place of the gill-feet of the active worms, we find only a
row of little bristles down each side, for these worms are unable to
leave their tubes, and the legs which their remote ancestors pos-
sessed have degenerated. There are no jaws, but the worm feeds
upon minute organisms which are washed into its mouth by the
movements of its feathery gills.

The Sea Flower, (Spirohranchus tricornis), is a beautiful ani-
mal, related to our shell-worm, but is larger and secretes its tube
upon the surface of large coral heads, so that the tube becomes cov-
ered by the coral, leaving the opening still at the surface. This
opening is protected by a sharp spine, and is closed by the opercu-
lum of the worm when it withdraws its gills. When expanded
these gills resemble a beautiful pink or purple passion-flower.
about three-quarters of an inch wide. If a shadow passes over the
“flower,” however, the gills are instantly withdrawn into the tube.
The worm is abundant off the Florida coast, West Indies and
Bahamas.

The Acorn Worm, ( Balanoglossus kowalerskii). This remark-
able worm-shaped creature is found in shallow water, below low
tide level, from Massachusetts Bay to the Carolinas. It lives
THE WORMS 71

within sandy beaches in tubular burrows lined with mucous, and
the situation of the burrow is always marked by a heap of coiled
string-like masses of sand cast out at its mouth. The creature is
about five inches long and so delicate that its own weight is sulh-
cient to break it into pieces, so that it must be dug and washed out
of the sand with great care. The front end of the body is, how-
ever, quite tough and muscular, and is elongate and acorn-like in
shape; although it is often expanded and contracted in life. Back
of this acorn there is a thickened, collar-like region, and then comes
the long, tapering, worm-shaped body. The acorn is usually yeliow
or dull orange, the collar darker orange, and the body greenish-
brown or brownish-purple, often mottled with dull white spots.
The mouth is at the lower front edge of the collar, and the creature
feeds upon the minute organisms contained in the large quantities
of sand which it swallows. The intestine extends straight through
the body. The sides of the intestine in the forward part of the
body are pierced, however, by numerous gill clefts which open to
the outside ina series of pores along both sides of the middle of the
back. Now, gill slits are peculiar to the vertebrates, being found
either in embryonic or adult life in every known vertebrate from
the lowest fishes up to man. Indeed, many naturalists have sup-
posed that Balanoglossus might be a survivor of the ancient race
which long ago gave rise to the vertebrates. On the other hand the
larva of Balanoglossus is free-swimming, and bears such a remarkable
resemblance to that of a starfish, or Echinoderm, that no one sus-
pected it to be anything else until it was reared and observed to
change into a Balanoglossus. It is possible, therefore, that Balano-
glossus is descended remotely from ancient forms which gave rise
to both the annelid worms and the Echinoderms. The discussion
of this interesting subject would, however, take us too far afield,
and the reader is referred to the table of references for further
accounts of this species.
THE BRACHIOPODS

N long past ages these creatures were far more abundant than
mollusks, and their shells are among the commonest fossils of the
oldest rocks. Now, however, they are nearly all extinct, and are
usually found only at considerable depths, or along tropical shores.
At first sight one would mistake these animals for clams or mus-
sels, but they are more closely related to worms than to mollusks.
In Brachiopods the two halves of each shell on either side of a
middle line are similar, whereas in clams and mussels the two
halves of each shell are not alike in shape.
A still greater difference, which has been discovered through
careful study, is that the shells of the Brachiopods grow on the
back and lower side of
the animal and the
head faces the gape of
the shell, whereas in
the mollusks the shells
grow on the right and
| left sides, and the
ventral side of the body
faces the gape of the
shell. The mouth in
the Brachiopods is
flanked by two curi-
ously coiled and feath-
ered arms which lie
within the cavity be-
tween the shells, and
are supported by skel-

 

Fig 43; Parchment Shells growing upon a stone. From
a depth of 160 feet off Gloucester Harbor, Mass. etal rods attached to

the upper shell. These
serve as gills and also to capture the minute creatures upon which
the Brachiopod feeds. In Brachiopods the posterior end of the
body is sometimes stalk-like and projects backward either through
THE BRACHIOPODS 73

an opening near the back of the lower shell, or between the shells.

In some forms this stalk is very small and serves merely to
attach the creatures to rocks, etc., while in others it is used in bur-
rowing through sandy beaches. The intestine curves around and
opens, if at all, on the right side near the mouth. There is a well
developed liver and one or two pairs of tubular kidneys, while the
heart lies above the stomach.

The Parchment Shell, ( Terebratulina septentrionalis, Fig. 45),
is a Brachiopod, and is extremely abundant off the New England
coast, on rocky bottoms at depths between 100 and 500 feet, and it
is also found off the northern coasts of Europe. At first sight it
resembles a little bivalve with elongate, slightly heart-shaped
shells, of yellowish color, resembling old parchment. The shells
are marked with faint radiating ridges, and the lower shell projects
backward beyond the apex of the upper. The Brachiopod is
attached to rocks, etc., by means of a stalk-like body which projects
backward through an opening near the narrow apex of the lower
shell. In life the shells move quite freely over each other and often
gape open, displaying the beautiful feathered “arms” or gills which
lie coiled within the cavity of the shells. This little creature is not
more than an inch long and three-quarters of an inch wide. The
eggs are laid in the water, and develop into minute free-swimming
larvee covered with moving cilia, and having a tuft of bristles at
the head end. The body is pear-shaped, with two constrictions.
Soon the creature cements itself to the bottom by the posterior end
of the body, and two folds which are to secrete the shells, one on
the back and the other on the lower side, grow upward and en-
close the body.
THE MOSS ANIMALS AND CORALLINES
Polyzoa or Bryozoa.

MOMENT'’S glance at a bit of seaweed or the most casual in-
+A spection of the rocks below low tide level, will reveal the fact
they are often covered with delicate lace-like growths, or with more
or less highly colored incrustations, or small tree-like forms.

These are the moss animals or corallines. They live in col-
onies, and grow by budding, the entire colony having grown
from a single individual, and thus while the individual creatures
are themselves of microscopic size, the colony being composed of
hundreds or thousands may spread over a considerable area or con-
stitute a small tree-like, or moss-like, growth.

Each little animal of the colony occupies a separate stony or
horny capsule into which it may withdraw and even close the
opening with a lid, the aperture being still further protected by
spines around its edge.

The mouth is surrounded by tentacles that in many species
arise from a horseshoe-shaped or disk-like base. These tentacles
are always beset with hair-like bristles which by their movements
serve to set up currents, and thus to drive minute organisms into
the mouth.

The intestine is U-shaped and bends back so as to open on the
dorsal side near the mouth, while the principal nerve centre is situ-
ated between the mouth and the vent. In some of the forms there
is a single pair of kidney organs, the ducts of which open near the
mouth.

We see, therefore, that although these creatures often bear a
close superficial resemblance to hydroids they can at once be dis-
tinguished by their bristled tentacles and complete alimentary tract.
Indeed a careful study of their development and anatomy has shown
that they are closely related to the brachiopods and worms, and that
their present forms have been brought about by ages of sedentary
life. Being stationary they have had little need for sense organs,
THE MOSS AMIMALS AND CORALLINES 75

and accordingly these have degenerated, and even the internal
organs have become simplified. On the other hand, reproduction
by budding, and the development of a hard external skeleton have
been fostered and are now almost but not quite universal among
these creatures.

The eggs are often produced in large oval or flask-shaped cells
scattered at intervals over the colony. The little larvee are free-
swimming, being provided with lines of waving cilia. After a time,
however, they settle down, fasten themselves to some suitable anch-
orage, and then begin to increase by budding.

The Moss-Animal, (Bugula turrita, Fig. 44), is very abundant
upon piles of wharves and on rocks between Cape Hatteras and
Casco Bay, Maine. It grows between low water mark and a depth
of 100 feet, and is so abundant that the rocks below low tide level
appear covered with its mossy-looking
tufts, which are often ten inches long and
branch profusely. The older branches
near the base of the stem break off, how-
ever, leaving a dense tuft of branches near
the summit. The main stems are orange-
yellow while the terminal branches are yel-
lowish-white. Both stems and branches
are, however, usually over-run with min-
ute plant growths and so covered with bits
of silt as to be dull brown in color. Ex-

 

amination with a magnifying lens will

Fig. 44; MOSS-ANIMAL.
Long Island Sound

reveal the little individual animals of the
colony, each in its own special sheath.
The sheaths being arranged alternately, or on opposite sides of the
stem. The bristle-covered tentacles will be seen engaged in the
capture of minute organisms; while at intervals one will see curi-
ous bird’s head shaped appendages, their mouths constantly open-
ing and shutting.

The Lace Coralline, (Membranipora pilosa), forms delicate,
white, lace-like incrustations over seaweeds, dead shells, etc., being
especially common upon kelp. Jt is very abundant from Long
Island Sound to the Arctic Ocean; being also found on the north-
ern coasts of Hurope.
76 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The Red Crust, ( Escharella variabilis ), forms a dull-red or

pinkish incrustation over rocks and dead shells, layer after layer

being formed until the rock becomes thickly coated with a mass

 

Fig. 45; FALSE CORAL. A coral-
line animal. Long Island Sound.

bearing a superficial resemblance to
coral.

It is common from South Caro-
lina to Massachusetts Bay from low
tide level to a depth of 150 feet, and
is especially abundant in shaded tide
pools.

The False Coral, (Discosoma ni-
dita, Fig. 45), forms rough, nodular
masses of dull greenish-yellow color,
and is extremely abundant in Long
Island Sound where it is commonly

but erroneously called “coral.” These nodular masses are a grad-
ual growth, and are due to layer after layer of the incrusting Poly-
zoa which always forms over a dead shell or some loose stone. It
is found only below low tide mark, and is most abundant in water

about thirty feet deep.
THE CRUSTACEANS

FPNHESE are the crabs, lobsters, sand-fleus, barnacles and a host of

munute creatures of both salt and fresh water. They breathe by
means of plume-like gills which are usually attached to the bases
of the legs, and thus the vast majority of crustaceans live in water,
whereas insects which breathe through internal tubes called trachea
live on land. A further difference between crustaceans and insects
is that in the former the legs are bifurcated while in insects they are
simple and linear.

In crustaceans and insects the body is made up of distinct
segments separated by constrictions. This is also true of the higher
worms but while the legs of crustaceans and insects are jointed,
those of worms are usually mere stump-like flappers. Moreover, in
worms the body is made up of segments which are similar each
to each, whereas in crustaceans and insects the body is composed of
dissimilar segments.

In insects we find three distinct regions called the head, thorax
and abdomen, and these are marked off one from another by sharp
constrictions. In crustaceans, however, we find that there is no
sharp line of demarkation between the head and thorax, and only the
abdomen is more or less sharply defined from the rest of the body.
In worms, crustaceans and insects the brain lies in the head above
the intestine, and two cords of nerve tissue extend downward from
the brain on both sides of the throat and connect the brain with
the main line of nerve fibres which extend in a double line down
the middle of the lower side of the animal.

Both crustaceans and insects are probably descended from
worm-like ancestors but while crustaceans have been developed
mainly for life in the water, insects have become more complex and
live mainly on land.

The body covering of a crustacean is tough, and rendered still
harder by deposits of carbonate of lime, so that the animal is en-
closed, so to speak, within its own skeleton. At the joints, however,
the skin is flexible, allowing a certain freedom of movement. This
78 SEA-SHORE LIFE

hard skin-armor of the body affords excellent attachment for the
muscles, and it is well known that in proportion to their size in-
sects and crustaceans are the strongest of all animals. It has even
been calculated that if a man possessed muscles as strong in propor-
tion as those of a flea he could readily leap over St. Paul’s Cathedral.

 

Fig. 46; YOUNG ROCK-CRAB. From life, natural size. Showing the rapid enlargement
that took place after the shell was moulted. The Crab had lost one of its nippers,
but this was regenerated after the moult.

Being encased in a natural armor crustaceans can not grow at
a uniform rate, but enlarge suddenly at the periods when the shell
is shed. This occurs at fairly regular intervals, and the entire
shell is shed, even the coverings of the eyes and part of the lining
of the stomach being cast off. The creature is then soft and helpless,
and usually remains hidden in some safe retreat until the body has
expanded and the new shell hardened.

The appendages of crustaceans are of various sorts such as
feelers, mouth parts, claws, legs, egg-carrying organs, swimming and
breathing organs, and stalked eyes.

The Crustacea are divided into two sub-classes, the lowest
called the Yntomostraca, the barnacles and water fleas, have a var-
iable number of body segments, and the appendages are usually
forked, and are apt to be quite similar each to each. The higher
sub-class called the Malacostraca includes the crabs, lobsters,
shrimps, and sand fleas. Their bodies consist of twenty segments;
five in the head, eight in the middle part of the body, and seven in
the abdomen; and their appendages are apt to be dissimilar each
from each.
THE CRUSTACEANS 79)

 

Fig. 47; ROCK-CRAB. Cape Ann, Mass.
Above: Male showing narrow abdomen.
Below: Female with broad abdomen that serves to cover and protect the eggs,
80 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The eggs of crustaceans are often carried about attached to the
abdominal appendages of the female. In the lower forms the egg
usually develops into a more or less oval-shaped embryo called a
nawplius, which has a single eye and three pairs of appendages.
The first pair is simple and becomes the front feelers of the adult,
while the other two pairs are forked, and become the second pair of
feelers and the mandibles. In the higher crustaceans the eggs often
coutain so much yolk that the embryo is not set free until its devel-
opment has gone farther than the nauplius stage. Good general
descriptions of our crustacea are given in Arnold’s “Sea Beach at
Ebb-Tide;” Stebbing’s “‘ Crustacea,” in The International Scientific
Series, 1893; and Volume II of ‘The Riverside Natural History,”
edited by Kingsley.

THE BARNACLES

The older naturalists believed that barnacles were mollusks, but
a study of their development showed that they are crustaceans re-
lated to the water fleas.

The egg of the barnacle is set free in the water and develops
into a minute larva with a triangular shield over the back, a single
eye immediately above the brain, a mouth, intestine and three pairs
of appendages. The larva then moults a number of times, acquir-
ing a pair of stalked eyes, and a pair of shells hinged along the back
and projecting over the sides of the body. The first pair of append-
ages have now changed into organs of attachment which enable
the little creature to fasten itself head-on to some rock or other suit-
able anchorage where it is destined to pass the remainder of its life.

A considerable change then comes over the creature. It re-
mains without food while it develops a shell with hinged lids which
may close or open the aperture. The barnacle has been described
as a crustacean which is fastened by its head, lies on its back, and
kicks its food into its mouth. If one watches a barnacle one will
see how the feathery jointed legs are thrust out at regular intervals,
and wave gracefully through the water to aerate the blood, and to
set up currents which drive small creatures into the mouth of the
barnacle.

Most of the barnacles are hermaphrodites, but in some genera
THE CRUSTACEANS 81

the males are minute, degenerate creatures without shells, mouth or
intestines, and live within the shell of the female.

Ay
eae s

See.

eA scNt {

Fig. 48; Rock covered with Rock Barnacles. Cape Ann, Mass.

 

The Rock Barnacle, (Balanus balanoides, Fig. 48), is found
along the Atlantic shores of Europe and America, from the Caro-
linas northward. It lives only between
tide levels, where it remains uncovered
for a considerable period each half day,
and is so abundant as to whiten the rocks.
Individuals are crowded so closely to-
gether as to become distorted and elon-
gated in shape. When the tide is out

 

the barnacles remain closed up, but as
soon as the water reaches them the lids ae ee
of the shells open, and the delicate curl- tere
c ; ‘te 49%; Deep-water Barnacle
ing feet are thrust out at regular inter- growing upon a stone. From

. . lif. _ ‘ d Mass.
vals, sweeping food into the hungry Me Cape ann, Mass
mouths of the barnacles. At the least shock or jar the barnacles
close their lids with a snap and the waving motion ceases.
82

SEA-SHORE

LIFE

Balanus hammer, Mig. 49", is a large rough-looking, solitary

barnacle that grows upon rocks below low-tide level off the coast

   

Fig. 50; WHALE BARNACLE,

of New Kngland north of Cape
Cod.

The Whale Barnacle, (Coro-
nula diadema, ig. 50), 1s at-
tached to the skin of whales,
the skin being drawn up into
the shell of the barnacle so as
to enable it to adhere firmly.
The shell of this barnacle is fully
an inch and a half wide and an
inch high. In cross section it
is hexagonal with six longitudi-
nal ribs, each made up of four

or five ridges. In barnacles that

grow upon moving animals, the feathery feet are merely thrust out,

and not waved about as in the rock barnacles, which must create

currents in order to
capture their food.
The Stalked Bar-
nacles, (Mig. 51). These
are often called “ goose

barnacles,” for the

naturalists of the sev-

enteenth century be-
lieved that geese
hatched from them.

They are usually found
attached to floating
objects, such as the
gulf weed, drifting
logs, pumice or buoys.

The fleshy stalk
by which the barnacle
is attached is the head
the

end of creature,

’

 

lig.

57; STALKED BARNACLES, Lepas Analifera,

From a buoy at Tortugas, Mlorida

and the feathery, curling legs are seen to protrude now and again

through a cleft in the side of the shell.

There is a minute eye
THE CRUSTACEANS 83

attached to the side of the stomach. ‘The shell is laterally com-
pressed, and is made up of a number of calcareous pieces hinged

 

Fig. 52; AMERICAN LOBSTER. Cape Ann, Mass.

together. There are two common species of stalked barnacles in
our parts of the Atlantic. One is called Lepas fascicularis, and is
found floating in the Gulf Stream attached to logs and gulf weed.
It is small, the whole animal, including the stalk, being usually not
more than an inch in length. The shell is milky white, while the
stalk and legs are rich brown. This species is often cast ashore
upon our coast late in the summer.

Lepas anatifera, Fig. 51, is a larger and stouter species,
fully two inches long. It is abundant upon buoys off the Florida
coast, or upon ship’s bottoms which have been in warm seas. It
occurs in the tropical parts of all oceans.

The American Lobster, (Homarus americanus, Fig. 32). We
are all familiar with the general appearance of our lobster, but its
habits are not so well known. It ranges from North Carolina to
southern Labrador, and is now most abundant off the Maine coast.
Years ago lobsters over 20 pounds in weight were not uncommon,
but such monsters are now very rare: A specimen 30 pounds in
weight and 42 inches long was, however, captured off the New
Jersey coast in March, 1897. Our Jobster is exceedingly variable
in color, being usually dark green with red and blue mottlings;

=o
84 SEA-SHORE LIFE

but blue, red or cream-colored lobsters are sometimes seen. It isa
great burrower, digging holes with its claws fully two feet deep,
and then entering the burrow tail first. It feeds upon almost any
dead animal it may find and will readily capture living fishes, or
other marine animals, including young lobsters. These are torn to
pieces in its large claws, and then still further ground up in the
“gastric mill” or gizzard-like teeth of the stomach. Cod and other
fishes destroy countless numbers of lobsters.

The eggs are usually laid in July or August, and adhere to the
abdominal appendages of the female, while the great tail ‘‘fin,” or
telson, is folded forward soas to cover them. In this condition they
are carried for about eleven months, so that they usually hatch
between May 15th and July 15th. A female cight inches long will
lay about 5,000 eggs, while one seventeen inches in length will pro-
duce fully 63,000. Individual lobsters do not spawn oftener than
once every two years.

The little lobsters are about one-third of an inch long, and as
transparent as glass, so that one may see their internal organs
clearly. They immediately rise to the surface, and their feathered
feet enable them to swim actively about. The claws are now very
small, and the whole creature is shrimp-like in appearance. The
little creatures swim at the surface for five or six weeks, devouring
a great variety of minute animals, and not hesitating to bite off the
legs of other young lobsters whom they may chance to meet. They
moult six times and then sink to the bottom, and crawl into shallow
water, where they remain hidden away under stones until autumn.
On the approach of cold weather all of the lobsters craw] out into
deep water, never going, however, to a depth much greater than 600
feet. They seem to prefer waters of a temperature of about 55° F.
Professor Bumpus has shown that lobsters wander over the bottom
to a considerable extent; one individual went twelve miles in
three days.

Our lobster fisheries are worth at least $1,500,000 annually,
but unless wise laws are soon enforced for their protection the ruth-
less persecution to which the lobsters have been subjected will prac-
tically exterminate them, in so far as commerce is concerned. No
lobster under 104 inches in length should be sold, and no female
carrying eggs should be killed. An excellent description of the
THE CRUSTACEANS 85

habits and life history of our lobsters, together with beautiful
figures, are given by Francis H. Herrick in the “Bulletin of the

 

Fig. 53; SPINY LOBSTER. Tortugas, Florida.

United States Fish Commission,” Vol. XV, 1895, and an estimate
of their wandering habits, and the extent to which they are subject
to destruction is given by Hermon C. Bumpus in the same publi-
cation, Vol. XIX, p. 225, 1899.

The Spiny Lobster, (Panulirus argus, Fig. 35), is common in
the Bermudas, Florida and West Indies, where it lives in rocky
crevices in shallow water. It is highly esteemed in the market and
appears also to be greatly appreciated by any wandering shark
that can capture it It is often called the clawless lobster, for it
has only five pairs of long delicate walking feet, which lack claws.
The second pair of feelers is provided with sharp spines, and is
stouter and longer than in our northern lobster. There are two
curved sharp-pointed spines directed forward over the eyes, and
there are also numerous short ones over the back and sides, espe-
cially near the forward end of the body. The creature is strikingly
mottled with blue, rich yellow and brown, and there are a pair of
86 SEA-SHORE LIFE

yellow eye-like spots on the sides of the second and sixth abdomi-
nal rings. The broad tail flappers are richly banded with blue,
yellow and brown. This lobster is a timid creature, and relies upon
its sharp spines for protection. If the feelers or legs be seized they
are quickly thrown off, and then regenerate, developing only after
the moults, when the shell is soft. It becomes fully two feet in
length, and is an active swimmer, being
enabled to dart rapidly backward by the
powerlul strokes of its large tail flappers.

A closely related species called ( Panu-
lirus interruptus) is found on the coast of
California.

The Snapping Prawns, (Alpheus).
There are about twelve species of these
little lobster-like crustaceans which range
on our coast from Brazil to Virginia. The
largest are not more than one and three-
quarters of an inch long. One claw is
much larger than the other, and is pro-

 

vided with a sharp-edged blade which is
normally held out at right angles to the

Fig. 54; SNAPPING-PRAWN,
From Coral Rocks at Tortu- 4 5 =
gas, Florida, closed with a sharp snap reminding one

of the explosion of a small torpedo. These

claw. At the least alarm this blade is

little creatures live in crevices of coral reefs, under shells or stones,
and fairly swarm in sponges; so that, when a sponge is lifted from
the water it crackles as if filed with minute firecrackers. The

report is so sharp that if one of these little prawns be placed in a

 

glass aquarium jar, one is deceived into supposing that the glass
has suddenly broken. They are inveterate fighters, and if two be
placed in the same aquarium one or the other will quickly be dis-
membered and devoured. ‘The eggs are carried about attached to
the abdominal appendages of the female, and after hatching they
swim through the ocean, and moult a number of times before assum-
ing their final abode within a sponge or under dead shells, ete.

Alpheus sauleyt is a small species, from five-eighths to one and
two-thirds inches long, which lives within sponges off the Florida
coast and Bahamas. The body is translucent brown or green, and
the upper surface of the great claw is vermillion.
THE CRUSTACEANS 87
Alpheus minus lives under dead shells, and is found on the
North Carolina coast. Itisabout one inch long, and is quite trans-
lucent and uniformly dull green with dots of brown pigment.
Alpheus heterochelis ranges from the West Indies to North
Carolina. In the north it is translucent green with the tail flappers
tipped with blue and orange, while the upper surface of the great
claw is very dark brownish-olive and blue. In the Bahamas, how-
ever, it is more transparent, and dotted with brown pigment. On
the Carolina coast it lives in the beds of oyster shells, while in the
Bahamas it is found under loose stones.

CRAYFISHES

The Crayfishes, or Crawfishes, resemble small lobsters, to which
they are closely related, but they have never more than eighteen
pairs of gills, while the lobsters have twenty.

Our crayfishes are abundant in fresh-water streams, ponds and
rivers; none, however, are found in the eastern parts of New
England.

The crayfishes east of the Rocky mountains have seventeen
pairs of gills and belong to the genus Cambarus, while those of the
Pacific slope, west of the Sierra Nevadas, have eighteen pairs of
gills and are members of the genus Astacus. Curiously enough
the European crayfishes also belong to the genus Astacus.

In Europe crayfishes are highly esteemed as food and are care-
fully cultivated, but in our country they are rarely eaten excepting
in New York and New Orleans In view of the increasing rarity
and high price of the lobster, it might now be found profitable to
cultivate our crayfishes for the market. Their habits are closely simi-
lar to those of the lobsters. Some species live under stones, others
prefer weedy streams while others burrow fully two feet into the
mud, and will even live in swampy soil where the water is only to
be found beneath the surface. Some of the mud-burrowing species
construct chimney-like tubes above the entrance to the burrow,
while at the bottom of the burrow there is a flask-shaped cavity
filled with water. In common with the great majority of crusta-
ceans, crayfishes are natural scavengers, and will eat almost any
dead animal. They also capture living creatures, and will feed
sparingly upon water plants. It is probable that under proper
88 SEA-SHORE LIFE

feeding they could be rendered more palatable for market than
when subsisting upon their natural diet. At present the fishery is
worth not more than $2500 per annum.

An admirable description of the anatomy of the crayfish is
given by T. H. Huxley in “A Manual of the Anatomy of Inverte-
brated Animals,” 1891, p. 264;
and also in the International
Scientific Series, “The Cray-
fish,” 1880.

In the neighborhood of
New York we find three com-
mon species. In Cambarus
bartonit, Fig. 55, the body is
devoid of spines, but is pitted
with little depressions scat-
tered at fairly regular inter-
vals. It is very abundant in
running streams, and often
hides away under stones or
burrows into gravel. Large
specimens may be three inches

 

Fig. 55; BROOK CRAYFISH. Orange
Mountains, New Jersey. in length.

In Cambarus blandingit the
body and claws are besprinkled with tubercles. It is dull greenish-
brown, whitish beneath and lives in clear, running streams; often
resting near the surface upon water plants, with its head pointed
up stream. It grows to be over five inches in length.

Cambarus affinis is the crayfish which is commonly sold in the
New York markets. It grows to be a little over four inches long,
and the upper surface is mottled with darker and lighter shades of
green, while the tips of the nippers are orange. The under sur-
face is streaked with chestnut-brown It is common in the rocky
beds of rivers, and often rests under flat stones, but avoids dense
clusters of water plants.

SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS

These are generally smaller than the lobsters and crayfishes.
Moreover, they are swimming creatures while lobsters and cray-
THE CRUSTACEANS 89

fishes are crawling forms. The forward part of the body is en-
cased in a delicate shell called the carapace, while the abdomen is
segmented and bends sharply downward
instead of being in line with the carapace
as in the lobsters. This gives a broken-
backed appearance to the shrimps. The
feelers, eye-stalks, legs and feathery gills me,
are often remarkably long, and there are

apt to be little claws on several pairs of

legs. The last two segments of the abdo-

men bear flapper-like appendages which
constitute a powerful swimming organ.

While the shrimps are most abundant in

shallow water along the seacoast, there are

also many deep water forms, and a few live

in fresh water. They feed upon both ani-

mal and vegetable matter, and are them- Fig. 56; COMMON SHRIMP.
selves devoured by hosts of fishesand other Brom tite mecoee Ann,
marine animals. Shrimps possess a deli- ppne eS

 

cate flavor which renders them a favorite food, and almost all
of the large species are sold in the markets. The shallow water
species are protectively colored, matching the bottom upon which
they live, but the deep sea forms are some of them rich scarlet, and
are especially distinguished by their very long, delicate antenne and
appendages, which probably serve as organs of touch in feeling
their way over the dark floor of the ocean.

Shrimps are known to science as the Schzzopoda. This name
is given on account of the forked appendages of the thorax, where
the inner branch of each appendage is a jointed leg, while the outer
fork is a feathered gill which projects freely into the water.

The Common Shrimp, (Crangon vulgaris, Fig. 56 ), is found from
North Carolina to Labrador, and from Alaska to California. It is
especially abundant along the sandy shores of Chesapeake Bay and
the coast of New England, north of Cape Cod.

The shrimp may be recognized by its broad, flat, scale-like
expansions at the bases of the antenne. It grows to be about two
inches long, and is protectively colored, matching the bottom upon
which it lives. It is extremely abundant in shallow water, but will
SO SEA-SHORE LIFE

descend to a depth of about 300 feet. When disturbed it conceals
itself quickly beneath the sand or mud, leaving only the eyes and

 

Fig. 57; SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS.

Above on right: (Crangon 7ulgarts) To the right and middle below: (H7ppolvte sp)
Above on left: (Crvangon horeas) To the left below: (Ar ppolyte pustola)
In the center: (Pandalus annulicorntis) To the left of center: (AZyszs slenolepis)

feelers exposed, and when the tide goes out it buries itself entirely.
It spawns during the summer, and the young swim rapidly over the
surface.

The Common Prawn, ( Palaemonetes vulgaris), is especially
abundant in shallow brackish water, over muddy bottoms. It is
found from Massachusetts Bay to FJorida, but is rare north of Cape
Cod. It becomes about one and one-half inches long and can be
THE CRUSTACEANS 91

distinguished from Crangon vulgaris by the sharp-pointed, saw-
edged spine which projects forward between the eyes, its longer and
more delicate feelers
and slender legs. It a
makes a good bait
for fishes, but is too
small to be very val-
uable in the market.
The Edible
Shrimp, (Peneus
seliferus, Tig. 3S),
is the prawn or
shrimp of the south-
ern markets, where
it is highly esteemed
as food. It becomes

 

at least six inches

inlengthand ranges

from Virginia to Fig. 58; SOUTHERN OR EDIBLE SHRIMP.
Texas. It appears

in shallow bays and estuaries in the spring, and spawns during
the summer so that the young are commonly found along shore
early in the autumn. Peneus setiferus may be recognized by its
long, saw-toothed spine which extends above the back and projects
forward between the eyes. This ridge is bordered on both sides
by a deep groove which extends about half way down the back.
In another and rarer species called Pencwus brazilensis these grooves
extend down the entire length of the shell. This form extends
from New York to Brazil, and it often ascends rivers, living even in
fresh water. Both species are protectively colored being more or
less translucent brown, or mottled. The feelers are about a foot
long and there are small claws at the ends of the first three pairs
of feet. ‘The southern shrimp fishery is worth more than $100,000
annually.

The Coral Shrimp, (Stenopushispidus). This beautiful shrimp
is white, with three bands of bright scarlet across the body and four
across each of the clawed arms. The body is about three inches
long and is covered with short, sharp spines. The feelers and clawed
92 SEA-SHORE LIFE

legs are slender and about five inches long. This shrimp ranges
from New York to Brazil, but is found also among the tropical islands
of the Pacific. It
lives among the cor-
als, the male and fe-
male swimming side
by side. The egos
are of a delicate
green color, and are
carried about at-
tached to the abdo-
minal appendages
of the female. When

 

Fig. 59; HERMIT CRAB. From Life. Showing the disturbed theshrimp

borrowed shell covered with sea weeds and Hydrac- a <
tinta. Cape Ann, Mass. retreats within the
crevicesof thecorals.

The Feather-Footed Shrimp, (Mysis stenolepis, Pig. 47), is a
little translucent brown creature about one-half an inch long and
may be recognized by the feathery hairs on its legs and antennae,
large eyes, and spines on the sides of the body. It has no claws,
and the abdomen is “ broken-backed,” and somewhat longer than
the forward part of the body. It is most abundant on our coast in
winter in shallow muddy or grassy places, and often occurs in great
swarms.

HERMIT CRABS

The Hermit Crabs, (Pagurida ). In these animals the abdomen
is soft and covered only by a delicate skin, but the crab protects
it by inserting its abdomen within the cavity of some empty
shell which it drags about in all of its wanderings. This habit of
occupying shells has profoundly modified the structure of the body.
The abdominal appendages are reduced or wanting, and the sixth
pair have become hook-hke, allowing the crab to anchor itself with-
in the shell. The abdomen is twisted so as to fit into the coils of
the shell, while in some species all of the legs on one side are shorter
than those of the other, thus giving the body a one-sided appear-
ance. The front legs and claws of the crab are covered with a hard
crust, and the eyes are mounted upon long stalks. When disturbed
THE CRUSTACEANS

93

the crab instantly withdraws within its shell, completely closing
the opening with its claws, which are of the exact shape

required for the purpose.

As the crab grows it
must occupy larger and
larger shells. These
apparently selected with con-
siderable care, but having
decided upon it the crab
finally darts into its new

are

abode with almost incredible
rapidity. In common with
other crustaceans these crabs
are scavengers. ‘They are
also inveterate fighters, and
will conquer and devour one
another when opportunity
A number of marine

animals grow upon the shells,

offers.

 

Fig. 60;

HERMIT CRAB.
the borrowed shell
and Hydractinia.

From Life. Showing
covered with sea weeds
Cape Aun, Mass.

which are carried,about by hermit crabs, thus obtaining the advan-

tages of a wandering life.

 

Fig. 61; HERMIT CRAB.
Cape Ann, Mass.

hard _ plates.
visits the water.

From Life.

Several species of hydroids, such as

Hydractinia, cover the shells
with soft, pink-white, velvety-
looking growths, while a num-
ber of sea anemones also live
upon the shells. One of these
called ( Hpizoanthus america-
nus) finally dissolves the shell,
forming a cavity within which
the crab continues to reside.

One of the most interest-
ing of the hermit crabs is the
Robber Crab ( Birgus latro) of
the tropical Pacific Islands. It
is about two and a half feet
long, and the abdomen is soft
below but protected above by

It lives within deep burrows, and only occasionally
It crawls to the top of the cocoanut trees, and

tears open the nuts for the sake of the white “meat.”
94 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Our hermit crabs carry their eggs about attached to the hairs
d 55
of the lower side of the abdomen. ‘The larvae, which swim freely

 

or
Fig. 62, Hermit Crab removed from Fig. 63, Little Hermit Crab re-
shell. Cape Ann, Mass. moved from shell. Cape Ann, Mass.

through the water, have a long spine fully twice as long as the body
itself, projecting straight forward above the eyes. A forked spine
also projects backward, so that the body of the crab appears as if
attached to a long, forked stick. After a few moults its form
changes, and it seeks the shelter of a small shell.

Three species of hermit crabs are found in shallow water along
our coast:

Bupagurus bernhardus, Figs. GO-G2, is common north of Cape
Cod, and is hairy and bright red in color. In Turope it is used
as bait by fishermen. It extends from shallow water to a depth
of at least 300 feet.

Lupagurus pollicaris ranges from Cape Cod to Florida, and is
abundant upon oyster beds and rocky bottoms of Long Island
Sound. It is pale red in color and the claws are granulated rather
than hairy. It inhabits the largest shells, such as those of the
whelk, but appears not to be very fastidious, for the writer found
one occupying the bow] of an old clay pipe.

Bupagurus longicarpus, Fig. 63, is the most abundant and
smallest of our hermit crabs, and occurs in very shallow water.
It may be recognized by its dull yellowish-white legs streaked
with dull slatey-gray or blue.

The Sand Bug, (Ilippa talpoida, Fig. 64). This curious little
creature is related to the hermit crabs, but no one would suppose
this to be the case without careful study, for its appearance is
THE CRUSTACEANS 95

wholly different. It is oval in outline and about two and one-half
inches long. The back is arched and covered with a smooth, hard,

 
       
 

 

Figs. 64; SANDBUG. Southern Shore of Long Island.

yellowish-white shell. The abdomen is broad, and is folded for-
ward along the under side of the body The principal feelers are
curiously feathered, and are often carried curled back against the
sides of the body. ‘The eyes are minute black specks at the ends
of a pair of long, slender stalks.

This creature lives in shallow water along sandy beaches. It
is very active, and swims and burrows with great rapidity. It is

 

Fig. 65, MANTIS SHRIMP. From a specimen in the New York Aquarium.

quite common along the hot, sandy shores of New Jersey and Long
Island, and makes a good bait for fishes.

The Mantis Shrimp, (Squilla empusa, ig. 65). This is often
called the Mantis shrimp on account of the more or less general
resemblance between its claws and those of the Praying Mantis.
96 SEA-SHORE LIFE

It becomes about ten inches in length, and lives in long, winding
burrows below low tide level. It extends from Florida to Cape
Cod. The carapace, or back shield, of the creature is short and soft,
while the abdomen is about three times as long as the carapace and
is broad, flat and segmented. The large pair of feelers end in
three branches, while at the base of each of the small feelers there
is a broad, flat scale having its edges fringed with hairs. The eye-
stalks are curiously bent, and project above the head. The last
joint of the great claw is bent forward over the second joint, and is
armed with six sharp spines which fit into corresponding sockets
at the bottom of a groove on the outer side of the second joint.
This constitutes a formidable weapon, and serves in the capture of
many sorts of marine animals upon which the Squilla feeds. There
are three pairs of weak walking legs which arise from the first
three segments of the abdomen. The leaf-like, hair-edged gills,
are seen attached to the lower surface of the abdominal seginents.
The posterior end of the body is blunt but beset with sharp spines,
while a pair of spiny jointed flippers arise from each side.

The Squilla is an active creature, and when seized it makes
effective use of its sharp claws and tail spines, and will inflict a
painful wound. It is very attractively colored, for the body is pale
green, each segment being bordered posteriorly with dark green
aud edged with bright yellow. The tail is tinged with rose color
and mottled with yellow, green and black. It is nocturnal, remain-
ing hidden away in its burrow during the day, and wandering about
at night in search of prey. The eggs are laid within the burrow
and a current of water is made to flow over them by fanning with
the abdominal appendages. The trausparent larvee are found, dur-
ing the summer, swimming at the surface. In the Mediterranean
and tropical Pacific various species of Squilla are highly esteemed
as food. The species eaten in Tahiti is the most delicately flavored
crustacean the writer has ever partaken of, and it is possible that
our Squilla may also be palatable. Certainly the large species of
the Florida coast and Bahamas bears a close resemblance to the
edible one of Samoa and Tahiti.

THE SAND FLEAS

These little crustaceans live upon our beaches, remaining dur-
ing the day in burrows under heaps of decaying sea weeds upon
s

THE CRUSTACEANS 97

which they feed. They are agile animals, leaping with remark-
able rapidity. In swimming they often progress on their sides
or upon their backs with feet upward.
They are creatures chiefly of the shore
or of shallow water, although some closely
related species are found in the deep sea.
These minute animals are important scav-
engers, rapidly devouring all dead fishes
and other forms of decaying animal or
vegetable matter. They are themselves
devoured in immense numbers, often by
the identical species of fishes upon whose
dead bodies they themselves delight to
feast.

 

Orchestia agilis, Pig. 66, 1s the common

Fig. 66; SAND FLEAS.
olive green or brown Beach Flea of our coast. 4 gove- ( Talorchestia lon-

It grows to be not more than half an inch SIC OUnS):

long, and lives during the daytime under — 2¢/ow- (Orchestra agzizs).
Long Island Sound.

masses of sea weeds which have been

thrown up upon the beach. It constructs burrows in the sand under
the debris, and when disturbed it leaps with remarkable strength
and agility.

A still larger species is, (Talorchestia longicornis Fig. 66),
which is white or gray in color, and about an inch long. It is also
a beach scavenger, and devours decayed sea weeds, feeding mainly
at night, and remaining hidden within its burrow during the day. It
appears never voluntarily to enter the water but is a good swimmer.

The Wood Borer, or Gribble, (Limnorea lignorum), is related
to the sow-bugs and pill-bugs and belongs to the sub-order of Crus-
tacea known as [sopoda. The gribble extends from New York to
Nova Scotia, and is also abundant on the northern coasts of Europe.
It is not more than one-fifth of an inch long, and has a flattened
body with fourteen segments, and seven pairs of short legs. The
back is covered with short hairs to which foreign substances are apt
to adhere. It is dull gray in color and resembles a pill-bug, the simi-
larity being still further enhanced by its habit of rolling up into a
ball when disturbed. It can also leap and swim rapidly. This crea-
ture is most destructive to all submerged timber, devouring every
98 SEA-SHORE LIFE

sort of wood excepting teak. It burrows through the softer parts of
the wood, completely honey-combing the logs so that the knots and
hard parts project. Submerged timber decreases in diameter at the
rate of about an inch per year due to the ravages of this pest. Fortu-
nately, however, it does not occur in any considerable numbers much
below tide level. Submerged wood must be sheathed in copper or
frequently painted with creosote or poisonous substances, in order
to prevent its destruction.

CRABS

Brachyura.

The crabs are the highest of the Crustacea. The head and
middle part of the body are covered with a shell which is usually
broader than long. The abdomen is small, and is folded forward,
fitting into a groove on the lower surface of the animal. In the
male the abdomen is narrow, and has only two pairs of append-
ages, while in the female it is much broader, and has four pairs of
appendages which serve to carry the eggs (see Fig. 47, Page 79).
The two pairs of feelers are small, and the eyes are mounted on
movable stalks which may usually be folded back into appropriate
sockets. ‘The mouth appendages are broad and flat so as to
cover the opening of the mouth itself. The first pair of legs
have pincers, while the following four pairs lack pincers but are
formed for walking or clinging; the hindermost being often paddle-
shaped and used in swimming. The plumed gills are contained in
side chambers enclosed by the shell of the middle part of the body.
Being thus protected from drying, many of the crabs may live for
long periods of time on land, their gills remaining moist. Crabs
live in both salt and fresh water, and at all depths. Some are active
swimmers or crawlers while others are sedentary or even parasitic.
They are scavengers, devouring almost any dead and decaying
animal or plant. Despite their unclean habits, many species are
highly esteemed as food, and crab fisheries are of great commer-
cial importance. When hatched from the egg, crabs are totally un-
like their adult form, and are said to be in the Zowa stage. The
head and middle part of the body are covered with a delicate shell
which gives rise to four Jong, sharp spines. One of these is directed
THE CRUSTACEANS 99

forward and downward between the eyes, another rises from the
centre of the back, and two others from the side near the middle of

 

Fig. 67; BLUE OR EDIBLE CRAB. Long Island Sound.

the body. The abdomen is long, and is not folded back under the
body but projects freely. The little creature has a pair of stalked
eyes and swims rapidly near the surface. It then moults a number
of times and changes into what is called the megalops stage, in
which it resembles a little crab excepting that the abdomen is
stretched straight out, and not bent forward under the body as in
full grown crabs.

The Blue or Edible Crab, (Callinectes sapidus, Fig. 67), is the
common crab of the markets, and it ranges from the Gulf of Mexico
to Cape Cod. Very closely allied species are also found in the
West Indies, on the African coast, and in the Pacific. Our crab
fishery is worth more than $320,000 per year to the fishermen
themselves. While we are sufficiently familiar with the general
appearance of the blue crab, an account of its habits may be inter-
esting. It delights in shallow bays and estuaries where the bot-
tom is muddy and covered with eel-grass, and the water may be
brackish. Here the crabs live during the summer, but in winter
they retire to deeper places. They feed upon dead or live fishes
100 SEA-SHORE LIFE

\

and many other marine animals. In fact, almost any decomposing
animal will be greedily devoured by crabs. The shell is shed at

 

Fig. 68; GREEN CRAB. Annisquam, Mass.

least once during the summer and the crab then expands consider-
ably, but remains soft for a few days, and is then sold in the mar-
kets as a “‘soft-shelled crab.” The soft-shelled male crabs hide
away during this period, for they are quite defenceless, but the
soft-shelled female is protected by a hard-shelled male who clings
to her. The paddle-like expansions of the last joints of the hinder-
most pairs of legs enable the blue crab to swim rapidly, while its
other legs are used in crawling. It is exceedingly pugnacious
and makes effective use of its sharp, powerful claws.

The eggs are laid during the summer soon after the annual
moult, and are carried about attached to the abdominal appendages
of the female until they hatch.

This blue crab can be at once distinguished from all other
species of our coast by the sharp spine which projects outward
from each side of the body. It becomes fully six inches in width.

The Green Crab, (Careinus menas, Fig. 68). This crab is dark
olive-green mottled with yellow-green, and is abundant in Long
Island Sound, and on the New England Coast north of Cape Cod.
It is also found on the northern coasts of Europe, where it is sold
THE CRUSTACEANS 101

in the markets. In this country it is used only for bait. It grows
to be about three inches in width, and two in length. There are
ten sharp-edged
teeth, five on each
side, which pro-
ject forward from
the front edges
of the shell. The
right hand claw
is somewhat larg-
er and blunter
than the left. It
is a pugnacious
fighter and rapid
runner.

The Lady
Crab, (Platyoni-
chus ocellatus,
Fug. 63), is a
beautiful species common on sandy bottoms from Cape Cod to
Florida, and is abundant on the southern Long Island coast. It is
of a delicate greenish-yellow profusely spotted with purple-colored
rings. The powerful claws are
armed with jagged teeth which
enable the crab to seize upon
the fish and other animals
which it devours. This crab
is often seen partially buried
beneath the sand with only the
eye-stalks protruding. The
hind legs are paddle-shaped

 

Fig. 69; LADY CRAB. From a specimen in the
New York Aquarium.

 

Fig 70; GULK-WEED CRAB, From fat. and the crab uses them very
ing Gulf-weed. Tortugas, Florida. effectually in swimming, al-
though it can also crawl with its

other legs. It grows to be about two and a half inches long and
three broad. The Gulf-Weed Crab, ( Portunus sayi, Fig. 70 ),
lives within the masses of gulf-weed (Sargassum) which float
over the tropical Atlantic, and is sometimes drifted upon our coast
102 SEA-SHORE LIFE

late in the summer. It is mottled in brown and dull yellow, and
matches its surroundings so perfectly when upon the gulf-weed, that
its discovery is practically impossible unless the weed be taken
from the water and shaken. The crab has paddle-shaped posterior
legs, and is a good swimmer, its side-legs being long and oar-like,
and fringed with delicate hairs. It becomes about one inch long
and one and three-quarters wide. A spine projects from each side
of the shell, and the pincers, although weak, are sharp.

Another little square-shaped crab called Planes minutus lives
also among the gulf weed, and legend has it that when Columbus
first saw this crab he reassured his timorous crew by stating that
land could not be far away. The crab, however, never visits the
land, but spends its entire life upon the ocean.

The Mud Crabs, ( Panopeus, Fig. 77, page 109). These are
small dark olive-brown crabs with large powerful claws and with
sharp pointed legs adapted to crawling. They are abundant in
Long Island Sound, but extend from the tropics to Massachusetts
Bay. The name “mud crab” is indicative of their fondness for
muddy shores, where they live under stones or in burrows within
muddy banks or marshes. There are several closely allied species
which have been carefully separated and described by J. E. Bene-
dict and Mary J. Rathbun in ‘Proceedings of the U. 8S. National
Museum,” Vol. XIV, 1891, p. 855. Pls. XIX-XXIV.

A common mud crab of Long Island Sound is Panopeus herb-
stu, Fig. 77, which ranges from Brazil to Rhode Island. It lives
within burrows in moist, muddy banks or under stones on muddy
bottoms. It becomes one and one-half inches broad, and is dull
brown-green in color. A smaller species with a flat-backed
shell, only about three-quarters of an inch in width, is Panopeus de-
pressus. It may also be distinguished by its black-colored nippers.

The Rock Crab, (Cancer irroratus, Fig. 7 1), is the common crab
of the New England coast north of Cape Cod, although it ranges
from South Carolina to Labrador. It is most abundant a little below
low tide level but also lives between tides, where it is usually found
under stones, in rocky crevices or buried beneath the sand when
the tide is out. Above it is dull brick-red in color speckled over
with small brownish spots, while the under parts are yellow. Seen
from above the shell is oval without sharp points at the side, but
THE CRUSTACEANS 103

 

Fig. 71; Above: JONAH CRAB. Below: ROCK CRAB.
Cape Ann, Massachusetts.
104 SEA-SHORE LIFE

with nine blunt, smooth-edged teeth along each side of the front
edge. The claws are sharp but powerful. This is acrawling crab,
and all the legs end in a sharp spine, there being no paddle-like
swimming feet. The crab is closely related to the edible crab of
England and France but, while it is sold in our markets to a limited
extent, it is not highly esteemed. The shell grows to be three inches
long and five wide. The eggs are carried about by the female dur-
ing the summer and hatch as little spined larve which swim at the
surface and soon moult and change into little creatures which
resemble the adults, excepting that the abdomen projects straight
out in a line with the shell instead of being folded under; and there
are short spines on the shell which are not seen in the adult. After
again moulting several times, the larva becomes a little rock crab.

The adult rock crabs moult in winter, and are then sold in the
New York market as soft-shelled crabs, although they are not to be
compared with the more highly esteemed blue crab.

The Jonah Crab, (Cancer borealis, Fig. 71), is closely related to
the rock crab, but can be distinguished by its rougher shell, and the
saw-edged teeth on its front edges. It becomes larger than the rock
crab, and ranges from the eastern end of Long Island to Nova Sco-
tia. It lives on rocky shores exposed to the wash of the breakers,
and does not hide away under stones as does the rock crab.

The Oyster Crab, (Pinnotheres ostreum, Fig. 72). The
female of this crab lives, when mature, within the gill cavity of
the oyster, and is highly esteemed as a delicacy, being sold in

the markets at a high price. In the female the
| shell is pinkish-white in color and very thin, and

y | the legs so weak that the creature could not survive

ae 5 away from the protecting oyster. The crab does

not devour the oyster, but merely lives in associ-

ation with it. The male crabs, however, swim

Fie. 72; FEMALE freely over the sea, and they are brown in color with

OYSTER CRAB. — q light colored central stripe, and four whitish
Long Island Sound.

spots. They are smaller than the females, and

their shells are hard. The case of the oyster crab is interesting, for,

while the male has remained active, and has retained a hard shell

and strong claws and legs, the female has lived a protected life, and

her shell has degenerated into little more than a soft membrane, while
THE CRUSTACEANS 105

her legs and claws are now too weak to be of any service in the
battle for life outside of the cavity of the oyster shell. The eggs
are carried by the female until
they hatch. The larve then
swim through the water, and
the little females enter oysters
in their last larval stages.
Another little crab (Pinno-
theresmaculatum /isfound with- [eo Se eee

 

au the cavity of the shells of the Fig. 73; GHOST CRAB. Florida Beaches.

common mussel, and the scallop.

The Ghost Crab, (Ocypoda arenaria, Pigs. 73, 77), ranges from
Brazil to New Jersey. The young are often found late in summer
on the hot sandy beaches of the southern coast of Long Island, al-
though they probably die in the winter. The shell of the crab is
about two inches wide and a little less than this in length, and is
quite rectangular with an angular ridge along each side. The eyes
are mounted on the ends of
long stalks, which are usu-
ally held upright, but may
be folded back into sockets
on the face of the shell. The
crab is dull yellowish-white,
and the surface of the shell is
granulated. The claws are
sharp and powerful, one claw
being about twice the size of
the other. This crab digs

 

long inclined burrows fully
three feet deep into the sandy
Fig. 74; FIDDLER CRAB. Male, beaches. It scrapes the sand

ne cena tye out “sidewise” with its
legs and throws it away from the mouth of the burrow by a
sudden dash. It isascavenger, feeding upon decomposing animals
and plants, and even eating beach-fleas. Although these crabs are
relatively inactive during the day, at night they swarm in great
numbers over our southern beaches. As they flit rapidly about in
the moonlight their popular name of ghost crab seems remarkably
106 SEA-SHORE LIFE

appropriate. As one approaches they dash off with great rapidity
and will often rush into the water, although the gray snappers are

 

Fig. 75; Burrows of Fiddler Crabs. In the center of the cut a male crab may
be seen emerging from its burrow. Streets of Key West, Florida.

swimming close along the shore in order to devour them. The
erab rarely enters the sea excepting during the breeding season,
in the spring of the year.

Mr. Beebe of the New York Zoological Park discovered that this
crab is very destructive to the eggs of sea birds on Cobb Island.

FIDDLER CRABS.

Fiddler Crabs, (Uca, Figs. 74,75). These crabs live in immense
numbers on muddy banks above high tide, and literally riddle the
ground with burrows into which they rush for shelter at the least
alarm. In the male one claw is very large while the other is small,
but in the female both claws are small and of equal size.

The eyes are mounted upon long, movable eye-stalks. These
crabs feed upon plants, the male using his small claw, and the fe-
THE CRUSTACEANS 107

male both of her claws for the purpose. They often scrape up
pellets of algee from the muddy surface of the ground, and carry
these into their burrows for food.

They can remain out of water, if the ground be damp, for
months at a time, and are exceedingly pugnacious, walking ‘‘side-
ways,” usually with the great claw forward. In the construction of
its burrow the crab uses its walking legs to scrape out the mud.
This mud is then rolled up into little pellets, and dragged to a con-
siderable distance from the mouth of the burrow; the crab all the

’

while appearing exceedingly wary and moving its eye-stalks about
in all directions. In emerging from the burrow the great claw is
usually thrust out forward, whereas it is the last part of the crab
to be drawn in in entering. There are three common species on
the Eastern coast of North America :

Uea pugnax, Fig. 74, burrows into salt marshes, completely
riddling the muddy banks with its holes. It ranges from Province-
town, Massachusetts, to Georgia, but a close variety is abundant in
the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico. The holes are about three-
quarters of an inch in diameter, and two or more feet in depth.

Uca minazx is the largest of our fiddler crabs, and can be dis-
tinguished by the red spots at the joints of the legs. It digs its
burrows along the banks of rivers or brooks where the water is only
slightly brackish or
even fresh. It often
constructs an oven-
like archway of mud
over its burrow, thus
providing itself with
a safe place of look-
out for enemies. It
ranges from south-
ern New England to
Florida.

Uea pug ilator fig. 76; ORCHID LAND CRAB. Loggerhead Key,
Tortugas, Florida.

 

digs its burrow in
sandy or muddy beaches from Cape Cod to Florida, It can be dis-
tinguished by its rectangular outline and the highly polished sur-
face of the back of the shell.
108 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The Orchid Crab, (Gecareinus lateralis, Fig. 76), is a land crab,
and literally swarms over many of the Florida Keys and West In-
dies. It is also found at the Bermudas, and on the coast of South
America. The shell is about two inches wide and a little less than
this in length, with smooth, rounded edges. The central parts of
the back are dark purple—almost black, while the sides of the shell
and the large claws are rose-red. The walking legs and under parts
are dull yellow. This crab spends almost its entire life upon land,
the gills being small and enclosed in large chambers wl ich admit
air but maintain the cavity moist. The creature lives under damp
logs or leaves, or digs burrows fully three feet in depth; and is
often found fully twenty feet above high tide level.

It is mainly nocturnal, and great numbers of them crawl about
during the night seeking all manner of refuse and carrion upon
which they feed. In the spring they all visit the ocean to breed,
and in midsummer they retire to the depths of their burrows to
moult. The crab is a fairly rapid runner and an excellent climber.
It is also a pugnacious fighter, being well protected by its very
hard shell.

The Spider Crabs, (fig. 77). These are sluggish, weak-clawed
crabs with remarkably long, slender legs. Their bodies are usually
flask-shaped with long, tapering snout, and short eye-stalks.
Although apparently stupid, these crabs have what is probably the
most highly developed nervous system found in the crustacea, for
the ganglia of the body are often united into a single disk-like brain.

Many of the spider crabs have the habit of placing bits of sea-
weed, hydroids and other marine growths upon their backs, so that
the crab is completely hidden under a veritable marine garden. It
has been found that the crab deliberately bites off fragments of
weeds, chews them for a time and places the weeds upon its own
back, where they are caught by the saw-edged or hooked-hairs of
the crab’s back, and probably also anchored by means of adhesive
mucous from the crab’s mouth. The crab always covers itself with
the sort of weeds, etc., found in its immediate vicinity, and if
removed to another situation, the appearance of which is different,
promptly removes the old weeds and replaces them with those which
match the new surroundings.

One of the spider crabs (Macrocheira kampferi) is the largest
THE CRUSTACEANS 109

living crustacean, for the spread of the legs is fully 12 feet. It lives
off the coast of Japan at depths greater than 600 feet, and is occa-
sionally entangled in the set-lines of the fishermen.

Our largest spider crabs are Libinia dubia, Fig. 77, and

 

Fig. 77; Above: MALE SPIDER CRAB.
Left: FEMALE SPIDER CRAB.
Right: GHOST CRAB.
Center; MUD CRAB.

LInbinia emarginata. They resemble each other closely, and the
legs of both spread about eighteen inches, the males being larger,
and having longer and stouter legs than the females. Lzbinia
emarginata has more spines on its back than Libinia dubia. Both
live from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico, but Libinia emarginata
extends north of Cape Cod to the coast of Maine, and lives usually
in deeper water than Libinia dubia. Libinia dubia is very
110 SEA-SHORE LIFE

abundant in Long Island Sound on seaweed-covered bottoms, where
it attains its maximum size. The backs of these crabs are covered
with hairs, and sea weeds, barnacles, and hydroids often grow upon
them. They are used only for bait.

The Toad Crab, ( Hyas coarctatus). This is a spider crab but
its body is relatively large and the legs slender and weak. It
spreads over not more than two and a half inches, and the back and
legs are often densely covered with seaweed which the crab affixes to
its body. Itis abundant in shallow, rocky tide-pools from the Arctic
Ocean to New Jersey, but lives also in deep water off the coast,
where it crawls over rocky bottoms, and provides food for cod and
other fishes. Itis the commonest spider crab along the New England
coast north of Cape Cod.

The Horseshoe Crab, (Limulus polyphemus, Fig. 25). This
common animal lives in shallow water along our coast from Yuca-
tan to Maine, and is often called the king crab. It is, however, not
a crab but is probably a descendant of the long extinct trilobites,
and there is reason to believe also that it is related to the spiders
and scorpions. It lives off muddy or sandy shores, and is often seen
slowly gliding over the bottom or half buried within the mud.
The shellsover the head and trunk is crescent-shaped, smooth
and dome-like with two valley-like furrows along the sides of
the back. The large lateral eyes are easily seen, but if we look
more closely we will also see two little median eyes farther for-
ward. Altogether the appearance of the head region of the horse-
shoe crab is quite similar to that of the trilobites which died out in
the age of the coal, although the trilobites probably had no median
eyes. The abdomen of the horseshoe crab tapers rapidly back-
wards and is composed of six fused segments ending in a long,
sharp, movable spine, so that the animal is about one foot broad
and two feet long. The females are larger than the males. There
are seven pairs of legs. The first six end in nipper-like claws
while the seventh gives rise to a whorl of oar-like flaps used in
pushing the creature over the bottom. The five pairs of append-
ages of the abdomen are leaf-like, and serve as gills and for swim-
ming. In late spring and early summer the horseshoe crabs come
up in pairs upon the beaches, and deposit their eggs in holes which
they scoop out in the sand and leave for the waves to fill. They
THE CRUSTACEANS 1]

are especially abundant upon the beaches at the times of the spring
tides. The eggs hatch in about a month, and the young bear a re-
markable resemblance to the trilobites so that they are said to be
in the trilobite stage. The sharp terminal spine develops later,
after moulting.

Horseshoe crabs have been used for making fertilizer in Dela-
ware Bay and are nearly exterminated in that region. They are
among the most interesting of all marine animals, and are probably
the last survivors of a race which may have been a connecting link
between the trilobites, crustaceans, and scorpions. ‘There are very
few existing species, one being found on our coast and several on
the coast of Asia.

THE SEA SPIDERS
Pyenogonide.

These are generally small creatures which crawl slowly over
hydroids and sea weeds, and bear a superficial resemblance to
spiders. Their true relationships are, however, a puzzle to
naturalists.

The body is extremely small, so that the stomach and re-
productive organs extend outward into the long, stout legs, the
stomach in some species reaching even to the tips, while the repro-
ductive organs open on the lower sides of the second joints.

There are typically seven pairs of appendages in the male and
six in the female, the third pair being absent in the females of
many species. In the male, however, these are developed into egg-
carrying organs, for he gathers the eggs into balls as soon as they
are laid, and fastens them to his third pair of legs by means of a
cement which issues from openings at the fourth joints of his walk-
ing legs. When the young hatch they often crawl over the male
in considerable numbers. In other genera the young enter the
digestive cavities of hydroids, and form gall-like enlargements upon
the stems, within which they live.

Phowichilidium maxillare is a small species which varies in
color from blackish-brown through sepia to almost white, and
spreads about one inch. It is commonly found crawling over
hydroids and sea-squirts, on shelly bottoms. The young live for a
112 SEA-SHORE LIFE

time within hydroids, forming gall-like swellings. The legs are
often sufficiently translucent to permit one to observe the wave-like
contraction of the stomach-tubes within them.

An excellent account, accompanied by good figures of the sea
spiders of our coast, is given by Edmund B. Wilson in the “Report
of the United States Fish Commission” for 1878; and in “Trans-
actions of the Connecticut Academy of Science,” Vol. V.
MOLLUSKS.

LTHOUGH mollusks include creatures of most diverse forms
and habits, there are certain things which we may say of the
race as a whole.

In the first place their bodies are not divided into segments,
as is often the case in worms and crustaceans. Moreover, the right
and left halves of the body are typically similar each to each,
although this is not the case in forms having coiled shells. The
lower surface of the body consists of a thick muscular foot used
in creeping. In front of the foot we find the head, which may
have a pair of eyes and tentacles; while the mouth lies on its lower
surface and is often provided with numerous horny, rasping teeth.
A flap-like fold of the body extends outward from the sides. This
fold is called the ‘‘mantle,’ and its free edge and upper part
secretes the shell which usually covers the back of the mollusk.
The feathery gills arise from the sides, and lie in the space between
the lower side of the mantle and the side of the body. The intes-
tine is coiled and opens typically at the posterior end of the body,
behind the foot. There is a paired digestive gland or “liver” which
pours its secretion into the mid-gut. The three-chambered heart
lies above the hind gut and pumps blood from the gills to other
parts of the body. The simplest mollusks are the Chitonide or
armadillo slugs, specimens of which are commonly found crawling
over heaps of dead shells. Their bodies are flat and oval in out-
line, and the back is covered with eight shingle-lke calcareous
plates. The mouth is situated on the lower surface immediately
in front of the broad muscular foot. A deep groove extends down
each side of the body, and from the bottom of this arise the lancet-
shaped gills. Chitons cling with great tenacity to the surface upon
which they may be crawling, but if torn off they roll up into a ball.

A common species with us, about half an inch long, is Trachy-
dermon apiculata, which ranges from Cape Cod to the Gulf of
Mexico. It is abundant upon dead oyster shells and is usually
dull brown or gray in color, although some specimens are white.
114 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Acanthopleura granulata, Fig. 78, is a large chiton about three
inches long, which is abundant on rocky shores, between tide limits,
in the Bahama Islands and West Indies.

Another great group of mollusks are the snails, slugs and
limpets, which are all grouped under the scientific name of Gastero-
poda. In all of these the shell, when present, consists of a single

 

Fig. 78; Acanthopleura granulata the commonest Chiton in the West Indies. From
Andros Island, Bahamas.

piece, not of a series of shingles, as in the chitons. In some Gas-
teropoda, however, the shell has become enclosed by an overgrowth
of the edges of the mantle, and may even disappear in the
adult state.

In snails we find that the viscera are protected by being cov-
ered with a spirally coiled shell, within which the entire foot and
head may be withdrawn. Indeed, in many of the sea snails we
find a horny or calcareous plate called the “operculum,” which is
developed on the upper side of the posterior part of the foot, and
when the creature draws in its head and foot this completely closes
the aperture of the shell. The operculum is very rarely seen in fresh
water snails. The sea snails have at least one feathered gill, but
the land and fresh water species have lost their gills and the mantle
edge has fused with the side of the body, making a large, air-filled
cavity which opens at one point, usually on the right side, and
serves as a lung. One can easily see this breathing pore in slugs
and fresh water snails, and the latter must come to the surface at
regular intervals to let out a bubble of air, and take in a new sup-
ply. Slugs, land and fresh water snails are hermaphrodites, and
may bring forth their young ina well developed stage, although
MOLLUSKS 115

many species lay eggs. Many snails are herbiverous, while a few
prey upon barnacles or other mollusks. Sense organs are poorly
developed in snails, but in land snails and slugs we often find eyes
mounted upon the tip ends of long tentacles which arise from the
head. In sea snails, however, the eyes are smaller, and are found
at the bases of the tentacles or only half way up.

The clams, oysters and mussels form a great group called the
“Lamellibranchiata,’ for their gills project in curtain-like sheets
from the sides of the body, within the shell. In these mollusks we
find two shells or more properly “valves,” one on the right and the
other on the left sidé of the body, while the ‘“‘hinge” between the
valves extends along the back of the animal. This hinge is tough
and muscular, and tends constantly to open the valves, but this is
prevented by the contraction of two powerful sets of muscles which
run across from one valve to the other.

The foot of the animal is often well developed and capable of
pushing the creature rapidly through the sand, as in the razor-
clam, while in other cases, as in the oyster, it is small and degenerate.
There is no distinct head, but the mouth has two leaf-like lips. It
should be said that the long, muscular “neck” of the soft-shell clam
is not the neck of the animal, but is a tubular outgrowth of the
mantle, which opens by two apertures. The one on the lower side
is for the admission of water to the gill chambers, and the other is
the analaperture. A continuous current of water flows in at the for-
mer and out from the latter aperture. In scientific language the
“neck” of the clam is called the siphon, and it is well to remember
that it extends outward from the posterior end of the body; the
mouth being at the opposite side of the shell.

Clams, oysters and mussels feed upon minute plant and ani-
mal organisms, which are drawn in between the edges of the mantle,
or through the siphon by means of the constant beating of vast
numbers of little hair-like cilia that cover the gills.

The most highly developed mollusks are the Cephalopoda,
represented by the squid, octopus, nautilus, and argonaut. In
these we find two large eyes and eight or ten long, muscular,
sucker-bearing “arms” which surround the mouth. These arms
constitute a portion of what was once the foot of the ancestral forms
from which the Cephalopoda are descended. The remaining part
116 SEA-SHORE LIFE

of the foot has become the tube-like “siphon,” through which water
is ejected from the large mantle cavity.

In all living forms except the nautilus, the shell is internal,
although two of the arms of the female argonaut secrete a papery
capsule which resembles a shell in appearance, but is only a brood
pouch to hold the eggs, and is in no sense comparable with the
shells of other mollusks. A more detailed account of the anat-
omy of the Cephalopoda will be given in the description of our
common squid. All of the Cephalopoda are very active creatures,
capturing fishes and other marine animals by means of their sucker-
bearing arms, and crushing the prey in their horny beaks. They
usually dart backward, being propelled by forcing the water from
the mantle cavity out through the siphon, the opening of which is
directed forward, but may be turned so as to drive the stream
backward.

In the adult form the mollusks appear to be widely separated
from all other groups of invertebrates; but a study of their devel-
opment shows, that in their earliest stages they are worm-like in a
number of important characters, and it seems probable that they are
remotely descended from worm-like ancestors.

Good accounts of our mollusks will be found in Arnold’s “‘Sea-
Beach at Ebb Tide.” Excellent figures and clear descriptions of
the species of the New England coast are given by Gould and Bin-
ney, in “Report on the Invertebrates of Massachusetts,” 1870,
Wright and Potter, Boston; and the land shells are equally well
described in “The Terrestrial Air-breathing Mollusks of the United
States,’ by W. G. Binney, in Bulletin of the Museum of Compara-
tive Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. IV, 1878.

CLAMS, OYSTERS, AND MUSSELS.

Lamellibranchiata.

In this great order of mollusks the shell is divided into two
halves, or valves, each half shell covering a side of the body, while
the hinge of the valves extends down the middle of the back of the
animal. This hinge is an elastic cushion that tends to cause the
valves to gape open, but this tendency is counteracted by one or
two strong adductor muscles, that extend across from one valve
MOLLUSKS 117

to the other. In the oysters and scallops there is but one adductor
muscle, while in clams and mussels there are two. When the ad-
ductor muscles relax, the hinge-cushion causes the valves to gape;

 

Fig. 79; Mussels exposed at low tide. Annisquam, Mass.

and this is the normal condition while the animal is immersed and
feeding. When the tide goes out, however, or the creature is sud-
denly disturbed the adductors contract, thus closing the valves.
The shell is secreted by a membrane called the mantle, that
arises from the right and left sides of the mid-dorsal line and
extends downward asa sheet on both sides of the body; the form
of the sheet being similar to that of the shell it secretes. The outer
edges of the mantle are thickened and are usually more or less
fused, thus binding the two valves together along their edges. Def-
initely placed openings are, however, always found where the man-
tle edges do not fuse. One or two of these are opposite the posterior
end of the body of the animal, and allow water to pass in and out
of the mantle-cavity, while another on the ventral side allows the
foot to be thrust out. In the clams the openings for the admission
and expulsion of water are separated and the mantle is here ex-
118 SEA-SHORE LIFE

tended as a long double tube, erroneously called the “neck,” that
projects outward from the posterior end of the shell. This neck
should be called the siphon and if one observes a living clam it
will be seen that a constant current of water is passing in through
the opening in the siphon that is farther away from the hinge, and
pouring out through the one nearer the hinge side. This current is
caused by the beating in unison of myriads of cilia that cover the
gills of the clam; and thus water is brought in to aerate the blood,
and to provide the minute organisms upon which the clam feeds,
while the waste water and products of excretion are carried away
through the dorsal-most opening. But the mantle serves not only
to provide definite openings for water currents. It secretes the
horny outer skin, and the inner stony layers of the shell.

In all of the young and in the great majority of adult Lamelli-
branchs the two valves of the shell are exactly alike in shape, but
in those which live attached to objects the valves are often dissimi-
lar, as in the case of the oyster and the jingle shell (Anomia).

The body of the Lamellibranch lies suspended within the man-
tle-cavity, being attached to the mantle along its dorsal edge. The
mouth is near the dorsal side of the anterior end of the body, away
from the siphon. It has no teeth, and is a deep groove bordered
above and below by projecting ridges which function as lips.

The foot is a muscular expansion on the ventral side of the
body. In some attached forms the foot is very degenerate, but in
many of the clams it is developed into a strong blade-like organ,
capable of great expansion and contraction, and serving to move the
animal from place to place, to burrow, and in some forms even to
swim. In many forms the foot is provided with a special gland
that secretes a glue-like substance which adheres to anything it
touches, and hardens into a tough, elastic thread serving to fasten
the mollusk to an anchorage. This thread or rather accumulation
of threads is called the byssus. The byssus may usually be cast off
at will, and renewed thread by thread. By means of these threads,
the mussels are able to drag themselves slowly about, or even to
chmb.

The most characteristic organs of Lamellibranchs are the sheet-
like gills that arise from the sides of the body, and hang freely
within the mantle cavity. Indeed the name Lamellibranchiata nicans
MOLLUSKS 119

‘plate gills,” and the gills of a clam or oyster bear a close super-
ficial resemblance to a pair of delicate leaves on each side of the
body. In some of the lamellibranchs, however, the gills consist of
delicate filaments calling to mind the barbules of a feather. Gills
of this sort are seen in the jingle shell (Anomia), the bloody clam
and in mussels. In oysters and clams, however, the feathery fila-
ments are fused one to another at many points, leaving sieve-like
openings through which water may pass in its course through the
gills. The gill sheets are also fused to the mantle, thus forming a
chamber through which the waste water from the gills passes
along the sides of the body on its way to the excurrent tube of the
siphon. The water current over the gills is maintained by the
orderly and constant beating of vast numbers of cilia that cover
their surfaces.

Lamellibranchs feed upon minute organisms, both animal and
vegetable. This food is drawn in with the water currents, and is
caught upon the slime of the gills, and then driven toward the
mouth by the movements of the cilia. There it is collected upon
the curtain-like lips, and driven by their cilia into the alimen-
tary tract.

There is a fairly well developed stomach which is surrounded
by a large liver, the duct of which empties into the stomach. A
long gelatinous rod called the crystalline stylet is often found in
the stomach, but its exact nature aud function are unknown. The
intestine is twisted, and is surrounded by the genital organs.

The heart is three-chambered, and the hind-gut passes through
it. It pumps blood from the gills to other parts of the body.

The Lamellibranchiata are sedentary creatures and many of
them remain fixed from the end of their larval development until
death, as is the case with the oyster. A few, such as the scallop, are
enabled to swim in an awkward darting manner by the rapid
closure of their valves, thus driving the animal hinge-side forward.
Others, such as the clams, are enabled to burrow through sand and
mud by means of their muscular foot, while still others, such as the
mussels, drag themselves slowly about by means of their byssus
threads.

As one would expect in such slow moving creatures, sense or-
gans are poorly developed. On the mantle edge of the scallop,
120 SEA-SHORE LIFE

however, we find tentacles, and also complex eyes each provided
with a lens and a well developed retina which, curiously enough,
bears a close general resemblance to that of the vertebrates, for it is
turned inside out. Near the sides of the gills are organs that are
believed to serve in tasting the water, and there is also a pair of
primitive ear-like, or balancing, organs in the foot. Each of these
consists of a cavity lined with cells which bear long hairs, while the
interior of the cavity is filled with a gelatinous fluid, and contains
one or more stony concretions, or even grains of sand. It is proba-
ble that these primitive ear-like organs enable the mollusks to per-
ceive shocks and jars in the water, and it is certain that many of
them are capable of perceiving sound.

The nervous system is quite simple and consists of three pairs
of ganglia, or masses of nerve cells, joined by nerve fibres. One
pair of ganglia is near the mouth and above the throat, another
pair is at the base of the foot, while the hindmost pair is under the
posterior end of the intestine.

The early stages in the development of clams, oysters and
mussels, bear a general resemblance to those of certain groups of
worms, and it seems probable that mollusks and worms are de-
scended remotely from one and the same ancient stock, which
is now extinct. The egg develops into a little pear-shaped larva
closely resembling the tack-headed larva (Trochophora) of worms
excepting that it is provided with a half-shell on either side. The
little mollusk swims through the water until the shell becomes too
heavy, and then it sinks to the bottom. A considerable number of
young lamellibranchs attach themselves to objects by meaus of a
byssus thread which is secreted by a gland in the foot. After
growing older, however, they cease to develop a byssus, and change
their habits. The young of the scallop, the long clam, and the pearl
oyster form these byssus threads, while the well grown animal does
not. The young of the fresh-water mussels are parasites, and bury
themselves for a time beneath the skin of fishes.

A good general account of the structure of lamellibranchs is
given in Arnold Lang’s ‘Textbook of Comparative Anatomy,” Part
If, 1896, Macmillan Co.; and a systematic review by Woodward and
Tait in ‘“‘Woodward’s Manual of the Mollusca.”

All of the Lamellibranchs are aquatic, and the vast majority are
MOLLUSKS 121

inhabitants of the sea. They differ greatly in size and shape, vary-
ing from microscopic dimensions to four and a half feet in width,
as in the giant clam (Tridaena gigas) of the tropical Pacific and
Indian Ocean. This great clam lives half buried in the coral reefs
with the sinuous gape of its shell uppermost. It commonly remains
with its valves slightly open, showing the rich, blue edges of
the mantle, but if the tide retreats or if it be suddenly disturbed
the valves close tightly. The animal, exclusive of its shell, often
weighs twenty pounds and, although coarse, is sometimes eaten by
the natives.

Excellent photographs showing these clams partially exposed
at low tide are given by W. Saville-Kent in “The Great Barrier
Reef of Australia,” Plate XXIX.

The American Oyster, (Ostrea virginica, Fig. S80), is found
from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Texas, but is most abundant in
Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and in Long Island and Pamlico
Sounds. It thrives best in shallow bays and estuaries where the
water is apt to be brackish. Our oyster fisheries are worth
$16,600,000 annually.

Oysters usually lie upon their sides, and the lower valve fas-
tens itself to a rock or other firm anchorage by the shelly secretion
of the mantle. This lower shell is almost always upon the left side
of the body, and is quite deep and convex, while the upper shell
is much flatter or even concave. At the narrow end of the shell
we will see a dark brown, elastic hinge, which is so arranged
that it tends constantly to cause the two valves of the shell to open,
but this is prevented by a strong muscle that extends across from
both sides of the oyster’s body and binds the valves together.
This strong adductor muscle is commonly but erroneously called
the “heart.” In the American oyster the place of attachment of
this muscle to the shell is marked by a dark brownish-purple area
while in the common Ostrea edulis of Europe this area is uncolored.
When undisturbed, and under normal conditions oysters commonly
remain with their shells gaping slightly open. ‘The inside of the
shell is hned with a delicate membrane called the mantle, which
grows out from both sides of the mid-dorsal line of the body and
secretes the shell itself.

There are also a pair of gills which arise from the sides
122 SEA-SHORE LIFE

of the body, as two sheets on each side, near the mid-dorsal line,

and which he free in the space between the mantle and the body

of the oyster. ‘The digestive tract is

a much coiled and twisted, and the mouth

$2 N of the oyster is placed close to the

feos: = he hinge at the narrow apex of the shell,

: ; where it is surrounded by curtain-like
lips.

There is a well developed stomach
which often contains a glistening, gela-
tinoas, rod called the ‘crystalline style.”
The function of this is unknown, al-
though it may possibly represent stored
up nutrient material.

The large green-colored liver sur-

 

Fig. 80: AMERICAN oysturR, Younds the stomach into which it

empties, while the reproductive organs
surround the coiled intestine, and are very Jarge during the
warmer months when the oysters are spawning.

A full-grown female oyster will produce about 9,000,000 eggs,
each being about one-five-hundredth of an inch in diameter. The
eggs are cast out into the water through the oviducts which open
into the gill cavity on both sides of the body below the adductor
muscle. They then develop into little free-swimming larvee which
swim rapidly through the water by means of their hair-like cilia.
The shells then appear upon the sides of the body, and when about
one-eighth of an inch wide the creature settles to the bottom with
its left side down, and there remains throughout life.

The true heart of the oyster is bulb-like in shape, and lies
within a delicate translucent sac close to the inner side of the great
adductor muscle. It pulsates slowly, and pumps blood from the
gills to other parts of the body. Growth is rapid at first, for
under favorable conditions the little oyster, or ‘“‘spat,” as it is
called, may become an inch across its shell in seven weeks, and
two inches in three months.

The oysters feed upon a great variety of minute organisms,
such as simple unicellular plants and animals, and small marine
larvie. The gills are covered with waving cilia, which create a
bw

MOLLUSKS 12:

constant current providing fresh water to breathe, and also drawing
into the shell the food of the oyster. The organisms serving as
food are caught in the slime covering the gills, and are swept into
the open mouth by the action of the cilia. Oysters are capable of
detecting sound, for they close immediately when a loud noise is
produced.

The Surf Clam, (Mactra solidissima, Fig. S1). This is also
called the hen-clam. It extends from the Gulf of Mexico to Lab-
rador, and is
found on sandy
beaches from low
water to a depth
of about sixty
feet. The shell
is covered with a
horny, light-
brown skin, and
is not deeply fur-
rowed by lines of
growth. It grows
to be fully six

inches long and
four wide The Fig. 81; SURF CLAM. From life. Young and old.
Annisquam, Mass.

 

siphon is_ short

and thick, while the foot is large, stout and muscular, and enables
the clam to dig rapidly into the sand. It does not construct a deep
burrow, however, but lives quite close to the surface, and is on this
account often cast ashore by storms. Its flesh is tough, and not
highly esteemed as food.

The Soft-Shell Clam, ( Mya arenaria, Fig. 82). This is often
called the ‘long clam” or “‘nanninose.” It is found in sandy or
muddy shores from the Carolinas to the Arctic, and also on the
Northern coasts of Europe. It is common in the sheltered banks
of bays and estuaries between tide linits, where it burrows in the
ground by means of its muscular foot, having its long, extensible
siphon pointing upward. When the tide is high the siphon is
extended so as to reach to the opening of the burrow, but it retracts
124 SEA-SHORE LIFE

at times of low tide. This siphon may be as much as a foot in
length, and is pierced by two tubular openings, the one nearest the
hinge side of the clam serving to carry off the digested food, and
water from the gill chambers, while the other serves to admit water
into the gill chambers of the clam. There is thus a constant cur-
rent going into and passing out of the siphon. The shell is quite
thin and brittle. This clam spawns in early summer, and the eggs

r = —

 

Fig. 82; SOFT-SHELL CLAM. From life. Annisquam, Mass.

develop into little free-swimming larve which soon settle down
upon seaweed or other submerged objects and attach themselves
by means of a thread called a byssus, which is secreted by a gland
in the foot of the little clam. Soon they free themselves and sink
to the bottom, where they begin to burrow when about one-quarter
of an inch long. They still attach themselves to particles of
sand, however, and often leave one burrow to construct another.
Finally, however, they dig a permanent burrow which they rarely
or never leave, and no longer produce a byssus.

This valuable mollusk is highly esteemed in the market. The
fishery in the New England States is worth more than $500,000
annually.
MOLLUSKS 125

The Round Clam, Quahaug, or Little-neck Clam, (Venus mer-
cenaria, Fig. 83), is the common hard-shelled clam of the New
York market, and the fishery in the Middle Atlantic States is worth
$200,000 annually. The Indians
made their purple wampum from
its shell.

The hard clam ranges from
Yucatan to Nova Scotia, but is
common only from the Carolinas
to Cape Cod. It is most abund-
ant in shallow bays and estu-
aries where it lives below the
level of low tide.

It is often seen lying upon
the bottom, but is able to bur-
row to a slight depth by means of
its strong muscular foot which amie
can be protruded from the shell Fig. 83; ae Se une
so as to sweep backwards and
forwards over a wide area. The siphon is short and blunt, and the
end displaying the two openings is forked. A continuous current
of water flows in through the lower opening, and out through the
opening nearest the hinge of the shell. The mantle edge around
the lip of the valves is crumpled. The shell is covered by a grayish
or dull brownish-gray skin, and it displays quite regular and deep
rings of growth. The siphon is light yellow, while the foot is
white. Kellogg finds that these clams grow very rapidly, and
may become about three and a quarter times their former volume
in six months. These clams feed upon diatoms and minute organ-
isms, which are drawn into the gillchamber through the in-current
tube of the siphon. The particles serving as food are collected by
the slime upon the gills, and driven into the mouth by the motion
of the cilia, while undesirable material is thrown upon the surface
of the body or the mantle and then driven to the base of the in-
current opening of the siphon, where it may be discharged by a
sudden closure of the valves of the shell.

The Razor Clam, (Hnsis americana, Fig. 84). This curious
clam resembles in shape the handle of a razor, and is found from

 
126 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Labrador to the Florida Keys. The shell becomes about six inches
long and is only one inch wide. The clam has a long muscular foot
which can be withdrawn within the shell but may be protruded
fully five inches out from the anterior end. By means of this foot
the clam burrows through sandy beaches with wonderful rapidity,

 

Fig. 84; RAZOR CLAM, Annisquam, Mass.

so that it is practically impossible to capture one of them with a
spade after it has once buried itself beneath the surface. At low
tide the clam often comes to the surface and remains with the pos-
terior end of its shell projecting, allowing the short siphon to pre-
trude into the air. If it be disturbed it darts rapidly back into its
burrow. This clam is very palatable, but the difficulty of capturing
it prevents its being sold in any quantity in the markets. It is
found commonly within sandy sea beaches or sand bars where the
water is not brackish.
The Sand-Bar Clam, (Siliqua costata, Fig. Sd). This shell is
about one and three-quarter inches long and three-quarters of an
inch wide. It lives within
loose sandy beaches and

= - = ee =

bars, in shallow water, but
does not extend above low
tide level. It occurs from
Nova Scotia to the Caroli-
nas but is found only in
situations where the ocean
water is pure. The shell
is covered with a rich brown skin, which gives it a polished sur-
face. The siphon is slender but quite long, while the foot is broad

 

Fig. 85; SAND-BAR CLAM. Cape Ann, Mass.
MOLLUSKS 127

and muscular and its end flattened to serve as a pushing organ.
The clam burrows only a short distance beneath the sand and occa-
sionally comes to the surface where it literally skips along by means
of its powerful foot, aided by the flapping motion of its valves. In
common with all other clams it feeds upon minute organisms both
vegetable and animal.

The Swimming Clam, (Solenomya veluim, Mig. 86), ranges from
North Carolina to Nova Scotia, where it burrows into sandy or
muddy beaches immediately be-
low tide level. In common with
the razor clam, and sand-bar
clam, it prefers pure ocean water. sa)

It is not over three-quarters of

an inch in length, and the shell

is thin and flexible with a rich

brown surface varied by yellow

lines radiating from the hinge. Fig. 86; SWIMMING CLAM. Cape
The foot of this clam can be ex- ee

panded into an umbrella shape at its apex. When the foot is
expanded and driven suddenly outward, the clam swims backward,
but when the foot is suddenly withdrawn it swims forward. In
this manner the clam is enabled to swim for
a considerable distance through the water with-
out touching the bottom.

The Bloody Clam, (Argina pexata, Fig.
87), is common under stones or within gravelly
beaches, below low-tide level, from Florida to
Cape Cod. It attaches itself to stones by
means of a byssus thread which is secreted by
: -J a gland in the foot. The shell is oblong, about

Fig. 87; BLOODY one and one-quarter inches wide, and covered
CLAM.

 

with a rough, brown skin. There are about 52
ridges that radiate outward from the beak of the shell. The gills
and circulatory fluid of the clam are red. Hence the popular name
of “bloody clam.”

The Ship-Worm, or Teredo, (Fig. SS), is not a worm but is
closely related to the clams. Its peculiar elongate form and worm-
like appearance are due to its habit of burrowing into any sort
128 SEA-SHORE LIFE

of wood, excepting palmetto logs or teak. The ship-worm begins
to burrow into the wood by movements of its foot and shell, when
only as large as a pin’s head, so that the opening to the burrow
is small. For a short distance from the entrance inward the bur-
row is apt to be perpendicular to the surface, but it soon turns
and runs more or less in the direction of the grain of the wood,
although usually quite twisted. The burrow is lined with shelly
material secreted by the teredo, and it is interesting to observe that
no matter how numerous the teredos infesting a piece of wood, their
tubes remain separate one from another and never intersect. The
shelly material lining the tube is not the true shell of the teredo.
The true shell is found at the head-end of the body which is farthest
in from the opening to the burrow. Its two valves are small,
white and delicately sculptured. The long, worm-shaped body is yel-
lowish-white and tapers gradually to the posterior end which is
near the opening of the burrow. The two long, extensible siphons
are found here; and on both sides near their base are a pair of

 

Fig. 88; SHIP-WORM with SIPHONS PROTRUDING. From living specimens infesting
wood in the New York Aquarium.

shelly flappers which serve to close the opening of the burrow
when the siphons are withdrawn. A thick muscular collar at the
base of the flapper also assists in closing the opening.

The teredo does not eat the wood into which it bores and is,
therefore, but little affected by poisoning the timber. The most
efficient protection is copper sheating. Species of teredo are widely
distributed and do enormous damage to submerged timber. Tev'e-
MOLLUSKS 129

do navalis is abundant along our shores and also on the coasts of
Europe, where it has done great damage to the woodwork of the
dikes of Holland.

The eggs develop within the gill cavity of the teredo and are
cast out chiefly in May and June as actively swimming ciliated
larve. They then develop a pair of
relatively large shells resembling those
of a clam, and finally eyes, and a long
foot which enables them to crawl over
timber into which they soon burrow.

The Cod Clam, (Cardita borealis,
Fig. 89), is one of the foods of the cod.
The shell is about one inch long and
three-quarters of an inch wide, and
there are about 20 deep, curved, fur-
rows which radiate outward from the
beak of the shell. The shell is covered with a dark brown skin.
It is common on rocky and gravelly bottoms at a depth from 30
to 600 feet from Cape Hatteras to the Arctic, and it also occurs
on the Pacific shores of Alaska, and on the northern coasts of
Europe.

 

Fig. 89; COD CLAM.

MARINE MUSSELS

Most of the mussels, or Mytilidw, are marine, although a few are
found in fresh water. The shell is elongate and thin, and covered
with a thick skin. The Common Edible Mussel (Mytilus edulis
Figs. 79, 90), abounds on mud flats between tide limits and ranges
from North Carolina to California, being also common along the
Arctic shores and the northern coasts of Europe. The shell is
covered with a glossy black, bluish or brown skin without radiat-
ing ridges. The mussel attaches itself to objects by means of a
strong yellow-colored byssus-thread which is secreted by a gland
in the foot, and which soon hardens in the air into a tough, thread-
like anchor rope. Great masses of mussel shells cover the shallow
flats, anchored one to another by means of these threads. They
can, however, leave their anchorages by casting off the threads
from the foot, and then pushing themselves about so as to move
into more favorable situations. They can also climb by extend-
130 SEA-SHORE LIFE

ing the foot upwards, and attaching themselves successively
higher and higher up by means of newly formed byssus threads.
When the tide is high the valves of the mussels will be seen to
be gaping, and the beautifully
fringed edges of their mantles
protruding slightly, allowing
water and minute organisms to be
drawn into their gill cavities, and
from thence into their mouths at
the opposite end of the shell.
There are two adductor muscles

Fig. 90; EDIBLE MUSEU Cape instead of one, as in the oyster,
nn, Mass.

 

but in most respects the anatomy
of the mussel closely approaches that of the oyster. In France the
mussels are cultivated and highly esteemed as food, and the fishery
is worth more than $150,000 annually. We make very little use
of our mussels, as at times they are said to be more or less poison-
ous; especially those found growing upon wood. An account of
the development of the edible mussel is given by John Wilson in
“Fifth Annual Re-
port of the Fishery
Board for Scot-
land,” for 1886.
The Ribbed
Mussel, ( Modiola
plicatula, Fig. 91),
can be disting-
uished by the radi-
ating ridges of the
shell. It isa brack-
ish water species
and is found between tide limits from Nova Scotia to Georgia.
* The Horse Mussel, or Bearded Mussel, (Modiola modiolus, Fig.
94), lives half buried in gravelly bottoms, or firmly attached by its
byssus threads within crevices of rocks, below low-tide level. It
ranges from New Jersey to the Arctic Ocean, and the northern
coasts of Europe. It is chestnut brown, and the skin flakes off
around the edges of the shell, forming a shaggy yellow ‘“‘beard.”

 

Fig, 91; RIBBED MUSSEL.

®An illustration of the Horse Mussel with scale limpets and egg cocoons of Rock Snail, on
page 143.
MOLLUSKS 13

Among the most interesting of the mussels are the rock boring
forms called Lithophagus, Fig. 92, which are common in all tropi-

cal oceans. When young
the shell bores into, or dis-
solves out, a cavity for
itself within coral rocks
or dead coral, and there it
remains throughout life,
enlarging the cavity as it
grows. It is interesting
to notice that some of the
species of rock boring
mussels attach them-
selves to the inside of
their rocky tunnels by
means of a_ byssus, al-
though this can certainly
serve no useful purpose,
as the opening of the tun-

 

fig. 92; Rock-boring Mussel (Lithophagus) within
a fragment of coral breccia. ‘Tortugas, Florida.

nel is always too small to allow the shell to drop out. It is evi-
dently a habit inherited from their remote free-living ancestors.

 

Fig. 93; RAZOR SHELL. Florida.

The author has observed a byssus formed by Lithophaqus from the
Bahamas having a shell four and one-half inches long.
The Razor Shell, (Pinna muricata, Fig. 93), is another inter-
132 SEA-SHORE LIFE

esting relative of the mussel family. It is common in shallow
water along the sandy shores of the West Indies and Florida, and
extends as far north as the North Carolina coast. Each valve of
the shell is fan-shaped, with a sharp-pointed apex and a wide,
sharp-edged margin. It attaches itself by means of a strong
byssus-thread to a rock beneath the sand, and the broad edge of
the shell projects above the surface of the ground. ‘The valves of
the shell open and shut rythmically, thus creating a current of
water over the gills and drawing minute organisms into the ever
open mouth. The razor shells, owing to their great abundance,
and sharp edges, render wading with bare feet all but impossible
on parts of the Florida coast.

THE FRESH-WATER MUSSELS.

There are fully 600 species of fresh-water mussels in the
streams of the United States, and more than three-quarters of them
live in the Mississippi and its tributaries. The shells are usually
elongate and covered with a thick outer skin. The two valves of
the shell are similar each to each, and there is a well developed
foot, by means of which the animal ploughs along through the mud
making a deep furrow with only about one-half of the posterior end
of the shell projecting. There are two large openings in the man-
tle at the posterior end of the shell, and these openings are usually
beautifully fringed. The one nearest the hinge side is the anal
aperture while the other serves to admit water and minute organisms
into the gill chambers. Although usually dull brown or greenish
in color on the outside, the inside of the shells are beautiful, some
being purple-black, others silvery white, golden copper color, salmon-
pink or yellow. On this account they are highly prized for the
manufacture of buttons, and this industry on the Mississippi alone
is worth $40,000 annually. Valuable pearls are also obtained from
these mussels.

The eggs of the fresh-water mussels are carried in pouches
between the layers of the outer gills, and there they remain until
they have developed a bivalve shell, the ips of which are armed
with sharp, hook-like spines. The lttle mussel is then cast out and
drops to the bottom where it comes to rest with the open valves of
its shell upwards, and then it thrusts out a long, glutinous, thread
MOLLUSKS 133

that waves through the water. If by chance this thread comes in
contact with the fins or scales of a fish it instantly attaches itself,
and draws up the little mussel
so that it is enabled to snap its
shell upon the fin and hold tight-
ly by means of its sharp spines.
This irritates the tissues of the
fish, so that the skin grows over
the little attached mollusk, en-
closing it in a capsule or cyst. It
remains thus for from two weeks
to more than two months, and
finally frees itself from the fish
and drops to the bottom as a well
developed mussel. The mussels

 

Fig. 95; COMMON SCALLOP.

are thus transported from stream to stream through the agency
of fish, and this accounts for their very wide distribution.

The fresh-water mussels of lakes and ponds are thin-shelled
and belong to a group called the anodontas, while those of running
streams are thick-shelled and are called unios. They grow very
slowly and do not begin to breed until they are from three to seven
years old, although they probably live to be from fifteen to twenty-
five years of age In 1896 the pearls obtained from mussels in
Arkansas were valued at $35,000, some of them being worth over
$1,000 apiece :

The Scallop, (Peeten irradians, Fig. 95). The common scallop
ranges from Tampa, Florida, to Nova Scotia. It is most abundant
near the eastern end of Long Island Sound, and, while common at
Provincetown, Cape Cod, is exceedingly rare north of that place.
It lives best in shallow bays, and harbors, where the bottom is apt
to be sandy or covered with eel grass. The shell is flattened at the
hinge, forming a pair of “ears,” and about 19 radiating ridges
extend outward from the beak of the shell. Professor Davenport
found that long ago in Pliocene times the scallops had from 19 to
22 of these ridges but that the normal number for modern shells is
only 19. When the scallop is young it attaches itself to eel grass,
or other submerged objects, by means of a byssus composed of stout,
thread-like anchorages secreted by a gland in its foot. The little
134 SEA-SHORE LIFE

scallop thus remains attached until it is from one-half to one and
a half inches long, after which it frees itself and swims actively
about by flapping the valves of its
shell. The mantle edge around the
lips of the shell is studded with dark
iridescent blue eyes which glow
when alive with a beautiful fluor-
escence; and scattered between the
eyes there are numerous delicate
feelers. The large adductor muscle,
that serves to close the shell, is the
only part eaten by man, and is the
scallop of the markets.

The scallop breeds during the
summer, and grows very rapidly,
becoming more than an inch long before the winter. During

 

Fig. 66; ARCTIC SCALLOP. Maine.

the winter growth is very slow, but is resumed in the spring. It
seems probable that scallops do not live to be more than three or
four years old. They are captured by dredging in autumn and
winter, but the supply in any one locality is uncertain, owing to the
wandering habits of the animals. The scallop fishery of Connecti-
cut and Rhode Island is worth $115,000 annually.

The Arctic Scallop, (Pecten islandicus, Ig. 96), is very rare
south of Cape Cod, but is quite common in depths of 150 feet and
more off the northern New England coast. It ranges into the Arctic
and is found on the northern coasts of Europe. The outer surface
of the shell is covered with a scaly skin; there are about 100 shallow
ridges, and the “ears” are unequal, the posterior one being the
shorter and its angle obtuse.

The Jingle Shell, (Anomia simplex, Fig. 97). This is also
called the gold shell, or scale shell, and the name jingle shell is
given in allusion to the ringing sound produced when the waves
beat upon beaches strewn with the dead shells. The shell is scale-
like and of a greenish-yellow color. It is one to three inches broad
and the upper valve is convex while the lower is flat or concave,
and matches the irregularities of the surface to which the shell is
attached. The peculiar feature of the lower valve is a large hole
near the apex. A stout, stony stalk passes through this opening,
MOLLUSKS 135

and is fastened to the rock or other body upon which the jingle
shell is growing. This stalk of attachment isin reality the byssus,
and when first formed it is flexible as are the attaching threads of
many other clams and mussels.

The jingle shell is found from the West Indies to Cape Cod,
and is very abundant in Long Island Sound. It is, however, rare
north of Massachusetts Bay,
although it has been found as '
far north as Cape Sable. Itisa
shallow water form, not living
at a depth greater than 70 feet.

The dead shells are of
considerable commercial im-
portance, for they are used by
the oystermen to be strewn
over the beds in order to give
the little oyster a good surface
upon which to set. The shell
1s well figured in Verrill and Fig. 97; JINGLE SHELL UPON A ROCK.
Smith’s “Invertebrates of ; Long Island Sound.

Vineyard Sound,” p. 17 (311),
Plate XXII, Figs. 241, 242, under the name of Anomia glabra.

The Pearl Oyster, (Meleagrina margaritifera). This species and
several closely related varieties furnish the most valuable mother of
pearl and precious pearls known. The pearl oysters are especially
abundant in the Indian Ocean and tropical Pacific but they are also
found in the Gulf of California, the Red Sea, and sparingly in the
West Indies. The fisheries of the Persian Gulf are worth $2,000,000
annually and those of Ceylon are almost as valuable. About 15,-
000 tons of pearl shells are used by the world each year, the value
of which ranges from about $900 to $250 per ton. The pearl
oyster is a large, flat: bivalve, with a long, straight hinge, and quite
regularly curved contour to the shell, and is about ten inches broad.
On the outside the shell is dark-olive often mottled with irregularly
crescent-shaped yellowish spots, or streaked with broken yellowish
lines radiating from the apex. The outer skin of the shell is rough
and flakes off into long, ragged, scale-like projections, especially near
the outer edges. Inside one finds the beautiful nacre of the shell

 
136 SEA-SHORE LIFE

which is deposited in layers by the mantle as the shell grows. Con-
trary to the general opinion, pearls appear not to be formed around
grains of sand but around minute parasites, or even an egg of the
oyster itself. However, some foreign body causes an irritation of
the mantle, and the nacre is then deposited in layers around the
disturbing substance. The best pearls are spherical and are not
attached to the shell itself, for if they become fastened to the shell
they grow irregularly, and their value is lessened. They are always
of the same color as the nacre of the shell, and as individual oysters
vary considerably, this may be a steely black, a brilliant iridescent
white, delicate pink or yellow. Inthe Gulf of California only about
one oyster ina thousand contains a pearl. Pearls are most abund-
ant in diseased oysters, or those which are attacked by boring
sponges and other parasites, and are best developed in oysters
about four years old. Great as may be the value of individual
pearls, the pearl fisheries are mainly dependent upon the sale of the
shells themselves. Immense numbers of shells are annually used
in the manufacture of buttons and ornaments.

The pearl oysters attach themselves, when young, by a strong
byssus-thread to rocks in water from 25 to 250 feet deep, and they
are abundant in some of the lagoons of the coral islands of the Pa-
cific in water about 100 feet in depth. In the Paumotos Islands the
natives obtain them by the primitive method of diving to the bottom
without the aid of diving suits or other apparatus. Having dis-
covered the situation of a pearl shell by means of the water glass,
which is merely a glass-bottomed bucket, the diver proceeds. to
whistle shrilly, filling his lungs repeatedly to their fullest capacity.
He then jumps in feet foremost but immediately turns and swims
head down to the bottom, carrying with him a half pearl shell
with which to cut the living pearl shells off from the rocks below.
The writer observed one experienced diver who went down in 90
feet of water and remained below two minutes and five seconds,
bringing up two pearl shells. The largest known pearl belongs to
Mr. Hope, of England, and has long been on exhibition in the South
Kensington Museum. It is nearly four and a half inches in diam-
eter, but is somewhat irregular. The iridescence of pearls is an
optical phenomenon and is due to the interference of light caused
by minute corrugations over the surface of the pearl,
MOLLUSKS 137

SNAILS AND SLUGS.
Gasteropoda.

Fully 15,500 species of living mollusks belong to the great
order of Gasteropoda, which means stomach foot. A wide diversity
of forms are met with, but when young they all have a single shell;
although this may degenerate into a mere internal scale, as in the
case of the slugs, or disappear entirely in adult life as in the case
of the naked mollusks (Nudibranchiata).

A flat, creeping sole, or foot is usually present, and the head
is distinct and usually provided with feelers and eyes, while within
the mouth we find a remarkable ribbon-like tongue which is cov-
ered with rows of horny rasping teeth, and is called the radula.

The vital organs are contained in a large sac-like body-mass
that is joined by a relatively slender neck to the upper side of the
foot. In the simplest forms this body-mass is dome shaped, or
conical, but in the course of evolution its weight has caused it to
topple over to the left side of the body, and then in order to present
the least surface to possible injury it has become coiled usually in
a right-handed direction. The shell which covers the body-mass
naturally has a shape similar to that of the body-mass itself, and the
vast majority of gastropoda shells are right-handed spirals. This
toppling over of the body-mass and shell upon the left side has
caused the gill, kidney opening and other external organs of that side
either to disappear or to migrate toward the right side, so that in
Casteropoda we usually find a feathered gill only on the right-hand
side of the body, underneath the mantle-fold, although in some
species the gill which was originally on the left side has come
around and still persists on the right side of the body, and thus
the animal has two gills on the right side and none on the left.

In the typical snail, then, the intestine bends back upon itself,
and opens on the right side of the body near the head, while a lit-
tle in front of the anus les the opening of the kidney and still
further forward the gill.

In a few forms we may find a kidney-duct and a gill back of
the anus, these having shifted over from the left side of the body;
but this condition is not often seen, for these organs have usually
disappeared, instead of travelling around the body from the left to
the right side,
138 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The shell serves not only to protect the intestines, but the en-
tire head and foot may be withdrawn within it.

In many sea-snails there is a horny or stony plate called the
operculum which lies on the dorsal side of the posterior end of
the foot, and when the foot is withdrawn this closes the opening
of the shell.

The mantle projects as a curtain beyond the lip of the shell,
and protects the gills and other organs which lie in the space be-
tween it and the side of the body. Often the mantle curtain is so
large that it is reflected upward over the outer surface of the shell,
which it may entirely encase. The secretions of the mantle serve to
keep the outer surface of the shell smooth and even highly pol-
ished as in the cowries, but in many cases the shell has degene-
rated and become permanently covered by the mantle as in slugs.

In most of the fresh-water snails, and in land snails and slugs,
the free edges of the mantle have fused with the side of the body,
leaving only one opening for the admission and expulsion of air on
the right side of the body.

In these forms the gill has disappeared, and a sort of lung is
formed by the ramification of a network of blood vessels over the
inner surface of the mantle. These snails are obliged to take ina
fresh supply of air at regular intervals and if one observes a com-
mon pond snail it will be seen to come to the surface and emit a
bubble of air from its air-pore and then take in fresh air before
descending. Indeed, fresh water snails will soon drown if they be
not allowed to come to the surface to breathe. Curiously enough
practically none of these lung-breathing snails have an operculum
when adult.

The gill of the opereulum-bearing snails is feathered and
close by the side of it one finds a smaller feathered body called the
osphradium which is possibly an organ for tasting the water that
is being breathed. In these snails one often finds opposite the gill
a long tubular fold of the mantle which serves to conduct water
into the gill chamber. This fold is often protected by a snout-like
projection of the. shell above it. The water is usually discharged
through another opening which lies farther back.

The sense organs of the Gasteropoda are poorly developed
although they are very sensitive to touch. The feelers on the head
MOLLUSKS 139

are often not only tactile organs but serve as eye-stalks. In the
land-snails and slugs the little cup-like eyes are at the extremity
of the feelers while in sea-snails they lie
at the base of the tentacles, or only half

way up. The eggs of snails are sur-
rounded by gelatinous envelopes or en-
closed in parchment-like cocoons of
definite shape. Some of the eggs of
land-snails contain a great deal of nutri-
ent jelly and may be covered with a
firm, smooth shell. Indeed, they may
be as large as the egg of a pigeon as in

 

the case of our American Jand-snail, Fig. 98; NORTHERN SAND-
* . COLLAR SNAIL. Long
Bulimus. The early stages of segmen- § :

Pt Island Sound.
tation in the developing eggs of snails

are quite similar to those of the flat-worms, and this probably
indicates that both flat-worms, and mollusks are descended from
a common stock. In many of the sea-snails the larva becomes a
free-swimming, pear-shaped creature propelled by one or more rings
of cilia around the place of its greatest girth, and having a bristle
of cilia at its blunt anterior end, and what is most interesting;
the clams, mussels and ringed-worms (Annelids) go through a very
similar stage in their development. Later a pair of large flat lobes
grow out on either side of the mouth, and the edges of these lobes
are fringed with powerful cilia which enable the little mollusk to
swim rapidly through the water. The larva is now called a veliger.
Finally the veliger lobes degenerate, and the shell becomes so large
that the larva sinks to the bottom as a small snail.

In slugs and some land and fresh-water snails the primitive
shell and operculum are sometimes cast off, and another shell which
remains throughout life may develop. This casting off of the shell
takes place before the little snail hatches from the egg.

A good account of the development of snails is given by Kor-
schelt and Heider in their “Textbook of Embryology,” Vol. IV,
Macmillan, 1900.

The Sand-Collar Snails, (Lunatia heros and Neverita duplicata,
Figs. 98-100). These large snails are found in shallow water
along sandy beaches, and are very abundant off the coasts of Long
140 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Island and New Jersey. L. heros, Fig. 98, ranges from Virginia to
Labrador, and N. duplicata, Fig. 99, from Yucatan to Massachusetts
Bay. They may be recognized by their
large size, light yellowish-brown or bluish-
white color, blunt, rounded spire, and sim-
ple, round opening with a sharp-edged
lip. In ZL. heros the umbillicus, or cen-
tral cavity of the body whorl, is widely

 

open whereas in N. duplicata it is practi-
cally closed by a plug. The whole shell
is also flatter than in L. heros. The ani-
eee Cay eee mal is so large that when seen expanded

; it seems hardly conceivable that it could
withdraw into its shell. However, it can perform this feat very
rapidly, and then completely close the opening with its horny
operculum.

The broad, muscular foot of these snails secretes a large
amount of mucous, enabling the creature to glide readily over the
bottom or bury itself beneath the surface, which it always does if
in danger of being stranded by the tide. The edges of the foot are
sharply angular, and a large piece forward of the head is reflected
back, making a thick, fleshy shield which serves as a ploughshare
when the animal burrows through the sand in search of prey. The
mantle is very contractible, and can be reflected upward over the
shell so as to almost wholly enclose it. The surface of the shell is
thus bathed in the secretion from the mantle, and kept smooth as
is common with all mollusks that cover their shells in this manner.
A notch-like fold in the free edge of the mantle admits water into
the gill cavity. The head is provided with two sharp-pointed
tentacles.

These creatures are carniverous and devour other mollusks,
including the young of their own species. They are especially
enemies of the clams. Applying the proboscis to the surface of the
clam shell, it bores through by means of its ribbon-like tongue,
which is armed with numerous rasping teeth. This boring process is
usually facilitated in carnivorous mollusks by a secretion of sul-
pbhuric acid. The hole bored is circular, and its sides beveled as
if countersunk,
MOLLUSKS 141

The well-known “‘sand-collars” are the egg capsules of this
snail. When first pressed out from the side of the animal the collar

 

Fig. roo, Northern Sand-collar Snail crawling over a sandy bottom between two of its egg
cocoons. From life. Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

is composed of a glutinous material in which the eggs are imbedded
in great numbers arranged in regular rows. Sand immediately
adheres to the collar, and it soon hardens. These collars are com-
mon throughout the summer. The young snails often have two or
three rows of dull purple spots running spirally down the shell;
but these disappear in the adults.

The Giant Whelks, (Pulgur carica, and Sycotypus eanaliculatus,
Fig. 101). Our whelks are the largest coiled shells to be found
north of Cape Hatteras. They extend from the Gulf of Mexico to
Cape Cod, and are especially abundant off the New Jersey coast
and in Long Island Sound upon gravelly or sandy bottoms at, or
below, low-tide level, where they plough along with the foot partially
buried beneath the surface of the ground. ‘The shells of our
whelks grow to be fully six inches long, and are pear-shaped, with a
long, tapering snout, or anterior canal. The Knobbed Whelk, (ful-
gur cariea), may at once be recognized by the circlet of knob-like
protuberances around the shoulder of the body-whorl of the shell.
142 SEASSHORE LIFE

The Channelled Whelk, (Syéotypus canaliculatus!/‘has no knob-like
protuberances, but there ‘is quite a deep channel‘at the suture of
the spire. Also in the chan-
nelled whelk the shell is covered
with a rough, hairy-looking
skin whereas the surface of the
shell of the Knobbed Whelk is
smooth.

These animals prey upon
other mollusks and are very
destructive to clams and oys-
ters. The mouth is at the ex-
tremity of a proboscis, and is
armed with a ribbon-like
tongue covered with rasping
teeth. In eating, the end of
the proboscis is appled to the
victim’s body, and the flesh
rasped off by vigorous sweeps
of the ribbon-tongue.

'

 

Fig. 101; Right: KNOBBED WHELK. The egg cocoons of our
Left: CHANNELLED WHELK.  whelks are often seen cast u

Below: Egg cocoons of the Chan- ot, P

nelled Whelk. upon the beaches, and resemble

a row of yellowish colored
checkers fastened upon a cord. Each checker is in reality a tough,
disk-shaped capsule containing about two dozen eggs or young
whelks. According to Coues, when forming the capsules the female
lies buried a few inches beneath the sand and remains stationary
during the process. The string of capsules is slowly thrust upward,
and when completed lies exposed upon the surface. The string
begins as a simple thread, without capsules, and the first few cap-
sules are small and imperfect but soon increase in size, being most
perfect at the middle of the string. There isa thin spot at the mid-
dle of the outer edge of each capsule and through this the young
break their way. The capsules of the Knobbed Whelk are smooth
sided disks, but their narrow edges are crossed by sharp ridges.
Those of the Channelled Whelk are thinner with a thin, sharp outer
edge, while the broad sides of the disks show. radiating ridges.
MOLLUSKS 143

These capsules are produced in spring and summer, but newly laid
ones are also abundant in Long Island Sound during September.
Formerly the
Indians used
these shells for
the manufacture
of their white
wampum.
From Cape
Hatteras to Cuba
we find still an-
other whelk
(Fulgur perversa), which resembles the Knobbed Whelk, but it is
streaked longitudinally with dull, purple-brown, and its shell is
coiled in a left-handed spiral.
The English Whelk, (Buccinum undatum, Fig. 102), is a com-
mon sea snail in shallow water north of Cape Cod. It ranges, how-
ever, from Cape Hatteras to the Arctic Ocean, and is also found on

 

Fig. 102; English Whelk and its Egg Cocoons.

 

Fig. 94; HORSE MUSSEL, OR BEARDED MUSSEL. From life. A
scale-limpet (Patella testudinalis), and seven egg cocoons of the
Rock Snail (Purpura lapillus) are seen upon the right hand
shell. Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

the northern coasts of Europe. On the Maine coast it is found at
low tide level, but south of Cape Cod it lives in deep water, having
been taken from a depth of 3,900 feet.
144 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The shell grows to be about three inches long, and is marked
with revolving ridges and transverse furrows, and its outer surface
is covered with a velvety brown skin. It is carniverous and readily
feeds upon dead animals.

During the summer its egg cocoons are often found attached
to rocks below low tide level. They consist of a mass of rounded

 

Fig. 103; Rock Snails (Purpura lapillus) devouring barnacles upon a rock at Annisquam, Mass.

capsules, yellow in color, all joined at their bases into a hemispher-
ical mass. They are popularly and aptly termed ‘“‘seacorn.” Each
capsule contains a number of eggs, but only a few develop, the
more vigorous young devouring the weaker before hatching.

In England this snail is sold in the markets, but with us it is
neglected. The lp of the shell is very apt to be broken in large
specimens.

The Rock Snail, (Purpura lapillus, Fig. 103). This snail
MOLLUSKS 145

literally covers the rocks on many parts of the New England coast
north of Cape Cod. It is most abundant between tides, where the
rocks are covered
with barnacles up-
on which it feeds.
It ranges from
Montauk Point,
Long Island, to
the Arctic Ocean,
and is abundant
on the European
coasts as far south
as Portugal. With
us it grows to
be about one and
one-half inches
long but becomes larger on the northern coasts of Europe.

It is very variable in form and color. Some individuals are
quite smooth while others are ringed with deep ridges, or have
rough, scale-covered shells. Some are dark brown, others white,
gray, yellow, dull orange or ringed with combinations of these col-
ors. The snails which live upon insolated rocks far off the coast,
exposed to the full force of the ocean, are small, and are dark gray
in color with dull yellowish bands. Those living on the rocks of
protected shores are more variable, both in form and color.

The eggs are laid during the summer in little spindle-shaped
yellow capsules which resemble minute ten pins set up on their
pointed ends. They are placed on the under sides of rocks, or on
dead shells. (Fig. 94).

A closely related species (Purpura patula) from the Mediter-
ranean was used to make the Tyrian purple dye used by the Ro-
mans for their ceremonial togas. The snails were pounded in a
mortar and mixed with water and soda. After a few hours the liquid
changes from yellow to deep purple, and may then be used to dye
wool or cloth.

The Ten-Ribbed Snail, (Chi-ysodomus decemcostatus, Fig. 104),
becomes fully three inches in length. It is yellow-brown in color,
and displays ten whorled ridges. It is found off the New England

 

Fig. 104; TEN-RIBBED SNAIL. Massachusetts Bay.
146 SEA-SHORE LIFE

coast north of Cape Cod, and occurs just below low tide level on the
Maine shore, although it is usually found in deeper water. When
empty it is a favorite shell with hermit crabs,
and is often dragged long distances from its
true habitat.

The Oyster-Drill, (Urosalpinx cinerea,
Fig. 105), isa destructive little snail, common

 

in shallow water on stony bottoms down to
Fig. 105; OYSTER DRILL. about sixty feet in depth; and while it ranges

Tene Ee eae from Florida to Nova Scotia, it is rare and
local north of Cape Cod.

It is most abundant in Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound.
The shell is less than one inch long, and the lip is extended out in
a projecting snout that serves to protect the siphon of the animal.
It is dull brownish-gray, and there are numerous rough, raised,
whorls and longitudinal ridges over the shell. The egg cocoons are
laid during summer on the under surface of dead shells or stones,
and are spindle-shaped, resembling little yellow vases made out of
parchment. The stems of these little vases are very short, and angu-
lar ridges extend along their sides.

This snail is one of the worst enemies of small oysters and other
bivalves. It raspsasmall round hole through the shell by means of
the sharp, horny teeth of its tongue, aided
possibly by the secretion of sulphuric acid.
Then having penetrated the shell it sucks the
contents out at leisure. Next to the starfish
there is probably no worse enemy of the oys-
ter than this snail, and its popular name of
oyster-drill is well earned. It attacks its vic-
tims throughout the year, but fortunately it
is unable to drill through the shells of full
grown clams and oysters.

Large numbers of little clam shells that
have been drilled by this pest are always to py ios. Above: NASSA
be seen cast up upon our beaches. TRIVITTATA.

The Mud-Flat Snail, (Nassa obsoleta, ene Prt fine et
Fig. 106), is a small snail ranging from
Tampa, Florida, to Nova Scotia. It is rare north of Cape Cod, but is
most abundant on the mud flats of Long Island Sound, which it
literally covers over wide areas.

 
MOLLUSKS 147

The spire of the shell is blunt, and in old individuals its apex
is apt to be broken off. The surface of the shell is covered with
seaweed and mud, but
when cleaned it is seen
to be black, with a shin-
ing black interior. This
snail drills holes through
the shells of other mol-
lusks and devours them.
It is, however, preyed
upon by young hermit
crabs, that occupy the
shells after devouring
the mollusk itself.

The Sand-Flat Snail,
(Nassatrivittata, Fig. 100),
can be distinguished Fig. 107; Peviwinkles clustering upon a rock at
from Nassa obsoleta by Annisiuenmye Mass:

 

its sharp spire, angular suture and regularly granular surface. The
shell is five-eighths of an inch long, and two sharp-pointed fleshy
processes arise from the posterior end of the foot giving the impres-
sion of a pair of tails. There is a pair of long,
slender tentacles on the head, and half way up
on the side of each there is an eye. The siphon
tube is long and curved upward, while the pro-
boscis is even longer and extends forward as
a flexible tube. The snail applies this proboscis
to the surface of other snail shells, bores through
by means of its rasping teeth, and then devours
the soft parts of the prey. Nassa trivittata
appears to feed upon every species of mollusk through whose shell
it is capable of boring, and will readily attack individuals of its
own species.

It is found from eastern Florida to Nova Scotia, and is most
abundant upon sand flats in Long Island Sound, and on the Massa-
chusetts coast north of Cape Cod. It is also found on muddy or
stony bottoms and extends into water about 240 feet deep. When
the tide goes out it crawls slowly over the moist sand leaving a tortu-

Fig. 1708; PERIWINKLE.
From life.
148 SEA-SHORE LIFE

ous trail, and when the beach begins to dry it burrows beneath the
surface head downward, but comes to rest with the aperture of the
shell toward the surface.

The Salt-Marsh Snail, (Melampus
bidentatus), is the most abundant snail
upon the stems of salt marsh grasses
near high tide mark. It ranges from
Florida to Cape Cod, and is very com-
mon along the coasts of Long Island
and New Jersey.

It is a little brown-colored snail of
about the size and shape of a coffee berry. The aperture is narrow
and elongate, the spire short and blunt, and the forward end of the
shell tapers to a blunt point. Some varieties are banded with light
and dark brown, while others are plain in color. This snail devours
vegetable matter, and is itself preyed upon by minnows, crabs, and
numerous sea birds.

The Periwinkle, (Littorina littorea, Figs. 107-109, 111). This
snail was probably introduced from the northern coasts of Europe
or from Labrador. It is extremely abundant on the rocky shores of
England, and is sold in market to the poor in large cities. After
being boiled the animal is removed from the shell by a bent pin.
In flavor it resembles a clam but is more delicate.

The snail was first observed on our shores at the Gulf of St.
Lawrence in 1855. In 1871 it had reached the New Hampshire
coast, and has slowly spread southward arriving at Salem, Massa-
chusetts, in 1872, Woods Holl, Massachusetts, in 1875, New Haven
in 1880, and at present it is found even at the western end of
Long Island Sound. Wherever it has appeared it has become
the most abundant sea-snail within two or three years. On the
New England coast it covers the rocks and seaweed between tide
limits, and Professor Bumpus gathered more than 2500 of them
from a small depression in the rocks at Seaconnet near the mouth
of Buzzard’s Bay. The shell is thick, heavy, and dark brown,
about five-eighths of an inch long, and the spire, although short,
is sharp-pointed. The body-whorl is large and the outer edge of
the lip is sharp and black in color while its inner (columella) side
“is faint purple-white. The shell is whorled with numerous shallow

 

Fig. 109; Right: PERIWINKLE.
Left: SEAWEED SNAIL.
MOLLUSKS 149

furrows. It can remain out of water for hours at a time without
suffering any apparent inconvenience. When the tide comes in,
however, it crawls slowly about feeding upon vegetable matter.
The foot is black and the head is provided with two sharp-pointed
tentacles with eyes on their outer sides near their bases.

The Seaweed Snail, (Littorina palliata, Fig. 109), ranges from
New Jersey to Nova Scotia, and is common upon sea weeds between
tide limits. The surface of the shell is smooth and is variable in
color, being either olive, yellow, or brown, red or mottled, but usu-
ally closely approaching the color of the seaweed upon which it
lives. The spire is blunter than in Littorina littorea.

The Floating Snail, (Janthina fragilis, Fig. 110). This beau-
tiful snail is found floating upon the Gulf Stream, and off the
Florida coast and West Indies in the spring, but it is occasionally
cast up upon our shore by southerly
gales. The shell is blunt and about one
and a half inches in width, and is of a
beautiful purple-blue color, lighter over
the spire than at the base of the body
whorl. It is almost as thin as paper, and
is usually broken by the surf in being
washed ashore. A gelatinous substance
is secreted by a gland in the foot of the
animal, and this becomes filled with air
bubbles and hardens to form a veritable
raft that floats the snail. The female
even deposits her eggs in spindle-like
capsules on the under side of this raft,
the youngest eggs being nearest the body of the snail, and the old-
est on the outer end of the raft. The feathery gills project beyond
the lip of the shell, and there are four tentacles upon the head.
While the float remains attached it is impossible for the snail to
sink, but it may apparently be cast off at will. When pressed the
snail exudes a blue-violet fluid.

The Boat Shells, (Crepidula). These are often called “deck-
ers” or “slipper limpets.”” They are degenerate, scale-like snails,
and when full grown either remain fastened permanently to one
spot or move very slowly. Those species that become fast to one

 

Fig 110; FLOATING SNAIL.
Tortugas, Florida.
150 SEA-SHORE LIFE

spot fit closely over the stone or dead shell to which they are
attached, the attachment being made very secure by a stony cement
that is secreted by the
foot. The eggs are laid
in round capsules
which are attached to
a minute cord in grape-
like clusters. Each
little capsule contains
a large number of eggs
floating in a nutrient
jelly. From two to
twenty thousand eggs
are laid, and are fast-
ened to the ground by
Fig. 111; Eel Grass, at low tide, covered with Periwinkles. the side of the animal
pameeenrat so as to be covered by
the shell itself. The breeding season extends from early summer
until about August 15th. Our species range from the West Indies
to Nova Scotia, and are very common in Long Island Sound.
Crepidula fornicata (Fig. 112), the largest species, is found
attached to horse-shoe crabs, and also to stones and dead shells. A
succession of individuals being often seen fastened one to the shell
of the other with the last shell in the line fastened to a stone or

 

 

Fig. 112; DECKER SHELL. Long Island Sound.

other firm anchorage. In these strings of shells the heads are
usually pointed all in the same direction. The young hatch as
MOLLUSKS 151

free-swimming veliger larve, but after two or three weeks they
settle down as young boat-shells. Until they are about half grown
they can move slowly, but finally they become fixed for the remain-
der of their lives. ‘The males are smaller and more active than the
females, but they also lose all power of locomotion when more than
half grown. This species may be recognized by its decidedly con-
vex shell, gray, horny color, and faint reddish-brown flecks over
the surface of the shell.

Crepidula plana is a small, flat, white species which lives
within shells that are being carried about by hermit crabs. The
head end of the crepidula almost always faces the opening of the
shell within which it lives. Its breeding habits are similar to
those of C. fornicata.

Crepidula convexa is the smallest of our species, and its shells
are dark brown in color, and more convex than either of the others.
It lives on the outside of shells, being carried about by hermit
crabs. It can move to a limited extent throughout life, and the
young hatch as little snails, and do not pass through a free-swim-
ming veliger stage.

A most thorough account of the development and life history
of our species of Crepidula is given by E. G. Conklin in the
“American Journal of Morphology,” Vol. XII, Part 1, 1897.

THE NAKED MOLLUSKS OR SEA SLUGS

Nudibranelhiata.

These are slug-like in general appearance but are not to be con-
fused with land slugs. ‘They have a flat creeping foot, and no shell
when adult, although one is present in the young, indicating that
they have descended from sea snails. However, the shell and
operculum which are found in the young larve are cast off very
early in development.

The mouth is on the lower side of the front end of the body,
and the intestine usually gives off branched canals which ramify
through the body. The vent is either upon the middle line of the
back or upon the right side. When found upon the mid-dorsal
line it is usually surrounded by branching gills which are often
highly colored and resemble a beautiful flower. These gills are,
152 SEA-SHORE LIFE

however, not derived from the plumed gills of other snails, but are
a new formation found only among the Nudibranchiata. The back
is apt to be covered with finger-shaped processes which proba-
bly function in respiration, and the head is provided with eyes
and tentacles.

These most interesting little snails match their surroundings
to a wonderful degree of perfection, their ragged-looking backs and
mottled color giving the impression of a piece of torn seaweed.
They crawl upon sea weeds or stones, but can also swim foot up-
wards along the surface of the sea.

MHolis papillosa is the commonest species under stones or upon
sea weeds in shallow water off our north Atlantic coast, and the
shores of Europe. It grows to be about three inches long, but spe-
cimens over an inch in length are rare. It is very variable in
color, being fawn, gray, or yellowish sprinkled with large dots of
white, olive, brown, purple or yellow. The body is square in front
but tapers to a point behind. There are two pairs of tentacles
upon the head, and numerous rows of papille, down both sides, the
middle of the back being bare. The eggs are laid in a white gela-
tinous cord, festooned and coiled in a spiral, and deposited upon
stones. A good figure and description of this creature is given by
Gould and Binney. “Invertebrates of Massachusetts,” p. 238.
Plate XVIII Figs. 257-263. Curiously enough the skin of this
creature is provided with stinging thread-cells similar to those of
jelly-fishes and sea anemones. It is probable, however, that these
thread cells may have been obtained from sea anemones upon which
the mollusk has fed.

Anecula sulphurea is a pale yellow species commonly found on
rocky bottoms off the New England coast north of Cape Cod; being
very abundant in water about 200 feet deep.

THE SQUID, OCTOPUS AND NAUTILUS.
Cephalopoda.

These are the most highly developed mollusks, and when one
observes their remarkably rapid movements, their acute senses, and
the complexity of their entire organization, it is difficult to convince
one’s self that their nearest living relatives are snails and clams.

They are all carniverous, and prey upon fishes, crustacea and
other mollusks which they capture by darting backward, seizing
MOLLUSKS 153

the victims in their sucker-bearing arms, and crushing the prey in
their sharp, parrot-like beaks.

Nothing in nature is more gruesome and hideous than the
sinuous writhing of these creatures, or more strangely fascinating
than the wonderful play of varied colors over their soft, pulsating
bodies, this movement contrasted all the time with the cruel, stony
stare of their expressionless eyes.

The octopus often takes up its abode within some rocky crev-
ice, and lies safely hidden in the shadow, at the same time similat-
ing the color of its surroundings so that its victims do not perceive

 

Fig. 113; OCVOPUS AMERICANUS. From a painting made at Tortugas, Fla.,
by Herbert B. Judy.

their danger until grasped by the suckers of the long, muscular
arms. This habit of seeking caverns is well known to the Japan-
ese, who capture the octopus for the market by simply sinking
earthenware urns over night, and then drawing them up in the
morning, when some of them are found to be occupied by these
repulsive creatures.

Despite their generally musky odor octopi and squids are eaten
154 SEA-SHORE LIFE

in France, Italy and Japan. They are also preyed upon by sea
lions and sperm whales.

In the octopi there are eight, and in the squids and sepia ten
long, flexible arms that surround the mouth, and in many species
the rims of the suckers are beset with hooks, thus increasing the
tenaciousness of their grasp. A careful study has shown that these
arms are derived from what was once the fore part of the foot in
the ancestral mollusk, from which the Cephalopoda are descended.
The mouth is provided with a pair of powerful, parrot-like beaks,
while the tongue is beset with sharp, rasping teeth. In all forms
the teeth and jaws are horny, but in Nautilus the beaks are coated
externally with calcareous matter.

The chambered nautilus of the tropical Pacific and Indian
Ocean is the only living species whose shell is wholly external.
This graceful shell is composed of a series of chambers filled with
gas, and coiled in the form of a regular spiral. These chambers
are separated one from another by shelly partitions, but each par-
tition is pierced at its centre to allow of the passage of a tube called
the siphuncle, which runs through the compartments, and is
attached to the back of the body of the nautilus. The animal itself
lives in the largest and last formed chamber, into which it can
almost completely withdraw its head and tentacles.

The spirula of the tropical Atlantic and Pacific has also a
chambered cell, but this is largely covered by the mantle, and is
small in comparison with the size of the animal, and curiously
enough the shell of spirula is coiled in a manner opposite to that
of nautilus. These graceful cream-colored little spirals are found
cast up upon the sands of every coral island, but the living animal
is exceedingly rare, and almost nothing is known concerning its
habits.

In the squids the shell is also internal and imbedded in the
mantle, and is reduced toa mere remnant popularly called the
“pen,” in allusion to its peculiar shape, while in the octopus the
shell has disappeared entirely in the adult animal.

The so-called shell of the paper nautilus or Argonauta is not
to be compared with the shell of other mollusks, for it is merely a
shell-shaped capsule secreted by broad, flat expansions of two of the
arms. Its resemblance to a shell is merely accidental, and it serves
MOLLUSKS 155

only as a pouch to contain the eggs while they are being carried
about by the female. When first taken from the water it is soft and
flexible, but soon hardens and becomes very brittle in the air. When
much disturbed the female may cast it off, and it is never developed
by the male argonaut.

In all forms excepting the chambered nautilus the body is
cone-shaped or dome-like, and is enclosed in a mantle which is at-
tached along the back, and hangs freely around the body, encasing
it as a bag on the sides. The head and tentacles project beyond the
mouth of the mantle-bag, as does also the siphon. This siphon is a
tube which is developed on the side of the head, and is open at both
ends. In the adult nautilus and in all embryonic Cephalopods this
siphon is composed of two side flaps whose edges fold together to
form a tube, but in all adult cephalopods, excepting nautilus, the
edges fuse forming a solid-walled tube.

When the mantle-bag expands, water is drawn in through the
slit between the body and mantle on both sides of the neck. If the
animal be quietly breathing, the water is forced out through the
same slit by the contraction of the mantle, but if the cephalopod
desires to move, the free edge of the mantle-bag becomes hooked to
the outer wall of the siphon, thus closing the neck-slit so that the
water 1s driven forcibly out through the tube of the siphon. This
siphon tube usually projects forward, and the concentrated stream of
water rushing out of it forces the animal backward with great
rapidity. The siphon can, however, at times be directed backward,
thus driving the animal forward, but this is so rarely done that it
can not be called the usual manner of progression.

A careful study of the subject has convinced naturalists that
the siphon has been derived from what was the middle part of the
foot, in the extinct mollusks from which the Cephalopods have de-
scended.

The so-called ‘“ side fins’

’

and “tail” of the squid are mere
expansions of the mantle. It is interesting to observe that the so-
called tail fin is not at the posterior end of the body but at the
highest point of the back of the animal. The sucker bearing arms
being derived from the fore part, and the siphon from the middle
part of the foot, while the conical body has been elongated dorsal-
wards. These things can, however, only be fully comprehended
156 SEA-SHORE LIFE

through careful study, and the only point we should remember is
that it is not quite correct to say that the squid “swims backward”
but that it swims with the middle point of its back directed forward.

Feathered gills arise from the body, and project into the cavity
of the mantle-bag, so that they are bathed by the water that comes
in through the slit-like opening between the mantle and the sides of
the neck. In nautilus there are four, whereas in all other cephalo-
pods there are only two gills. In common with other mollusks the
heart pumps blood from the gills to other parts of the body.

The kidneys, genital organs, and alimentary tract also open into
the cavity of the mantle-bag and their products are discharged with
the waste water through the siphon.

The ink bag is a peculiar organ that is found in all forms ex-
cepting nautilus. Its duct opens into the intestine near the vent,
and when the animal becomes excited or alarmed the inky fluid is
discharged through the siphon thus darkening the water and ena-
bling the animal to bewilder its prey, or to itself escape from danger,
Both india ink and sepia are made from the fluid of the ink bags of
cuttle fishes.

The nervous system is far better developed than in snails and
other mollusks. The brain is large and is protected by a sheath of
cartilage, while the eyes bear a close but only accidental resemblance
to those of vertebrates. In nautilus, however, the eye is a mere cup-
shaped cavity, the bottom and sides of the cup being lined with
sensory cells constituting the retina; but in all other cephalopods
the eye is much more complex. On the outside we see the glassy
cornea or window of the eye, and close behind it lies the iris with
its circular or slit-like aperture of the pupil. The lens is large and
spherical and lies back of the iris, almost filling the cup-like cavity
of the eye which is elsewhere filled with a transparent fluid. The
retina lining the cavity of the eye is not turned inside out as in the
case of vertebrates, but receives the light directly. There are two
ear-like organs on the side of the head, which enable the animal
not only to hear, but also to maintain its equilibrium in the water.

The wonderful color changes of the Cephalopods have caused
them to be described as ‘“‘ chameleons of the sea.” Immediately un-
der the skin there are large numbers of little pigment cells with
muscular walls. When the walls contract each pigment cell is re-
or
~“

MOLLUSKS li

duced to a mere dot and is practically invisible, but when the walls
expand the cell enlarges to fully twenty-five times its former area,
and the sudden enlargement of thousands of these little pigment
cells, or chromatophores, as they are called, produces a flash of color.
There are several sets of these chromatophores, some rosin colored,
others yellow, blue-green or brown. Fach set may expand inde-
pendently or in combination with the others and thus a varied play
of color is produced.

In Cephalopods the sexes are separate, the male being often
much smaller than the female. In some forms, such as the paper
nautilus, one of the
arms of the male un-
dergoes a curious
transformation. It
develops within a
large sac which
bursts leavinga part
of the sides of the
sac still attached to
thearm. ‘The male
then places a packet
of spermatoza upon
the arm, and after

seizing the female

the arm breaks off. Fig. 114; THE CHAMBERED, OR PEARLY NAUTILUS.
From the Tropical Pacific.

 

and becomes at-
tached to her body within the mantle cavity, thus conveying the
spermatoza for the fertilization of the eggs. The eggs are usually
laid enclosed in gelatinous capsules and the development is direct
without any free swimming larval stage such as is characteristic of
other mollusks.

A good general account of Cephalopods is given by Professor
J. S. Kingsley in the “ Riverside Natural History,” Vol. I.

The Chambered Nautilus, (Nautilus pompilius, Fig. 114).
This most interesting creature is found in the western parts of the
tropical Pacific, and in the Indian Ocean. It lives upon the bottom,
and is not usually found in water less than 100 feet deep, being
most abundant at a depth of about 1000 feet. Contrary to popular
158 SEA-SHORE LIFE

belief it never swims at the surface. The chambers of the shell,
the construction of which we have already mentioned, are filled
with gas, this being a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen resemb-
ling ordinary air, but being richer in nitrogen. This gas prob-
ably serves to increase the buoyancy of the shell, so as to
enable the animal to move more rapidly. The animal itself is
confined to the outermost and largest chamber of the shell. ‘The
mouth is provided with a pair of parrot-like beaks composed of a
black, horny substance, coated on the outside with shelly matter.
There are about 90 tentacles around the mouth. These have poorly
developed suckers, and can be retracted each into its own special
sheath. The sheaths of two of these tentacles are fused into a
broad, flat plate called the hood, that serves to partially close the
aperture of the shell when the animal retracts. ‘This hood lies on
the back of the head, while on the lower side we find a tube made
of two side folds which overlap. This is the “siphon” or fun-
nel through which water is expelled, driving the animal back-
ward. In this manner it swims through the water near the bottom,
gliding along with the aperture of the shell turned upwards and
the tentacles held close together and trailing out horizontally. The
writer was informed by natives of the Paumotu Islands, however,
that the nautilus also crawls over the bottom, and often buries itself
beneath the sand.

In the Philippine Islands the nautilus is captured in traps
somewhat similar in construction to our lobster-pots, the bait used
being pieces of chicken or even dead dogs and cats. he animal
is eaten in these islands but is not highly esteemed, and a better
price is now obtained for the shell, which is used in China for the
manufacture of pearl buttons,

The tentacles and funnel-tube are opaque-white, while the
hood is speckled with brown and yellow spots. ‘There is a simple,
pit-like eye mounted on a short stalk on either side of the head, and
this is so placed that it can obtain a view of the surroundings even
when the creature is almost completely retracted, and the aperture
of the shell all but closed by the hood. The shell of the nautilus
is smooth and white and marked with bands of reddish-brown,
while the inner side of the aperture is marked with jet-black where
the mantle fold is applied to the shell. The partitions of the cham-
MOLLUSKS 159

bers and the whole interior of the shell are lined with pearly nacre,
having a lustre only slighty inferior to that of the pearl oyster.

The nautilus is one of the most interesting of living animals,
for it is the sole survivor of a once numerous race, great numbers
of which swam in the ocean during Silurian times. ‘The oldest
forms are apt to have straight shells, but later we find them for the
most part coiled, while during the last ages of their decline they
sometimes uncoiled to a greater or less degree, or assumed strange
contorted shapes. Some were five or six feet in length, and one
species must have weighed several tons.

Associated with the nautilus race was another great group
called the Ammonites in which the margins of the partitions separ-
ating the chambers of the shell were complexly folded. Their shells
were also highly ornamented with ridges and projections and the
siphuncle was small and did not usually pass through the centre
of the partitions, but ran through the edges close to the wall of the
shell. More than*5000 species of Ammonites and 2500 of the nau-
tilus race lived in these ancient times. The Ammonites died out
completely in the age of the chalk, while the nautilus race declined
slowly, until to-day we find its last representatives still living in
the depths of the tropical Pacific. Three or four species of Nauti-
lus are found in the tropical Pacific, the best known being Nautilus
pompilius.

THE SQUIDS, OR SEA-ARROWS.

Several species of squids occur along our coast. Their bodies
are spindle-shaped, tapering to a point behind, while the fin resem-
bles in outline an arrow or spear-head. The shell is degenerate,
and is reduced to a mere internal scale imbedded in the mantle and
called the “pen” in allusion to its shape. Ten arms surround the
mouth, Hight of these are triangular in cross section, and are each
furnished with two rows of suckers on their inner sides. The
fourth pair of arms are, however, much longer than the others,
and have suckers only upon their expanded tips where we find four
rows of these organs of adhesion. The eyes are large, have no lids,
and the pupil is a round opening.

Squids usually swim backward, being propelled in a series of
rapid darts by the water which is sucked in through the mantle-
160 SEA-SHORE LIFE

slit on the sides of the neck, and discharged through the siphon
which projects outward from the mantle-cavity under the head.
Occasionally, however, the siphon is turned backward, thus caus-

 

Fig. 115; BLUNT-TAILED SQUID. New Jersey Coast.

ing the animal to dart forward, but this method of progression
is rare in comparison with the backward darting. They can
also swim slowly forward when propelled by movements of the
fin. Squids feed upon small fishes, crustacea, and even the
young of their own species, and they are themselves devoured by
numerous fishes, the sperm whale and seals. In killing a small
fish they bite a piece out of the back of the neck. They capture
their prey by darting rapidly backward, swinging quickly to one
side and seizing the victim in their sucker-bearing arms.

Very commonly they become stranded in their backward dart-
ing flight, and then thrash helplessly upon the shore, forcing water
out through the siphon and ejecting their jet-black ink. The
shores of Maine are often strewn with squids that have perished in
this manner, this being especially noticeable after moonlight
nights. Indeed, the fishermen take advantage of the attraction
squids display for light by placing a beacon in the bow of their
boats and slowly rowing ashore, thus stranding the congregated
animals,

They often swim in schools, especially during spring and early
summer. During some years the water fairly teems with them,
and then again none will be seen for long periods of time. As they
dart through the ocean their color changes instantly to match their
MOLLUSKS ~— 161"

surroundings, while at times flushes of steely-blue,' purple, reddish
or yellow flash over the body as the creature swims.

These changes of color are produced by the contraction and
expansion of several sets of pigment cells beneath the skin. For
example,—when the reddish-brown set contracts, the brown color
is so reduced that it almost disappears, whereas the expansion of »
these pigment cells instantly tinges the whole surface.

Although these creatures are but rarely sold in market, their
flesh being little esteemed as food, more than 1,000,000 pounds of »
squids valued at about $14,500 are taken annually upon the Massa-
chusetts coast, to be used in the cod fishery, and about one-half of | i
the bait used upon the banks of Newfoundland consists of squids.

Squids lay their eggs upon weedy bottoms throughout the
summer, the eggs being contained in clusters of gelatinous finger- «
shaped capsules, each capsule holding a large number. These
clusters are often five or six inches in diameter and are known to
the fishermen as “‘sea-grapes.”

The Blunt-Tailed Squid, (Loligo pealii, Fig 115). This isthe «
common squid from the Carolinas to Cape Cod. North of this point :
it is rare, and it does not extend beyond Cape Ann, Massachusetts.:
It becomes about a foot in length, and is usually speckled with
rusty-brown or purplish color, although its color constantly changes
in intensity. The fin is large, obtusely rounded on the outer’™
edges, and about as broad as it is long. A closely allied pale:
translucent variety called Loligo pealit var. pallida is most abund-
ant in Long Island Sound.

The Short-Tailed Squid, (Ommastrephes illecebrosus). This is >
the common squid of the New England coast north of Cape Cod,
and is most extensively used as bait in the cod fishery. The fin is
one-third broader than it is long, and its outer edges form nearly a °
right angle.

The Giant Squid, (Arehiteuthis princeps, Fig. 116). This is the
largest living invertebrate, and the sudden appearance of its
writhing arms upon the ocean has probably given rise to stories of
the sea serpent. It has been seen but rarely, and then always
upon the Grand Banks or off the coast of Newfoundland.  Alto-
gether not more than thirty specimens have been found, and the
majority of these were badly damaged. The arms are as thick as a-..
162 SEA-SHORE LIFE

man’s leg and their suckers as large as tea-cups. One obtained
in 1877 had a body nine and a half feet long and seven feet in

 

Fig. 116; GIANT SQUID of the Newfoundland Banks. From a painting
by Herbert B. Judy.

girth, the arms being thirty feet long. It was exhibited at the old
New York Aquarium and afterwards in other places, but unfor-
MOLLUSKS 163

tunately it is now lost. The largest ever seen was stranded—while
yet alive—on the coast of Newfoundland, and was cut up for dog
meat by the fishermen who captured it. Its body was said to have
been twenty feet and the tentacles thirty-five feet in length. The
fabulous Kraken of the Norsemen was probably a giant squid. In
their old sea-tales we read of its devouring ships, and indeed it is
well established that large squids have at times attacked fisher-
men’s boats.

In every respect, excepting size, these monsters resemble the
little short-tailed squid of the New England coast. Nothing is
known of the habits of the giant squid, although it probably lives
in deep water off the Banks and only occasionally comes to the sur-
face at night. Powerful as these monsters are, they are greedily
devoured by the sperm whale.

The American Devil-Fish, (Octopus americanus, Fig. 113).
This creature is found upon the coral reefs of Florida and the
West Indies, where it lives within rocky crevices, the color of which
it exactly matches. Here it lies in wait for prey, and the floor and
entrance of its den are strewn with the broken shells of mollusks
and crustacea that have fallen victims to the Octopus. It also
glides ghost-like over the sands, resembling the glistening white
bottom so completely that it is all but invisible. This gliding
movement is accomplished by opening and closing the umbrella-
like web that forms a span between the bases of the arms. At every
such pulsation the creature shoots backward, trailing its eight long
arms, which extend straight outward. The creature can also accom-
plish the same movement, or aside motion, by expelling the water
from its siphon tube, which usually projects out to one side from
the edge of the mantle. If grasped the writhing arms, with their
double rows of suckers, instantly seize upon the tormentor, and the
sharp, parrot-like beak inflicts a painful wound. Ink is also ejected
from the siphon, and a wonderful play of colors pass over the body,
flashing steely blue, green, brilliant white, rusty red or dull brown.
When removed from the water the creature thrashes about in hide-
ous contortions for a few minutes and then dies utterly exhausted.
The eyes are frog-like and prominent, with a slit-shaped pupil, and
the skin around them can be drawn together from all sides, form-
ing a veritable eye-lid. The body is soft and rounded and there
164 SEA-SHORE LIFE

are no fins, and no trace of a shell in the adult. When full grown
the arms are each about two feet long. In the male the third arm
on the right hand side is curiously modified for sexual purposes,
and is cast off and adheres to the female during the breeding
season.

Another species of Octopus, (0. bairdii) is found in deep water
off the New England coast, but it is not often met with. A good
figure of it taken from Verill is given in the “ Riverside Natural
History,” Vol. I, p. 371.

The Paper Nautilus, (Argonauta, Fig. 117). Several closely
related species of Argonauta are found in the tropical parts of the
Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. Occasionally
the creature is drifted
northward upon the
Gulf Stream, and may
be cast up upon the
southern Long Island
coast. The female has
eight sucker-bearing
arms, which resemble
those of the Octopus,
excepting that the front
pair of arms end each

 

Fig. 117; PAPER NAUTILUS. From the Tropical Pacific. MN a large, flat expan-
sion. These expanded

parts secrete a delicate capsule which bears an accidental resem-
blance to a beautifully-sculptured shell, although it is not compar-
able with the shell of other mollusks. It is not attached to the body,
and may be even cast off, and serves merely to contain the eggs dur-
ing the breeding season. These eggs are laid in grape-like clusters
enclosed in delicate capsules. The six tapering arms may also be
thrust within the cavity of the capsule while the Argonaut swims
backward, being propelled by jets of water from the siphon.

During the breeding season the females are found swimming
at the surface, but at other times they appear to live in the depths.
Beautiful colors play over the creature as it swims about, and the
shell, while in the water, is very soft and flexible.
MOLLUSKS 165

The male Argonaut is only about one-tenth as large as the
female, being about one inch in length. Previous to the breeding
season the third arm on the left side is seen to be developing inside
of asac. Later this sac splits along on one side and turns inside out,
thus freeing the arm, which is then seen to be more than twice as
long as the ordinary arms of the animal, and to terminate in a long
pointed filament which was itself developed in a sack very much as
was the base of the arm. A numberof long filamentous tubes con-
taining spermatozoa are placed within the cavity of the sac at the
base of the arm. At the breeding time the entire arm is cast off,
enters the mantle cavity of the female, and adheres to her body.
The male Argonaut never develops a shell.

It is in the contemplation of creatures such as this that we
come to realize the hopelessness of any attempt to measure by our
puny standards the immensity of time that has elapsed since evo-
lution began to mold the manifold forms of life. How long may it
have been before such a remarkable contrivance as the shell-like
brood-pouch and such a curiously modified arm as that of the male
Argonaut could have been developed?

Altogether there is no more comprehensive picture of the
course of evolution than that furnished by the fossil shells of
Cephalopods. We see the straight-shelled Nautilus race that
swarmed in the ancient Silurian seas, when the whole western half
of New York State was submerged by an ocean continuous with
what is now the Pacific. Afterwards in Devonian times we find the
sculptured Ammonites appearing in a vast variety of forms. Then
the Nautilus race slowly faded away until to-day we find its last
lingering descendant living in the depths of the Pacific, while the
Ammonites, their shells coiling and uncoiling in writhing, snake-
like shapes, died out forever, while the Chalk cliffs of England were
yet beneath the sea.

Only the soft bodied squids and octopi which first appear in
Triassic seas, still survive in reduced numbers in the oceans of
to-day.
THE SEA-SQUIRTS,
Tunicates or Aseidians.

TTACHED to rocks, sea weeds or piles of wharves, one some-

times finds a globular or dome-like mass of tough, gelatinous
consistency, usually dull in color, and often covered with sand or
detritus. If the creature be touched it contracts, and a fine stream
of water is forced out of two openings that will be observed quite
close together near the highest point of the dome-like body This
habit has led to their being commonly designated as ‘‘sea-squirts.”
The older naturalists were inclined to believe that they were re-
lated to mollusks, but a study of their development showed con-
clusively that they are lowly organized and degenerate vertebrate-
like animals in which a flexible rod serves as a back-bone, although
it must be remembered that this rod is tough and gelatinous in con-
sistency—not bony. It is interesting to observe, however, that the
central part of the backbone of all vertebrates, from the lowest
fishes up to man, is at one time a flexible rod exactly similar in
origin and constitution to that of the tunicates. In higher forms,
however, this primitive rod becomes surrounded, and often
all but obliterated by a casing of cartilage or bone, thus greatly
increasing its efficiency as a support for the skeleton and muscles.

Bat to return to the tunicates; no one would have supposed
that these unattractive, almost shapeless creatures were primitive
vertebrates until their development was studied, and it was discov-
ered that the larva is free-swimming and resembles a tadpole in hav-
a large head and long, lash-like tail. Moreover, we find that
extending a short distance down the middle of the back immedi-
ately under the skin there is a nervous tube in every way compar-
able with the spinal cord of vertebrates, while parallel with, and
lying under this tube we find a flexible, rod-like structure that is
evidently similar to the central core of the back bone of all
vertebrates.

The head of the tunicate embryo is also interesting, for we
find on the dorsal side a single eye, and in front of this a primitive
TUNICATES 167

ear-like organ; and the remarkable fact is that the retina and lens
of the eye and the sensory part of the “ear” are derived from the
walls of the brain as is the case in vertebrates.

After swimming about for some time the tunicate tadpole usu-
ally settles down upon the bottom and fastens itself to a situation
from which it never departs. Under these conditions it finds
almost no need for sense organs or skeleton, and accordingly these
degenerate to such a degree that the eye disappears completely,
and the other structures are reduced to mere remnants.

But all tunicates do not thus settle down and degenerate, for
some of them remain active throughout life, swimming rapidly
through the water. One of these free forms called Appendicularia
remains tadpole-like in shape throughout its existence, having a
pair of gill-slits, one on each side, and a long powerful tail which is
provided with a fin, and arises from the middle of the ventral side
of the body.

Many tunicates are solitary animals while others produce
large colonies by budding, the older members of the colony giving
rise to the younger. In other forms such as Salpa, there is an alter-
nation of generations, one being produced from eggs and the fol-
lowing generation through budding.

A tunicate has been aptly compared to a leather bottle with
two spouts. The outer covering of the body is usually tough
in consistency and contains cellulose, the composition of which is
identical with the substance that forms the walls of plant cells.

A moment’s observation of the two funnel-shaped spouts will
show that water is constantly being drawn into one and forced out
from the other, and a further study shows that the water is drawn
in at the spout at the front end of the body, and passed out of the
opening upon the back of the animal. The intestine is U-shaped,
and the mouth is at the place where the water enters while the vent
is at the spout through which the water passes out.

The throat is a wide sac almost as long as the body itself, and
is pierced by so many little gill slits that its sides resemble a sieve.
The water enters the mouth, passes through these gill slits, and
finally out through the dorsal spout; the current being maintained
by the beating in unison of thousands of hair-like cilia which line
the gill slits.
“) 168 SEA-SHORE LIFE

The minute animal and vegetable organisms that are drawn
in with the water do not pass through the gill slits, but are caught
in the slime that lines the throat and passed around, entangled in a
cord of slime, into the stomach.

The heart is a spindle-shaped tube lying under and near the

. stomach. Curiously enough it pumps blood in one direction for a
few moments, then rests, and pumps in the opposite direction.
The blood corpuscles are
mainly colorless and con-
stantly change their shape re-
sembling amoebe. Some of
the blood corpuscles are, how-
ever, of definite shape and are
often deeply colored, being
reddish, indigo, brown or
even white. It has been found
that when bacteria or other
disease germs are introduced
into the blood system, the
colorless blood corpuscles
seize upon them, and attempt
to engulf them. Sometimes,
however, they do not succeed
but are themselves destroyed
in the attempt to digest the
bacteria, and then tle disease
conquers in the strife.

 

re oat pe The genital organs are
Fig. 118; CIONA INTESTINALIS. From Bs
Woods Holl, Mass. found close to the side of a

loop of the intestine, and their
duct opens at the dorsal spout. In common with many sedentary
and degenerate animals all tunicates are hermaphrodites, but the
same individual does not usually fertilize its own eggs.

The “brain” or principal ganglion of the Tunicate is situated
midway between the two spouts, and is simply the remnant of the
larval brain. It is, however, of so little importance that if it be
cut out the creature lives quite well, and is even capable of contract-

... ing in a.normal manner when touched. The “brainless” animal
TUNICATES 169

is, however, less sensitive, and its reactions are slower than in the
normal creature.

A good account of Tunicates, their development and relation-
ships, is given by Arthur Willey in ‘““Amphioxus and the Ancestry
of the Vertebrates,” 1894, and also by J. S. Kingsley in ‘“‘The River-
side Natural History,” Vol. III. Most valuable general treatises
upon the subject are also given by W. Herdman in “Report on the
Tunicata,” in the Reports of the Voyage of H. M. 8. “Challenger,”
Zoology, Vol. VI.; and by W. K. Brooks in “Salpa,” Memoirs Johns
Hopkins University Laboratory, 1893. A valuable summary for
higher students is given by W. A. Herdman in The Cambridge
Natural History, Vol. VII., pp. 33-138, Macmillan & Co., 1904.

Ciona intestinalis (Fig. 118). This large sea-squirt is found
upon our shores, and is also abundant in the Mediterranean and on
the coast of England. It is found upon the under sides of stones or
upon the shady sides of wharf piles immediately below low tide level.

It grows to be four inches long and the body is slender, and is
of the shape of an urn with two spouts, one at the narrow end and
one at a short distance below the terminal opening. The terminal
opening is at the forward end of the animal, and serves as a mouth
for the admission of water and food ; while the lower aperture arises
from the back of the creature and serves to carry off the water which
has passed through the numerous gill slits of the huge throat, and
to conduct away the waste products of the body.

The animal is dull yellowish or greenish in color, and the aper-
tures are bordered with brilliant greenish-yellow. The body is trans-
lucent, and there are from twelve to fourteen powerful strands of
longitudinal muscle fibres which appear as opaque glistening lines.
If the animal be disturbed these longitudinal muscles contract rap-
idly, so that the creature shrinks into ashape even broader than long.

In common with all tunicates this creature is hermaphroditic
but is practically incapable of fertilizing its own eggs. These are
discharged with clock-like regularity at one and one-half hours be-
fore sunrise by means of a series of violent contractions, and are
fertilized in the water by spermatozoa discharged from another
tunicate. The egg is covered with a membrane which rises into
papille, giving it the appearance of a chestnut bur made of glass
and with afew blunt spines. It develops into a little tadpole-shaped
170 SEA-SHORE LIFE

larva with large rounded head, and lash-like tail. The larva usually
breaks through the egg membrane and swims through the water,
avoiding the light. Soon, however, it settles down, and becomes
fast to the bottom by means of the adhesive slime of its body. Often
it becomes fastened by the tail, but occasionally by its head or some
other part of the body. The little creature then struggles vainly
to free itself for a time, but soon the tail becomes absorbed, the
nervous system degenerates and the animal becomes a Ciona, fixed
for life to one spot, and in its adult state no one would suppose
that it was in reality a vertebrate.

Molgula manhattensis, Fig. 119. This is found under stones,
etc., below low tide level from Maine to the Carolinas. The body
is about one inch in diameter, rounded
in outline and usually covered more or
less with particles of sand and detritus.
In color it is dull olive green. ‘Two
long tapering spouts project upward, the
uppermost being for the admission, and
the lower for the discharge of water
which passes through the gills. Alto-
gether the creature presents the appear-
ance of the water bottles made of skin,
such as are still used in the Orient, and

 

indeed the name ascidian signifies a

Fig. 119; MoLeuLA Mannat. little water skin. The eggs are laid

TENSIS. Woods Holl, Mass. a little before daybreak during the sum-

mer months, and the larvee develop in a

few hours into little tadpoles within the egg membrane, and finally

change into fixed tunicates without being set free from the egg
membrane.

This species may often be seen in the New York Aquarium,
where colonies of volunteer growth attach themselves to the rocky
linings of the tanks, and attain full growth in about six weeks.

The Star-Spangled Jelly, (Botryllus gouldii). This compound
ascidian ranges from New Jersey to Maine, and is very abundant
late in summer upon eel grass. It forms smooth, thick, gelatinous
expansions of various colors, such as gray-green, dul] yellow, brown,
purple, or spotted with white. The whole surface appears as if
TUNICATES 171

spangled with stars, outlined usually in brighter color than the
general surface of the jelly-like mass. Careful examination shows
that each “ star”’ is composed of a half dozen or more mouth open-
ings ranged around a central opening which serves as a common
vent. Water is drawn in through the mouth openings and dis-
charged through the vent together with waste products. The mi-
nute larve are tadpole-like in appearance and swim toward the light.
Finally they become fastened by means of their slime to some solid
object, and if in a situation suitable for growth they develop into a
gelatinous expansion composed of numerous aggregated ascidians
all derived by a process of budding from the original larva.

In common with Molqula, this species often colonizes in the
tanks of the New York Aquarium, the larvee being pumped in with
the sea-water from the harbor.
fieferences,

These references are, in so far as possible, to works in the English lan-
guage wherein one may find a more elaborate description than is possible in this
little book. They usually refer to the best published drawings, or figures, of the
several species. As a rule, the following references relate to species only. Refer-
ences to literature concerning families and orders will be found throughout the text.

JELLYFISHES AND HYDROIDS.

Portugese Man-of-War (Physalia arethusa)—-Agassiz, L., Contributions to Nat. Hist.
of the U. 8., Vol. IV, Pl. 35. Haeckel E., Siphonophore of the Challenger
Expedition, Challenger Reports, Zoology, Vol. XXVIII.

Porpita linnaeana—Agassiz, A., Memoirs Museum Comparative Zoology, Harvard,
Vol. VIII, No. 2.

Velella mutica—Agassiz, A., Memoirs Museum Comparative Zoology, Harvard,
Vol. VIII, No. 2.

Passion-Flower Hydroid (Thamnocnidia spectabilis)\—Agassiz, L., Contributions
to Nat. Hist. of the U.S., Vol. IV, Pl. 22.

Eel-Grass Hydroid (Pennaria tiarella)—Arnold, C. I*., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 124.
Hargitt, C. W., American Naturalist, Vol. XXXIV, p. 387, Pls. 1-4.

Sea Blubber (Cyanea arctica)—Agassiz, L., Contributions to Nat. Hist. of the U.8.,
Vol. III, Pl. 3, 5, 10,1860. Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-side Studies, p. 38.

Speckled Jellyfish (Dactylometra quinquecirra)—A gassiz and Mayer, Bull. Museum
Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol. XXXII, 1898.

Milky Disk (Aurelia flavidula)—Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-side Studies, p. 42.
Arnold, C. F*., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 137. Agassiz, L., Contributions to
Nat. Hist, of the U. 8., Vol. III, Pls. 6-11b, Vol. IV, pp. 10, 160.

Milky Cross (Staurophora Jaciniata)—Agassiz, L., Contributions to Nat. His. of
the U.S. Acalephz North America, Part 1, Pl. 7, 1849.

Thimble Jellyfish (Melicertum campanula)—Agassiz, E.C. and A., Sea-side Studies,
p. 63. Agassiz, A., North American Acalephe, p. 130.

Gonionemus murbachii—Murbach, L., Journal of Morphology, Vol. II, 1895. Yerkes
and Ayer, American Journal of Physiology, Vol. IX, p. 279. Perkins, H. F.,
Proceedings Academy Natural Science, Phila., Nov., 1902.

Sea-Plume Hydroid (Obelia, Eucope)—A gassiz, L., Contributions to Nut. Hist. of the
U.S., Vol. IV, Pl. 33. Brooks, W. K., Handbook of Invertebrate Zoology, p. 31.
REFERENCES 173

Rainbow Jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi)—Agassiz, A., North American Acalephae, p.
20, Figs. 22-24. Fewkes, J. W., Bull. Mus, Comparative Zoology, Harvard,
Vol. VIII, p. 173, 1881.

SEA ANEMONES AND CORALS.

Brown Anemone (Metridium marginatum) —Agassiz, E. 0. and A., Sea-side Studies,
p. 8. Parker, G. H., Bull. Museum Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol.
XXXV, 1899.

Sand Anemone (Halcampa producta)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of
Vineyard Sound, Pl. 38, Fig. 285.

_Orange-streaked Anemone (Sagartia luciee)—Parker, G. H., Amer. Naturalist, Vol.
XXXVI, p. 491, 1902. Also, Davenport, Gertrude C., Mark Anniversary
Volume, p. 137, 1903.

Atlantic Corals—Agassiz, L., Report on Florida Reefs, Memoirs Mus. Comparative
Zoology, Harvard, Vol. VIII, No. 1, 1880. Bermuda—Verrill, A. E., Trans-
actions Conn. Academy of Sciences, Vol. XI, pp. 65-206. Porto Rico—
Vaughan, T. W., Bull. U. 8. Fish Comm., Vol. XX, Part 2, pp. 291-320.

Coral Atolls: Atlantic and Pacific—Dana, J. D., Coral Islands. Coral Islands—
Semper, C., Animal Life, International Scientific Series, Vol. XXX, 1881,
p. 230. Agassiz, A., Bull. and Memoirs Museum Comparative Zoology, Har-
vard, Bahamas, Bermuda, Australia, Fiji, Tropical Pacific, Maldives. Gardi-
ner, J. 8., Geographical Journal, London, Vol. XIX, p. 277. Saville, Kent
W., The Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

Star Coral (Astrangia danae)—Agassiz, Sourel, Fewkes, Nat. Hist. Llustrations,
Smithsonian Institution, Publication 671, 1889.

Fleshy Coral (Aleyoneum carneum)—Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-side Studies, p. 20.

STARFISHES, SEA URCHINS AND SEA CUCUMBERS.

Common Starfish (Asterias forbesii and A. vulgaris)—Agassiz, A., Memoirs Mus.
Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol. V., No. 1, 1877. Mead, G. and A. D.,
Bull. U.S. Fish Comm., Vol. XIX, 1899.

Blood Star (Cribrella sanguinolenta)—Agassiz, A., North Am. Starfishes, Memoirs
Museum Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol. V, No. 1, 1877.

Giant Starfish (Pentaceros reticulatusi—Agassiz, A., North Am. Starfishes, Memoirs
Museum Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol. V, No. 1, 1877.

Brittle Starfish (Ophiopholis aculeata)—l.yman, T’., Catalogue Musewn Comparative
Zoology, Harvard, No. 1, p. 96, Pl. 1, 1865. Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-
side Studies, p. 115.

Basket Starfish (Astrophyton agassizii)—Agassiz, IE. C. and A., Sea-side Studies,
p. 117-120.

Sea Urchin, Purple (Arbacia punctulata)—Agassiz, A., Memoirs Mus. Comparative
Zoology, Harvard, Vol. III, Pl. 2, Fig. 4. Brooks, W. K., Handbook of In-
vertebrate Anatomy, pp. 102-131. Fewkes, J. W., Memoirs of Peabody
Academy, 1881, Vol. I, No.6. Loeb, J., Amer. Journal Physiology, Vol. IV,
p. 455, 1901.
174 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Sea Urchin, Green (Strongelocentrotus drobachiensis)—Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-
side Studies, p. 102.

Sea Cucumber, Brittle (Synapta inhaerens)—Clark, H. L., Bull. U. 8S. Fish Comm.,
Vol. XIV, 1899, pp. 21-31.

Sea Cucumber, Crimson (Cuvieria squamata)—Agassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-side
Studies, p. 98.

Sand Dollar (Echinarachnius parma)—A gassiz, E. C. and A., Sea-side Studies, p. 107.

WORMS.
Worm, Ribbon (Meckelia ingens)—Davenport, C. B. and G. C., Introduction to Zool-
ogy, p. 158.
Worm, Sea Mouse (Aphrodite aculeata)-—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide,
p. 175.

Worm, Clam (Nereis)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, pp. 176-177. Verrill
and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound, p. 317, Pl. 22. Wilson,
i. B., Annals N. Y. Academy of Sciences, Vol. XI, No. 1, pp. 1-27, 1898.

Worm, Opal (Lumbriconereis opalina)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of
Vineyard Sound, pp. 342, 594, Pl. 13.

Worm, Four-jawed (Euglycera americana)—Davenport, C.B. and G.C., Introduction
to Zoology, p. 146.

Worm, Fringed (Cirratulus grandis)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of
Vineyard Sound, Figs. 80, 81, Pl. 15.

Worm, Tufted (Amphitrite ornata)—Davenport, C. B. and G. C., Introduction to
Zoology, p. 149. Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 182. Mead, A.
D., American Journal of Morphology, Vol. XIII, 1897. Linville, H. R., Mark
Anniversary Volume, p. 225, 1903.

Worm, Blood-spot (Polycirrus eximius)—Davenport, C. B. and G. C., Introduction
to Zoology, p. 149. Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard
Sound, p. 616, Fig. 85, Pl. XVI.

Worm, Shell (Serpula dianthus)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vine-
yard Sound, pp. 322, 620.

Worm, Sea-tlower (Spirobranchus tricornis)—Ehlers, E., Memoirs Mus. Compara-
tive Zoology, Harvard, Vol. XV, 1887.

Worm, Acorn (Balanoglossus)—Lang, A., Text-book Comparative Anatomy, Part 2,
pp. 561-596. Agassiz, A., Memoirs Am. Academy Arts and Sciences, Vol.
IX, 1873. Bateson, W., Quarterly Journal Microscopical Science, 1884, ’85,
86. Morgan, T. H., Journal of Morphology, Vol. IX, 1894.

BRACHIOPODS.

Parchment Shell (‘Terebratulina septentrionalis)—Morse, E. 8., Memoirs Boston
Society of Natural History, Vol. II, 1871. Also, Vol. V, No. 8, 1902.

MOSS ANIMALS AND CORALLINES.

Lace-Coralline (Membranipora pilosa)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of
Vineyard Sound, Pl. 34, Figs. 262, 263.
~
oO

REFERENCES 1

Red Crust Coralline (Escharella variabilis)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Ani-
mals of Vineyard Sound, Pl. 33, Fig. 256.

CRUSTACEANS.

Barnacle, Whale (Coronula diadema)——Darwin, C., Monograph of the Cirripedia,
Pl 15,16, 1854. Kingsley, J. 8., Riverside Nat. Hist., Vol. II, p. 21.
Barnacle, Stalked, (Lepas coronula diadema )—Darwin, C., Monograph of the Cirri-
pedia, p. 78, Pl. 1. Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard
Sound, p. 285, Pl. 7, Fig. 34. Bigelow, M. A., Bull. Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Vol. XL., p. 59.

Crayfish (Cambarus)—Hagen, H., Memoirs Mus. of Com. Zoology, Harvard, Vol. I,
1871. Faxon, W., Memoirs Mus. Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Vol. IX,
1885. Goode, G. B., ete., U. S. Fish Comm., Fisheries and Fishery Indus-
tries U. S., 1884.

Prawn, Snapping (Alpheus)—Brooks and Herrick, Memoirs. Nat. Acad. Sciences,
Vol. V, 1891.

Prawn, Common (Palaemonetes vulgaris)--Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide,
p. 260.

Shrimp, Common (Crangon vulgaris)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 261.

Shrimp, Edible (Penzeus setiferus)—U. 8. Fish Comm., Fishery Industries U.S., Sec.
1, Pl. 273, 1884.

Shrimp, Coral (Stenopus hispidus)—Herrick, F. H., Memoirs Nat. Academy Sciences,
Vol. V, 1891.

Shrimp, Feather-footed (Mysis stenolepis)-—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide,
p. 257.

Crab, Hermit (Paguridae )-—Benedict, J. E., Bull. U.S. Fish Comm., Vol. XX,
Part 2, 1900.

Sand-Bug (Hippa talpoida)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 268.

Mantis Shrimp (Squilla empusa)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 288.

Sand Fleas, Talorchestia, ete—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 289.
Smallwood, Mabel, Cold Spring Harbor Monographs, p. 1, 1903. Published
by Marine Biological Laboratory, Brooklyn Inst. Arts and Sciences.

Wood Borer, or Gribble— Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 292.

Crab, Green (Carcinus maenas)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 274.

Crab, Lady (Platyonichus ocellatus)—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, 276,

Crab, Jonah (Cancer borealis)—U. 8. Fish Comm., Fishery Ind. of the U. S., Sec.
1, Pl. 260, 1884.

Crab, Oyster (Pinnotheres ostreum)-—U. 8. Fish Comm., Fishery Ind. of the U.S., Sec.
1, Pl. 269, 1884. Verrilland Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound,
p. 367, Pl. 1, Fig. 2.

Crab, Fiddler (Uca)—Smith, 8. I., Trans. Conn. Academy Arts and Sciences, Vol. IT,
Part 1, 1870.

Crab, Spider (Libinia)—U. 8. Fish Comm., Fishery Industries U. S., See. 1, Pl. 269.
Davenport, C. B. and G. C., Introduction to Zoology, p. 108.
176 SEA-SHORE LIFE

Crab, Horseshoe (Limulus)-—Arnold, A. F., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, p. 295, Pl. 64.
Packard, A. S., Memoirs Boston Society of Nat. Hist., 1880,

MOLLUSKS.

Clam, Littleneck (Venus mercenaria)—-Verrill & Smith, Invertebrate Animals of
Vineyard Sound, p. 65, Pl. 26, Fig. 184, 1874. Kellogg, J. L., Bull. New
York State Museum, No. 71, Sept., 1903.

Clam, Sandbar—(Siliqua costata)—Dall, W. H., Bull. U.S. National Museum, No.
37, Pl. 53, Fig. 3, 1889.

Clam, Bloody (Argina pexata)—Davenport, C. B. and G. C., Introduction to Zoology,
p. 184.

Ship Worm (Teredo)-—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound,
p. 90 (384), Pl. 26, Fig. 183.  Quatrefages, A. de, Annal Sci. Naturelles,
Tom XI, pp. 202-228, 1849. Hatschek, B., Arbeit Zoolog. Institut Univer-
sitat Wien, Bd. III, Heft 1, 1880.

Scallop (Pecten irradians)—Davenport, C. B., American Naturalist, Vol. XXXIV,
pp. 863-878, 1900. Also, Mark Anniversary Volume, 1903.

Scallop, Arctic (Pecten islandicus)—Gould and Binney, Invertebrates of Mass., p.
198, Fig. 495.

Snail, Sand-Collar (Lunatia)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard
Sound, p. 59 (353), Pl. 23, Figs. 130, 133, 136.

Snail, Salt Marsh (Melampus bidentatus)—Verrill and Smith, Invertebrate Animals
of Vineyard Sound, Pl. 25, Figs. 169, 169a.

Whelk (Fulgur)—Arnold, A. F’., Sea Beach at Ebb Tide, Pl. I.

Periwinkle (Littorina littorea)--Bumpus, H. C., Zoological Bulletin, Vol. I, 1898.
Bigelow and Rathbun, American Naturalist, March, 1903.

Nautilus—Griffin, L. E , Memoirs of National Academy U.S8., Vol. VIII, 1900. Dean,
Bashford, American Naturalist, Vol. XXXV, pp. 819-837.

Giant Squid (Architeuthis princeps)—Verrill, A. E., Am. Journal of Science, 1874,
p. 158; 1875, pp. 123, 177, 213; 1876, p. 236; 1877, p. 425. Also, Transac-
tions of Connecticut Academy of Sciences, Vol. V, 1878-82.

TUNICATES.

Sea-Squirt (Ciona intestinalis)—Castle, W. E., Bull. Mus. Comparative Zoology,
Harvard, Vol. XXVII, 1896. Willey A., Amphioxus and the Ancestry of the
Vertebrates, 1894.
Acanthopleura granulata, 114
Acorn-worm, 70
Bolis papillosa, 152
Agassiz, A., 31, 33
Agassiz, EH. C. and A., 23
Agassiz, L., 31, 47
Aleyonaria, 43
Aleyoneum carneum, 43
Alpheus heterochelis, 87
minus, 87
saulcyi, 86
Amphitrite ornata, 68
Ancula sulphurea, 152
Anemones, 40
Annelids, 63
Anomia glabra, 135
simplex, 134
Aphrodite aculeata, 65
Appendicularia, 167
Arbacia punctulata, 58
Architeuthis princeps, 161
Argina pexata, 127
Argonauta, 164
Armadillo slugs, 113
Arnold, Augusta F., 24, 80, 116
Ascidians, 166
Asterias forbesii, 17, 51, 52
vulgaris, 51
Astrangia dane, 42
Astrophyton agassizii, 57
Aurelia flavidula, 34

Balanoglossus kowalevskii, 70
Balanus balanoides, 81
hameri, 82
Barnacle, rock, 82
stalked, 82
whale, 82
Barnacles, 80
Basket star, 57
Benedict, James E., 102
Binney, W G., 116
Birgus latro, 93
Blastula, 22
Blood star, 54
Botryllus gouldii, 170
Brachiopods, 72

Gnoder.

 

Brachyura, 98

Brooks, W. K., 169
Bryozoa, 74

Buccinum undatum, 143
Bugula turrita, 75

Bumpus, Hermon C., 84, 85, 148

Callinectes sapidus, 99
Cambarus affinis, 88

bartonii, 88

blandingii, 88
Cancer borealis, 104

irroratus, 102
Carcinus mzenas, 100
Cardita borealis, 129
Cephalopoda, 152
Chalina oculata, 29
Chambered nautilus, 157
Chitonide, 113
Chrysodomus decemcostatus, 145
Ciona intestinalis, 169
Cirratulus grandis, 68
Clam, bloody, 127

cod, 129

giant, 121

hard. shelled, 125

hen, 123

little neck, 125

long, 124

nanninose, 124

quahaug, 125

razor, 125

round, 125

sand bar, 127

soft-shell, 124

surf, 123

swimming, 127
Clams, 116
Cliona sulphurea, 28
Condylactis passiflora, 46
Conklin, E. G., 151
Coral, eyed, 40

false, 76

fleshy, 42

precious, 44

star, 41

| Corallines, 74
178

Corals, 40
Coronula diadema, 82
Crab, blue, 99

edible, 99

fiddler, 106

ghost, 105

green, 100

gulf-weed, 101

horseshoe, 52, 110

Jonah, 104

lady, 101

mud, 102

orchid, 108

oyster, 104

robber, 93

rock, 78, 102

spider, 108

toad, 110
Crabs, 98
Crangon vulgaris, 89, 91
Cray-fishes, 87
Crepidula, 149

convexa, 151

fornicata, 150

plana, 151
Cribrella sanguinolenta, 54
Crustaceans, 77

relation to insects, 77
Ctenodiscus crispatus, 55
Cuvieria squamata, 61
Cyanea arctica, 33

Dactylometra quinquecirra, 34
Danais archippus, 19

Darwin, Charles, 24

Davenport, C. B. and G. C., 23
Davenport, Mrs. Gertrude C., 47
Decker shell, 149

Devil-fish, American, 163
Diadema setosum, 59
Discosoma nidita, 76

Echinarachnius parma, 60
Edwardsia leidyi, 39, 47
Eel-grass hydroid, 37
Ensis americana, 125
Epizoanthus americanus, 93
Escharella variabilis, 76
Euglycera americana, 68
Eupagurus bernhardus, 94
longicarpus, 94
pollicaris, 94
Evolution, law of, 21

Flat-worms, 62
Flukes, 62

INDEX

| Fulgur canaliculata, 141
| earica, 141
| perversa, 143
| Gasteropoda, 137

Gastrula, 23

Gecarcinus laterallis, 108

Gonionemus murbachii, 35

Goode, G. B., 24

Gould, A. A. and Binney, W. G., 116, 152
Grantia, ciliata, 29

Gribble, 97

Haeckel, Ernst, 31
Halcampa producta, 46
Hammatt, Mrs. M. L., 45
Hargitt, C. W., 31
Herdman, W., 169
Hermit crab, 92
Herrick. Francis H., 85
Hertwig, Richard, 23
Hippa talpoida, 94
Holothuria, 49
Homarus americanus, 83
Huxley, Thomas H., 88
Hyas coarctatus, 110
Hyat, Alpheus, 25
Hydroid, eel-grass, 37
passion-Hower, 37
Hydroids, 30

Instincts of animals, 19

Janthina fragilis, 149

Jellyfishes, 30
development of, 31
rain-bow, 39, 47
star-spangled, 170
speckled, 34
thimble, 35

Jingle shell, 134

Kingsley, J. 8., 23, 80, 157, 169
Korschelt and Heider, 23, 139
Kraken, the, 163

Lace coralline, 75
Lambe, Lawrence M., 25
Lamellibranchiata, 116
Lang, Arnold, 24, 120
Lepas anatifera, 83
fascicularis, 83
Libinia dubia, 109
emarginata, 109
Limnorea lignorum, 97
Limulus polyphemus, 110
Lithophagus, 131
Littorina littorea, 148
palliata, 149

Lobster, American, 83
spiny, 85

Loeb, Jaques, 20

Loligo pealit, 161

Lumbriconereis opalina, 67
tenuis, 67

Lunatia heros, 139

Macrocheira kiimpferi, 108
Mactra solidissima, 123
Marine Life, distribution of, 17
Marine Zoology, Textbooks of, 23
Mayer, A. G., 31
Mead, A. D., 53
Meckelia ingens, 64

rosea, 65
Megalops, 99
Melampus bidentatus, 148
Meleagrina margaritifera, 135
Melicertum campanula, 35
Membranipora pilosa, 75
Metridium marginatum, 17, 44
Microciona prolifera, 28
Milky cross, 35

disk, 34
Mnemiopsis leidyi, 39, 47
Modiola modiolus, 130

plicatula, 130
Molgula manhattensis, 170
Mollusks, 113

naked, 151
Morgan, C Lloyd, 20
Moss-animals, 74
Mussel, bearded, 130

edible, 129

fresh-water, 132

horse, 130

marine, 129

ribbed, 130

rock-boring, 131
Mussels, 116
Mya arenaria, 123
Mysis stenolepis, 92
Mytilus edulis, 129

Nagel and Parker, 19
Nassa obsoleta, 146
trivittata, 147
Nautilus, chambered, 154, 157
paper, 154, 164
pearly, 157
pompilius, 157

INDEX

 

179

Nereis limbata, 66
pelagica, 66
virens, 66

Neverita duplicata, 139

Nudibranchiata, 151

Obelia commissuralis, 38
Octopus, 152
Octopus americanus, 163
Octopus bairdii, 164
Ocypoda arenaria, 105
Ommastrephes illecebrosus, 161
Operculum, 135
Ophiopholis aculeata, 56
bellis, 57
Ophbiura brevispina, 56
Orbicella acropora, 40

| Orchestia agilis, 97

Osphradium, 138
Ostrea edulis, 121
virginica, 12]
Oyster, American, 121
European, 121
pearl, 135
Oyster-drill, 146
Oysters, 116

Paguridae. 92
Palaemonetes vulgaris, 90
Panopeus depressus, 102
herbstii, 102
Panulirus argus, 85
interruptus, 86

| Parchment shell, 73

Passion- Hower hydroid, 37

Pearls, 136

Pecten irradians, 133
islandicus, 134

Penzeus brazilensis, 91
setiferus, 91

Pennaria tiarella, 37

Pentaceros reticulatus, 55

Periwinkle, 148

| Phoxichilidium maxillare, 111

Physalia arethusa, 31

Pinna muricata, 131

Pinnotheres maculatum, 105
ostreum, 104

Planes minutus, 102

Platodes, 62

| Platyonichus ocellatus, 101

Prawn, common, 90
snapping, 86

Prawns, 88

Polycirrus eximius, 69

Polyzoa, 74
180

Porifera, 25

Porpita linneeana, 32
Portuguese Man-of-War, 31
Portunus sayi, 101
Purpura lapillus, 144
Pycnogonide, 111

Radula, 137

Rathbun, Mary J., 102
Red crust, 76
Rhodactinia davisii, 47

Sagartia leucolena, 10, 45
lucia, 47
Salpa, 167
Sand-bug, 94
Sand-dollar, 60
Sand-fleas, 96
Saville-Kent, W., 121
Seallop, Arctic, 134
common, 133
Sea-anemones, 40
brown, 44
cake, 48
crimson, 47
orange streaked, 47
parasitic, 47
passion-flower, 46
sand, 46
white-armed, 45
Sea-arrows, 159
Sea-blubber, 33
Sea cucumber brittle, 60
crimson, 64
red, 61
Sea cucumbers, 19
Sea fans, 44
Sea-flower, 70
Sea-mouse, 65
Sea-plume, 38
Sea-slugs, 151
Sea-spiders, 111
Sea-squirts, 165
Sea urchin, green, 52, 59)
purple, 58
stinging, 59
Sea urchins, 49
Serpula dianthus, 69
Shell, boat, 149
jingle, 134
parchment, 73
razor, 132
Ship-worm, 124
Shrimp, common, 89
coral, 91

INDEX

 

edible, O1
foather-footed, 92
mantis, 95
Shrimps, 88
Siliqua costata, 126
Siphon, 115
Slipper Jimpets, 149
Slugs, 137
Smith, HW, M., 28
Snail, flonting, 149
mud-flat, 146
rock, 144
salt-marsh, 148
sand-collar, 139
sand-flat, 147
sea-weed, 149
ten ribbed, 145
Snails, 137
Solenomya velum, 127
Spider crabs, LOS
Spirobranchus tricornis, 70
Spirula, 154
Spongia, apricina, 27
equina gossypina, 27
equina meandriformis, 27
graminea, 27
officinalis tubulifera, 27
Sponge, boring, 23
finger, 2)
plove, 26
grass, 27
red, 27
sheepswool, 27
sulphur, 2¢
urn, 29
velvet, 27
yellow, 27
Sponges, 25
commercial, 26
Squid, blunt-tailed, 161
short-tailed, 161
giant, 161
Squids, 152
Squilla empusa, 95
Starfish, blood, 54
brittle, 56
common, 50
giant, 9D
mud, 55
serpent, 56
Starfishes, 49
Staurophora laciniata, 35
Stebbing, Thomas R, R., 60
Stenopue hispidus, 91
Stoichactia belianthus, 48
Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis, 59
Suberites compacta, 29

 
Sycotypus canaliculatus, 141

Svllida, 63

Synapta inhwrens, 60
roseola, 61

Tadpole tunicate, 166
Talorchestia longicornis, 97
Tape worms, 62
Tealia crassicornis, 47
Terebratulina septentrionalis, 73
Teredo, 27

navalis, 129
Thamnoenidia spectabilis, 37
Trachydermon apiculata, 115
Tridacna gigas, 121
Trochophore, 120
Tunicates, 166

 

Uea minax, 107
pugilator, 107
pugnax, 107

Unios, 133

Urosalpinx cinerea, 146

Velella nvutica, 32

Venus mercen

Verrill, A.

  

125

 

 

24

Verrill, A. EK. and Smith, 8. 1, 24, 13:

Verrill, Miss 1. L., 47

INDEX 181

Oo

Wampum, purple, 125
Whelk, channelled, 142

english, 143

giant, 141]

knobbed, 141
Willey, Arthur, 169
Wilson, Edmund B., 23, 66, 112
Wilson, John, 130
Wood-borer, 97
Woodward and Tait, 120
Worm, acorn, 70

blood-spot, 69

clam, 65

flat, 62

four-jawed, 68

fringed, 68

opal, 67

palolo, 64

pink ribbon, 65

read thread, 67

tibbon, 64

shell, 69

tape, 62

tufted, 68
Worms, 62

Yerkes, Robert, 20

Zowa, 98
tees
=

 

Sept
Sete sora