NRLF B 3 3bl EMI .*?* LIBRARY LIFE ON THE SEASHORE, LIFE ON THE SE OR ANIMALS OF OUR COASTS AND BAYS, "With illustrations and descriptions. BY JAMES H. EMERTON, Author of Structure and Habits of Spiders. NATURALISTS' HANDY SERIES NO. 1. S. E. GASSING & CO., BOSTON, MASS. COPYRIGHT BY OEORGE A. BATES, 1880. PRINTED AT THE SALEM PRESS, cor. Liberty and Derby Sts., SALEM, MASS. PREFACE 345708 PKEFACE. IN this book I have tried to give such explanations of some of the common animals of the New England coast as have often been asked for at the shore and in museums by persons little acquainted with zoology, and to give such directions about collecting and observing them as have been found useful to students, who come to the shore for a short time in the summer to study animals that they before knew only from pictures. For more complete accounts of the same animals the reader is referred to larger works, such as Gould's Invertebrata of Massachu- setts, VerrilPs Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound, the Reports of the U. S. Fish Commission, and the special papers on particular groups of animals which are referred to in the general works just named. The common names of animals, like squids and lobsters, have been used as far as practicable, but for the majority of them the cus- PREFACE. ternary latinized names, by which they are known among naturalists have been given; and it is believed they will not be found more troublesome than the sea-peach, sea- corn, devil-fish, conger-eel, etc., which are used so in- discriminately by fishermen. Many of the figures have been drawn from nature for this book and the rest are copied from those which have appeared in the Reports of the U. S. Fish Commission, the Invertebrata of Massa- chusetts and other works; and I would here express my thanks to Prof. A. E. Verrill for the use of a large part of these figures and for other assistance, and also to Prof. S. I. Smith, Mr. A. Agassiz and the publishers of Tenney's Zoology. TABLE OF CONTENTS, TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES I SHORE ANIMALS . ... II 12-14 I4-l6 16, 17 18,19 10-22 X 23-29 29,3 31, 32 ANIMALS NEAR LOW-WATER MARK 33 Lobsters 33-3 6 Shrimps . 37 Crabs 3 8 ~44 Snails 45-49 Oysters . 49-5 1 Scollops S^S 2 Teredo 5^53 Worms 54,55 Ascidians ... 56-59 Starfishes ,,. 59-62 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Sea-eggs . Sand dollar Holothurians Sea-anemones Polyps Hydroids Sponges . Infusoria Acinetse PAGE 63^5 66 66 67-70 70-74 74, 75 75-77 77, 7* 79 SURFACE ANIMALS 81 Copepods ... ... 83 Crustacea 84-86 Worms 86-88 Cuttlefishes . . . . . . 89-94 Pteropods 94, 95 Snails 95, 96 Ascidians 96,97 Young starfishes and sea-eggs ... 97 Young Lophothuria ..... 98 Jelly-fishes 98-108 BOTTOM ANIMALS IO ^ Dredge-nets .... 109-111 Trawls . 112,113 Tangle .* . . . . . 113, u 4 Dredging . . . JI4 - I2O Clams ..... 121 Laminaria TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Polyzoa 124 Chitons ....... 125, 126 Red Crab . . . . . . . 127 Spirorbis . . . . . . 127 Sea-anemone . . . . . . 127 Crustacea ...... 128 Worms 121, 128-130 Snails . . . . . ; . 130 Holothurians . . . . ... 131 Ascidians . . . . . 131 Shrimps . . . . . . . 132 Amphipods . 132, 1 33 Snails . 122, 133, 134 Brachiopods . . . . ... 135 Polyimstia . 136 Polyps 136 Echinoderms . . . . . . 137 Index 141 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. PAGE 102. Acineta 78 160. Alcyonium carneum, compound polyp ...... 136 144. Amphitrite ornata 118 140. Anguius tener ....."..... 114 16. Anomia, under side of 19 in. Architeuthis princeps, squid 93 68. Ascidian, young . . . . . ... . . . 59 151. Ascidians covered with sand ........ 126 99. Ascortis fragilis, ciliated cells of 76 155. Astarte sulcata 130 78. Asterias, starfish - 65 93. Astrangia Danae, five polyps of 74 118. Aurelyi flavidula, common jelly-fish 99 119. " " first stage of ........ 99 106. Autolytus 87 1. Barnacle, young 12 ia. second stage of 12 2. " anatomy of i3 137. Boat dredging, diagram of ......... 113 132. Bolina aleta, jelly-fish . 107 157. Boltenia Bolteni, long-stalked ascidian ....... 133 149. Buccinum undatum, whelk 123 72. Bugula turrita, enlarged twice 60 74. " branch of 62 43. Callinectes hastatus, blue crab 42 40. Cancer irroratus, common crab ........ 37 47. Caprella geometrica ... 46 113. Cavolina tridentata 95 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Fir,. PAGE 100. Chalina oculata, sponge 77 28. Cistenides Gouldii, brightly-colored worm 25 95. Clava leptostyla, polyp .... 75 112. Clione papillonacea, pteropod 94 27. Clymenella torquata, common beach worm 25 103. Copepod . 83 159. Corymorpha pendula 35 96. Coryne mirabilis, jelly-fish, cluster of 76 96. " enlarged 76 125. " " with tentacles enlarged 104 39. Crangon vulgaris 36 14. Crepidula fornicata, limpet, under side of shell ..... 19 15. " plana, limpet, shell of 19 82. Cribrella, young 68 71. .Crisia eburnea 60 73. " " branch of ........ 61 141. Cyprina islandica ........... 115 58. Dendronotus atborescens, snail 52 105. Diastylis quadrisponosus, Cumacea .:.-.... 86 143. Diopatra cuprea ........... 117 60. Doris bifida, snail - . . . . 53 134. Dredge . . no 87. Echinarachnius parma, sand-dollar 70 84. Echinus, common sea-egg 69 87^. " young of 70 1 8. Ensatella Americana, razor clam 20 57. Eolis diversa, snail, young of 51 59. " pilata, snail 53 46. Eupagurus Bernhardus, hermit crab ....... 45 77. Flustrella hispida, young polyzoa 64 33. Gammarus ornatus, amphipod 27 36. Gelasimus pugilator, fiddler crab 31 37. Homarus Americanus, lobster 34 128. Hybocodon prolifer, jelly-fish 105 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG - PAGE 146. Hydractinia polyclina, female cluster I2 o 146. male " I2l 34. Idotoea irrorata, isopod .......... 29 133. Idyia roseola, jelly-fish ......... 107 55. Ilyanassa obsoleta, snail 50 120. Jelly-fish, early stage of 100 rar. " young, ready to swim away ....... 100 56. Lacuna vincta, brown-shelled snail ....... 50 3. Lapis fascicularis, floating barnacle . . . . . . . 13 30. Lepidonotus squamatus, scaly worm > . . 26 32. Leptoplana variabilis, planarian 27 88. Leptosynapta Girardii, holothurian, upper end of .... 71 89. plates and hooks from the skin of ... 71 45. Libinia canaliculata, spider crab 44 35. Limnoria lignorum, wood-bearing isopod .-.-. . . 30 48. Limulus polyphemus, horse-shoe crab ...... 46 31. Linens viridis, nemertine 26 10. Littorina litorea, periwinkle 17 12. " palliat-i ... 18 n. rudis 18 38. Lobsters, young 35 108. Loligo pallida, squid 89 no. pen of 92 109. Pealii, clusters of eggs of 91 161. Lophothuria Fabricii, echinoderm ........ 137 117. Lophothurian, young 98 50. Lunatia heros, snail , 48 Si- " " crawling 48 53- " " eggs of, on sand 49 52. " " teeth of 49 23. Macoma fusca, round clam ......... 23 21. Mactra solidissima, hen clam 22 154. Margarita obscura , 130 42. Megalops, young crab 39 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. PAGE 69. Membranipora pilosa, polyzoa, much enlarged 60 70. single animal expanded 61 75- young polyzoa 63 76. " swimming young, seen edgewise ... 63 90. Metridium marginatum, common sea-anemone 72 6. Modiola modiolus, mussel 16 5. plicatula, mussel 15 67. Molgula manhattensis, simple ascidian 59 17. Mya arenaria, common clam ......... 20 104. Mysis stenolepis ........... 85 4. Mytilus edulis, common mussel 14 24. Nereis virens, common bait worm, head and front segments of . 23 26. " " head of 24 25. section of 24 129. Nanomia cara, compound jelly-fish 105 123. Obelia, jelly-fish 10 2 124. commissuralis, branching hydroid . . ' . . . 103 83. Ophiopholis aculeata, starfish , 68 61. Oyster, young of 54 62 ' " " 55 63. " seen edgewise ......... 56 64- " 56 152. Pandalus annulicornis 127 42. Panopaeus depressus, mud crab 41 122. Peachia parasitica, sea-anemone ........ 101 65. Pecten irradians, scollop 57 150. Pentacta frondosa, holothurian 125 148. Phascolosoma cementarium, enlarged 122 130. Physalia arethusia, compound jelly-fish 106 44. Platyonichus ocellatus, lady crab . 43 131. Pleurobrachia rhododactyla, jelly-fish 107 29. Polycirrus eximius, mud worm, tentacles extended .... 25 7. Purpura lapillus, snail j6 egg cases of, 17 49. Pycnogonidae 47 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. PAGE 92. Sagartia leucolena, white-armed sea anemone ..... 73 116. Salpa Cabotti, ascidian . gj 115. " " with chain of young within 96 19. Saxicava arctica, clam 21 91. Sea anemone, section of ......... 73 85. Sea-egg, pedicellaria of 69 86. " porous plate of 69 97. Sertularia pumila 76 138. Sieve, for separating contents of dredge . . . . . . 113 22. Siliqua costata 22 114. Snail, veliger of ........... 96 81. Starfish, development of 67 79- s P' n e of 69 81. " young 66 156. Sternaspis fossor, worm ......... 132 136. Tangle 112 13. Tectura testudinalis, limpet, shell of 18 158. Terebratulina septentrionalis . . . 134 66. Teredo navalis, ship worm 58 94. Thammocnidia spectabilis 75 126. Tiaropsis diademata . . . . . . . . . . 104 127. Tima formosa 104 145. Trachydermon ruber .......... 120 135. Trawl in 54. Tritia trivittala, snail 50 142. Trophonia afiinis, front segments of 116 153. Unciola irrorata 129 9. Urosalpinx cinerea, snail 17 20. Venus mercenaria, quahaug 21 101. Vorticella, from hydroid stems 78 107. Worm, young ..>......* 139. Yoldia limatula ........... 114 41 . Zoea, young crab .......... 3^ ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES, ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES ONE of the most interesting things about the seashore to the visitor from inland parts of the country is the difference between its plants and animals, and those with which he is familiar on the land or in fresh-water ponds and rivers. The flowering plants, which cover with shrubs and weeds every part of the dry land where they can get a foothold, are rep- resented in the salt water by only one species, the eelgrass, which grows in immense quantities on sand or mud just below low water, and when the tide is out settles down into a thick mat through which a boat can hardly be pushed. In the summer the simple green flowers in a groove on the leaf- like stem float out on the surface at low tide, but are covered again when the water rises. Most of the marine plants be- long to another class, the "algae," some of which also grow in fresh water. To the algse belong the brown "rockweed" and "Irish moss" that grow in slippery bunches over the i (0 E ON THE SEASHORE. stones for some distance above low water, where they are left uncovered and partly dry for half the time, and the more delicate red and green seaweeds that live in deeper water. Between land and marine animals the difference is quite as great. On land no animals are more common and of a greater number of kinds than the insects, while in the sea only about a dozen species live in their young condition near the shore. On the other hand, the Crustacea, to which the lob- ster and crabs belong, are almost entirely marine, only the sow bugs, the crayfish and a few crabs living on land. Al- most all the worms, too, live in the sea, the leeches and awk- ward earthworms giving no idea of the variety and beauty of this class of animals. Of the polypes and jelly fishes only the little hydra lives in fresh water, and none on land. The echinoderms, to which the starfishes and sea eggs belong, are all marine. Tlie great number and variety of marine mol- lusks, compared with those of the land and fresh water, are well known by their shells, which form a large part of every natural history collection. The readfest places to look for marine animals are along beaches near high water mark, among the sand and rubbish thrown up by the waves, but a large part of the objects found here are liable to be broken or worn by the water and to have the softer parts decayed. Just aft?r a storm, how- ever, a great deal may be found here, for animals which live usually below low tide are often loosened and thrown up fresh on the shore. Other objects of interest may be found among the roots of seaweeds which are often thrown up at such times in large quantities. If, however, one wants to see the animals of the shore to advantage, he must look ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES. 3 farther down the beach where they are alive and in their natural condition. Everything here depends on the tides, for unless "this is low very little can be reached. The almanac should be consulted beforehand, and, if possible, a time se- lected about the new or full moon, when the tides rise high- est and also run out lowest. For collecting along the shore but little apparatus is needed ; a few bottles with wide mouths in a basket or pail in which they will stand up, a trowel or strong knife for digging and prying, and a pair of small forceps, such as are made for dentists and jewellers, are the most useful things on a rocky shore or about Wharves and bridges. Where there are pools of water left by the tide or wherever collecting can be done from a boat a dip net is wanted, and on sandy or muddy shores, a spade and sieve. A fish net is not fine enough for a naturalist's use, but one made of some kind of open cloth must be carried. The linen cloth sold for milk strainers, embroidery canvas, or thin towel linen, are good materials for the purpose. The net hoop should be of brass, as iron, even if tinned or cov- ered with zinc, sooner or later becomes rusty and spoils the net. It is best to have the bottom of the net round so that there shall be no corners to catch dirt. Some collectors have long handles to their nets, so as to be able to reach objects at a distance or in deeper water, but for most pur- poses a stick three or feet long is sufficient, and can be carried and handled much more easily than a longer one. In whatever place one goes about the salt water he is sure to get dirty, and should not wear anything that is intended to be worn in town afterward. Salt water spoils thin shoes, 4 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. and if the water is too cold or the shore too rough for bare feet, rubber boots or still better stout leather ones are com- fortable. The best places to find a large variety of marine animals in a short time are rocky shores, or the posts of wharves and bridges where these are in deep and tolerably clear water. In such places one can work from a small boat tied to the posts or held by a boat hook, and have his pails and bottles within convenient reach ^without the trouble of carrying them about with him. If two persons can go together and one manage the boat while the other hunts, so much the better, but do not try collecting with a boat full of people if you can help it. After picking up enough of the starfishes, barnacles and other things that are in plain sight, gather a few bunches of mussels and hydroids to look over at leisure and pick out the smaller animals among them ; but do not take more than a handful or two, or delay examining them, for most of the animals will die in a few hours if left crowded together in a bucket, and so foul the water as to kill the whole of them. Of the larger specimens only as many should be taken as can be provided with clear water and swimming room in the bottles at hand, and if the weather is warm or the excursion extends over several hours, the water should be frequently changed. On a rocky shore, the best place to look is under stones, the farther down the beach the better, and here again it is an advantage for two persons to work together and so be able to manage larger stones. A small iron bar is a help in many cases to start up stones that have settled tightly to- gether so that they can be turned over. A little practice ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES. 5 will show which stones are most likely to have something under them and they are usually those of moderate size and not too deeply settled into the sand. If the shore is flat and smooth, many things can be found by wading just below low water and picking up with a dip net the crabs, mollusks, etc., that have been driven down by the receding tide. Where there are not too many rocks or patches of grass, a great many little fishes and shrimps can be caught by a fine seine which two persons carry out as far as they can wade and then draw as rapidly as possible up the beach. But the greater part of the inhabitants of sandy and muddy shores live under ground and can best be found by digging. Some species show where they are buried by a hole at the surface, or by a pile of sand coiled up like that near the hole of an earth worm, and others build tubes which extend a short distance above the sand. These tubes or holes extend far down into the sand, and the occupants are most of them ready to retreat downward at tli2 least alarm ; so that they must be dug quickly by one stroke of a long spade so as to cut off their retreat or their tails before they know what the matter is. A large part of the under- ground worms, however, show no signs of their presence on the surface and the sand must be dug up here and there until a good place is found. The larger clams and worms can be picked out easily enough, but there are many smaller ones so covered with dirt that they are likely to be missed ; and to find these it is a good plan to put the mud into a sieve and shake it up and down in the nearest water, until the greater part of it is washed through, leaving a small amount of gravel, shells and worm tubes that can be easily 6 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. picked over. A sieve will also be found useful for examining the mud and sand dredged in deeper water as described further on. After bringing in the spoils of a collecting excursion, they need first of all to be sorted and put into larger vessels with clear water in which they will perhaps expand and show themselves. Dead or sick specimens should be removed and thrown away or put in alcohol for future study. Sea- weeds and hydroids which have been brought ashore should then be floated out in pans of water and carefully searched for worms and mollusks that may live among them ; and after looking them over once they should be left standing a few hours when other specimens will probably come into view. The next morning when the water has begun to foul, still other animals will be found loose about the dishes having found their tubes and holes uncomfortable during the night. The animals which are to be kept alive several days for observation should be put in a shady and cool place and the water changed often enough to keep it cool and clean ; and when the change is made the slime should be washed off the dishes and any other dirt picked out. It is best not to try to feed them, it makes the water impure and they get along well enough without it, living on what they ate before being caught or may pick up in the water around them. A large aquarium can be kept in operation all the year without changing the water if a sufficient number of plants can be made to grow in it and the animals be not too numerous. For this purpose the green seaweeds are best and should be put in the tank long before it is to be used for animals. Small bright looking plants attached to stones are the best, ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES. 7 and the new growth that attaches itself to the sides of the aquarium should be allowed to grow as far as it can without concealing its contents. As the plants become established, the dirt in the water decays rapidly and it becomes clearer and clearer, and then such animals as are found to be hardy may be put in, a few at a time. The aquarium should be in a cool place and be kept carefully clean, dead plants or animals and dirt of every kind being removed as soon as noticed. An aquarium can be kept in healthy condition for . a long time without the use of plants, if the water is aerated by stirring or pouring out and in again several times a day. As soon as a tide's collecting is looked over the need of a magnifying glass will be felt. One magnifying five or six times can be bought at any instrument dealer's, and will be very useful and all that is needed if one has little time to spare ; but a good microscope with compound glasses and stage and other conveniences will open to view a set of small objects that without it have to be passed by altogether. For use at the seashore a small and simple microscope is the best. A short one that can be used upright without strain- ing the neck or using a high stool is more convenient than a long instrument even if the latter has some optical advan- tages. If an expensive instrument can be had let the money be put into the glasses rather than complicated stands and stage arrangements. Great care must be taken to keep the microscope clean, salt water should be wiped up as soon as spilled and when rust shows itself, as it surely will in the damp atmosphere of the seaside, it should be rubbed off with oil without the use of polishing powder of any kind as that would remove the lacker and make matters worse. 8 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Knives and forceps and all kinds of metal tools should be washed in fresh water and dried as often as possible, and occasionally oiled and nibbed with emery or some softer powder if it will answer the . purpose. The glasses of the microscope ought never to be touched with the fingers, or dirty cloth or paper. If they need wiping, as they occasion- ally will, do it with a clean handkerchief or a piece of washleather that is kept shut up out of the dust. When examining objects under the microscope use the lowest magnifying power that will show what is wanted. Living animals can be examined in watch glasses, which are the most convenient small dishes for many purposes. They are, however, unsteady on account of their rounded shape ; and, unless the microscope has a movable stage, should always be placed on a strip of glass on which they can be slid about on the stage with less danger of spilling their contents. In examining animals in a watch glass or any open vessel another difficulty arises, owing to their constant motion, and it is usually better, and with high magnifying powers neces- sary, to put them between two pieces of glass with enough water to fill up the space between the glasses around them and make the whole appear clear. For this purpose a strip of thin plate or ordinary window glass of the customary size of one inch by three may be used with a smaller piece of very thin glass, such as is made specially for this use, laid over it. The glasses, especially the thin cover, should be wiped clean and not touched with the fingers except at the edges. The object should be placed as near the middle of the larger glass as possible, with a drop of water and the thin glass laid over it. If the object is thick or so soft as ANIMALS BETWEEN TIDES. 9 to be in danger of being crushed by the weight of the covering-glass, the cover may be propped up by bits of paper or wax so as to be level and just touch the object lightly. Care must be taken that no water gets on the top of the cover, and if it does the cover should be taken off and wiped or the water removed by soaking it up with a brush or a piece of paper or cloth. The best way to pick up small floating animals is by a glass tube which is kept closed by the finger on the upper end until the lower end is close to the object, when the finger is removed and a sudden current of water runs up the tube carrying the specimen with it. For still smaller things and for taking up small quantities of water or other liquids, a common medicine dropper with a rubber bulb on one end is better. For preserving small animals the most useful fluid is alcohol, such as is bought for burning and cleaning pur- poses. It is better for most objects to be put first into weak alcohol and after a day or two into stronger, as by this means they contract more gradually and evenly than if put into strong alcohol at once. It is often necessary to change the alcohol again after a few days, as the water which the specimen contains gradually dilutes the alcohol until it is too weak to prevent decay. Starfishes or crabs that are to be dried do better if kept a short time in alcohol beforehand so that the muscles may become hardened and dry without decaying. SHORE ANIMALS, SHORE ANIMALS. THE strip of shore left uncovered twice a day by the changes of the tide is the home of a large number of animals some of which prefer to be thus exposed to the air part of the time. Almost up to the limits of high water live the barnacles with white conical shells attached firmly to the stones and posts. Although they have shells the barnacles do not belong with the snails, but with the crabs, and in their young days swim about free in the water as many other young crabs do. Fig. i is a young barnacle such as may be caught in the spring swimming about at the surface of the sea. It has a three cornered shell, a single eye and three pairs of limbs. As they get older their shape changes to that of Fig. i a and they become flattened side wise and have a bivalve shell. They now have six pairs of swimming feet which extend beyond the edges of the shell and enable the young barnacle to swim rapidly through the water; at this stage ii 12 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. the antennae become much larger and the animal uses them to hold itself to any stationary object upon which it may rest. This habit at length leads the barnacle to settle down Fig. i. Young Barnacle enlarged fifty times. for life, for the antennae become attached to the object to which they hold and the animal finds itself fastened down by the head, Fig. 2. From the antennae grows the flat base by which the barnacle is attached, or in some species a long stem as in the float- Fig. ia. Young Barnacle in the second stage ^ n & bamacle, Fig. 3. ready to attach itself, enlarged twenty times. [From Darwin.] For some time after at- tachment the shape of the young barnacle remains to all outside appearances the same, but when it next moults it BARNACLES. appears with a shell of a very different kind. It has two valves as before which now open upward, but below and around these are six smaller pieces that spread out to the stone on which it is fastened. They are at first soft like the old bivalve shell but soon become stiffer through deposits of lime. As the animal PTOWS, the Shell in- Fig. 2. Barnacle with the shell of one side removed to show the softer parts. Above are the fringed rrft-Tcuc. in CWA Kir i(\ appendages below which in the middle of the ani- creases in size by ad- m ^ is t e mouth Under the middle of the base 3 . . , , j of the barnacle are the remains of the antennae by dltlOnS tO the edges which it attached itself. [From Darwin.] of each piece ; but the pieces around the sides grow faster than the movable valves and increase the height of the barnacle faster than its width. The skin of the softer parts of the body is moulted from time to time and these floating skins are among the most common objects found at the surface and are easily mistaken for jelly-fishes. After the barnacle is fastened down by the head the appen- dages with which it used to Fig. 3. swim become useful to keep up a current of water through the shell and wash in the smaller animals on which the barnacle lives. Each appen- 14 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE dage is divided into two branches covered with fine hairs and they form all together a fan-shaped organ, which is thrust out of the shell to its full extent and then closed downward with a grasping motion toward the body. It is then moved back between the valves, thrust out again, and the motion repeated for hours together. While the tide is out the barnacles close their shells and in this position can live through several hours of the hottest weather without becoming dried but as soon as the water rises high enough to cover them, they one by one put out their scoops until the whole surface of the rock or post seems to be in motion. If some of them can be detached without breaking and put in a dish of water they will soon put out their Fig. 4--The Common Mussel, Mytilus cdulis, SCOOpS and gO through with the shell closed. . . , their graceful motions as well as on their native grounds. Almost as far up as the barnacles and down much lower, the posts of wharves and bridges are often black with mussels, Fig. 4, of all sizes, hanging together in clusters and furnish- ing hiding places for a great variety of worms and mollusks. If a mussel be detached and put in a glass of water it soon shows how it fastens itself down. It reaches out from the shell a soft organ called the "foot" with which it creeps slowly about, but as soon as it gets into a comfortable place it presses the end of the foot against the dish and secretes in a groove on one side of it a tough thread, with one end fastened to the dish and the other to the body of the mus- MUSSELS. 15 sel inside the shell. When the foot is withdrawn the thread remains and holds the mussel fast. Thread after thread is formed in this way until the mussel is fastened firmly enough to stand the hardest storms. When first hatched they swim about by means of cilia and later crawl by means of the foot, and even after they are firmly anchored are said to be able to let go and crawl about till they find a more suitable place. While the tide is out the mussels close their shells tightly and so keep themselves moist till it rises again, when they open a little and allow the water to pass in and out Fig. 5. Modiola plicatula. through two fringed openings passing over the gills and carrying the food to the mouth. They open readily in confinement and the water may be seen passing in and out. The mussel does not live exclusively between tides, but grows larger farther down and often completely covers sand bars and shallow coves where there are stones enough for it to attach itself. It is also found attached to the roots of large seaweeds and specimens of a large size are often dredged in deep water. In this country the mussel is seldom eaten, per- haps on account of the abundance of oysters and clams which are generally preferred as articles of food ; but in i6 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Europe the same species is extensively eaten and is even cultivated for food. The American mussels are equally as good and if clams -and oysters should ever become scarce would make a good substitute for them. Fig. 6. Modiola modiolus. There is another mussel, Modiola plicatula, Fig. 5, with a fluted shell that lives along muddy shores nearly up to high water mark, and a larger species Modiola modiolus, Fig. 6, with a reddish body, which lives in deeper water and is usually found attached to the roots of the " devil's apron" thrown up by storms. Several species of snails prefer to be out of water part of the time and if kept in an aqua- Fig. -j.-Purpura la > foil over on the outside where they will lie for several days without water apparently uninjured. One of the com- monest of these is Purpura lapillus, a whitish shell, Fig. 7, that lives among the barnacles on which it feeds and there SNAILS. 1 7 lays its eggs in oval capsules half an inch long, Fig. 8, fas- tened by one end to the stones. The shells of this snail are very variable in size and shape ; some having a long spire and others a very short one, as shown in the figure. This is a northern species not found farther south than Long Island Sound. A larger gray shell, Urosalpinx cinerea, Fig. 9, lives in the same situations Fi g _ farther south, but north of Cape Cod is only i , r i . , , 1-1 case contans occasionally found in warm bays or brackish several eggs. rivers. It lives on other mollusks and is very destructive to oysters, drilling through the shell and sucking out the contents. The apparatus by which this boring is effected is described farther on in the account of a larger snail of similar habits, Lu- natia heros. There are several snails of the genus Littorina which are very abundant between tides espe- cially on the rockweed. The largest species, Fig. 9. Urosal- pinx dnerea. Littorina litorect, Fig. 10, has been introduced, or at any rate has spread southward, within comparatively few years. It is common in England, where it is known as the " periwinkle" and is eaten in large quan- tities. It was first noticed on the American coast at Halifax and has gradually spread southward and increased in abundance as far as Long Island Sound. It is not mentioned in the "Invertebrate of Vineyard Sound," pub- Fi s- 10. P kle. Littorina lished in 1874, but has since been found at New Bedford, Mass., Watch Hill, R. I., and Stonington, Conn. The smaller species, Littorina rudis and palliata, i8 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Figs, ii and 12, are very common on the rockweed and their empty shells are mixed with sand up to high water mark, forming a large proportion of the water-worn shells which are gathered by patient summer visitors for the manu- facture of ghastly picture frames and other ornaments. All these species are worth eating, either raw or, better, slightly boiled. On stones well down the shore, there is often found the "limpet," Fig. n.^Lv/o- Fig. I*.LH- rina rudis. toriuapal- rig. 13, a snail with a flat oval shell Uata. which it can draw down so close against the stones that it can hardly be pried off. The best way to see this snail to advantage is to keep it in a glass dish, through which the under side can be examined as it expands and creeps about. Another species, almost as flat but with a short spiral at one end, is some- times found near low water attached to stones or to other shells. This is Cre- pidula fornicata, Fig. 14. It some- times remains so long in one place that Fig. 13. Shell of Limpet, tne e( }ge Q f j ts shell becomes J ectnra tcstiiainalis t inside and profii irregular to fit the surface of the stone under it, but is said to leave its roost and wander about for food returning again to the same position. A still flatter species, Crepidula plana, Fig. 15, fastens itself often to other shells and is found inside those of dead snails with its own shell bent to fit the curve under it. LIMPETS. There is another small flat shell, often found attached to the under side of stones, that is white and shining as though silvered. This is not the shell of a snail but of a bivalve, Anomia, Fig. 16, like an oyster attached by a stem on the under side. The under valve is very thin and flat and has near the hinge a hole which surrounds the stem. Many animals that live underground prefer this region between tides. The Fig. 14. ShdTof dnla fornicata, under common clam is found here, buried deep side. in sand or mud into which it burrows by the help of the foot, the same organ by which the mussel makes its threads. The foot of the clam is flat, and is pressed down into the mud and then ex- panded at Fig. ,7^Sheii of the end and Crepidu la plana . drawn down toward it. The edges of the openings through which the water runs in and out are in the clam extended into a long double tube, commonly Called the head, Which ex- Fig. ^.-Anomia, under side, showing the hole where the shell has grown round the tends up to the surface of stem. the sand and carries down water and food. Fig. 1 7 is a dia- gram of the inside of a clam, buried in the mud in its natural position, with the large end of the shell downward and the 20 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. tubes extended upward above the surface of the mud. The mouth of the clam is down- ward. The water runs in through the tube at the right, passes over the gills G, and by the mouth M, where the food of the clam is taken from it, and out again through the other tube. The razor clam, Fig. 1 8, lives buried in the same way in cleaner sand. It has a very strong foot and can burrow as fast as a man can dig. It can be found like the common clam by its hole, and must be dug by one quick stroke of the spade or it is sure to be lost. There is a little clam, Sax- icava, Fig. 19, whose shell looks somewhat like that of Fig. 17. Diagram of the anatomy of the . common clam. The arrows show the the Common Clam, DUt it llVCS direction of the currents of water throu- h the tubes, ^the foot contracted ; G, un der and among stones and gills; M, mouth; P, palpi at the sides of the mouth ; A N, PO, muscles which O i_,_ . O l, iro , ro AaCf^-rmoA Ktr close the shell. [After Morse.] is almost always deformed by crowding between them ; its tubes are colored red and are not united at the ends. Fig. 18. Razor Clam. [After Verrill.] CLAMS. 21 The common round clam, or quahaug, Fig. 20, lives farther down the shore where it is usually covered with water, and is able to move about on the surface, or partly buried, by its large and strong foot. It is most abundant in warm and Fig. I0 . -Saxicava arc- muddy bays, where it buries itself though not so deeply as the Jlfya, for its tubes, through which water passes in and out, are much shorter. This clam is used ex- tensively for food, and south of Long Island Sound becomes the common clam of the markets replac- ing the more northern Mya. Farther north it is comparatively rare, but occurs in warm and sheltered places as far as the Gulf of St. Law- rence. The "hen- clam " MdCtfd SoUdissima, Fig. 21, is a larger and more active species, living below low tide - 20 - "Quahaug," Venus ntercenaria, with the foot and tubes extended, and the edges of the mantle showing beyond the shell. [After Verrill.] 22 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. along sandy beaches and often thrown up in stormy weather, as it does not burrow very deeply, though it has a large and strong foot. A delicate purple and white shell Siliqua costata, Fig. 22, is often found dead on sandy beaches, though its home is farther down below low tide. On muddy shores, even in Fig. 22. Siliqua. the dirty mud about docks and wharves lives a little round clam, Macoma fusca, Fig. WORMS. 23. Its shell varies much in color and texture, ben ; thin and white where the mud is sandy and clean, and rough and almost black on dirty flats. On sandy and muddy shores there live also, buried, many species of worms. The common bait worm, Nereis virens, Fig. 24, is one of the most familiar ones and is a good example of its class. The body consists of a great number of seg- ments, on each of which is a pair of complicated appendages, Fig. 25, con- Fig. ^.-Macomafusca. si s tins of thin paddles which serve for swimming and also as gills, and of bunches of bristles of various shapes. At the head are several pairs of appendages of dif- ferent kinds and two pairs of eyes. There are also long appendages on the tail. These worms have a pair of strong jaws which are usually drawn inside the mouth, but when in use they are pro- truded, as in Fig. 26, and can then give a strong bite. These worms live usually under ground in holes which . r ig. 24. Head and front segments of Ne- are smoothed and hardened rft * re " s - by the slime from their bodies ; but they come out at times, especially at night and in the breeding season, and swim about at the surface of the water. LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Another very common beach worm, Clymendla torquata, Fig. 2 7, makes a tube of sand stuck together pretty strongly ; Fig. 25. Section across one segment of Nereis -virens, to show the appendages at the sides. It also shows the blood vessels running through them. [From Turnbull.] and, if some ftiud is washed in a sieve till the finer part is washed through, great numbers of the tubes of this and other worms will be found among the stones and shells that are left. Among these will often be found some very neatly made tubes larger at one end than the other. These are made by a brightly colored worm, Cistenides Gouldii, Fig. 28, which may sometimes be found in them, with only two large clusters of bristles visible in the larger end. A large part of the tubes dug at any time, however, prove to be empty. In digging worms in mud, there Fig. 26. Head of Nereis vf- rens, with laws extended. [From Tumbuii.] is often found one that looks, when contracted, like a drop of blood ; but if it is cleared of dirt and placed in clean WORMS. 25 water, it soon begins to extend its tentacles running them Fig. 27. Clymenella torquata, removed from its tube. out like so many separate worms in alt directions, Fig. 29. With these tentacles it gathers in dirt to cover itself and -i Fig. 28. Ctstenides Gortldii, removed from its tube. will sweep the bottom of the dish clean. Under stones on the beach and among roots of seaweed Fig. 29. Polycirrus eximius, with its tentacles extended. are generally found some short flat worms that resemble 26 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. centipedes at first sight. This resemblance is not so great if the under side is examined, for here the short seg- ments and large number of paddles and bristles can be more distinctly seen. The back is disguised by flat scales attached to some of the segments and lying over one another, so as to cover the whole animal. The shape of the ap- pendages on the sides and head can best be seen by remov- ing some of these scales, as has been done in the worm, Lepidono- tus squa- Fig. 30. A Scaly Worm, Lepi- mafUS, an donatus sqnamatus. Three scales have been removed from jllug tra- the left side to show the appen- t i o n of which is shown in Fig. 30. Under the same stones will often be found worms of another Fig.. ANemertB,^U ndis. The two small kind, Nemertines, Fig. 31, without segments or side appendages. They are olive -green or dull reddish-brown, and lie together in clusters stuck to the under sides of the stones. They CC * v - figures WORMS. 2 7 are often twisted into the most irregular shapes and crawl by swelling out certain parts of the body and drawing toward them the parts behind. These worms have a peculiar organ, the proboscis, which is thrust out when they are injured, or from any cause contract suddenly. Another Nemertine, Cerebratulus ingens, lives buried in the mud and is occasionally turned out in digging clams and worms. It is white and has been found as much as fifteen feet long and an inch broad. The proboscis is proportion- ally long and looks like another worm of a smaller kind. Under the same stones occurs one of the flat worms, Planarians, half as broad as long, with two clusters of eyes at the forward end which are about all that distinguish one end from the other. These worms lie so close to the stones that they are apt to be overlooked, and they can be seen to a much better advantage when placed in a glass ves- sel where both sides of them are visible. While these slow moving worms stick to the under sides of stones, great numbers of much livelier animals are often found on the mud beneath. These are smalt Crustacea known as Amphipods. They are flattened sidewise so that they cannot stand upright but lie on their sides, and when disturbed kick about with feet and tail trying to get under something. In water they move much more gracefully, swimming rapidly by means of the paddles under their tails. As these are types of a large group of aquatic animals let us examine one more closely. Fig. 32 is Gatnmarus ornatus, one of the commonest species found under stones. Under the middle of the body are seven pairs of legs of three kinds : the two forward pairs having claws for grasping, the 28 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. next two pairs being short and the other three longer and directed backward or turned up over the sides of the body. Behind these middle legs are six other pairs, three of which are thin and flat for swimming ; while the three hinder ones are short and stout and close together under the tail, with which they form a powerful swimming or leaping organ. Under the head are four more pairs of appendages used as jaws and in front are two pairs of antennae or feelers near the base of which are the eyes. Som: of these Amphipods make tubes for themselves Gammarus ornatus IUw. Fig. 32. under stones ; and, if taken out and placed in water, will gather all the grains of sand and dirt they can find and join them together until they get a pile large enough to hide under. The little stones are joined together by threads, like the threads of spiders and caterpillars, spun from the two small pairs of legs under the middle of the body, which are perforated at the end and contain glands which secrete a fluid that hardens in water. Most of the Amphipods live farther down the shore among seaweeds that are always under water, and great numbers of them may be caught by ISOPODS. 2 9 sweeping among these with a net ; but there are a few species, the sand fleas, that live up to or above high water mark among the sand and rubbish. The common sand flea, Orchestia agilis, is very abundant on sandy beaches, and leaps about by the appendages near the tail, its gait resem- bling that of tlie well known parasitic insect. Small Crustacea of another kind are often found under stones along the shore, which are flattened downward instead of sidewise. These are the Is- opods, and resemble the garden "sow bugs." They have the same number of appendages as the Amphipods, but the seven pairs of feet of the middle of the body are all alike. The swim- ming feet are closed up under the tail and the front pair forms a cover for the others. Idotaa irrorata, Fig. 33, is a common species, but is oftener found among the eelgrass farther out. It varies greatly in color, some individuals being red, others dark green or yellow, and others again striped or spotted. Idotcea phosphorea is oftener found under stones. It is more pointed behind and is variously marked with gray and white spots like the stones on which it lives. Another Isopod, Sphczroma quadridentata is marked much in the same way and lives under stones. It is short and oval and has the Idotcea irrorata Say. Fig. 33- 30 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. habit of rolling up in a ball, when threatened, and falling out of the way like some of the sow bugs. When dredging once with a fisherman, he called our attention to the small flies which were gathered by hundreds under the sides of the boat just above the water ; and then, getting his broom, carefully swept them off because, as he said, they would turn into worms and eat into the wood of the boat. The flies in their young stages live swimming in the salt water, but the injury to the wood is caused by a small isopod, Limnoria \ lignontm, Fig. 34, which gnaws out mi- i A mite holes as close together as they can be without breaking into each other. The wood thus wears and decays much faster than it otherwise would, the softer parts most rapidly, so that the knots are left projecting several inches beyond the sur- face of the timbers so eaten. Among the largest Crustacea to be found between tides are the "fiddler-crabs," Gelasimus, Fig. 35. The males have one of the front claws very large and carry it across the front of the body, in somewhat the same position as the arm of a fiddler. The habits of one of these crabs, Gelasimus pugilator, are thus described by Mr. Smith.* "They live on sandy beaches near high water mark, in holes in the sand, half an inch to an inch in diameter and Isopod> * Invertebrate Animals of Vineyaid Sound, p. 43. FIDDLER CRAB. a foot or more in depth. Mr. Smith, by lying perfectly still for some time in the sand, succeeded in witnessing their mode of dig- ging. In doing this they drag up pellets of moist sand, which they car- ry under the three anterior legs on the rear side (the crab walks side- wise), climbing out of their burrows by means of the legs of the side in front, aided by the poste- rior leg of the other side. Af- ter arriving at the mouth of their burrows and taking a cautious survey of the land- 35- Fiddler Crab, Gelasiinns pngilator. scape, they run quickly to the distance often of four or five feet from the burrow before dropping their load, using the 32 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. same legs as before and carrying the dirt in the same man- ner. They then take another careful survey of the sur- roundings, run nimbly back to the hole, and, after again turning their pedunculated eyes in -every direction, suddenly disappear, soon to reappear with another load. They work in this way both in the night and in the brightest sunshine? whenever the tide is out and the weather is suitable. In coming out of or going into their burrows, either side may go in advance, but the male more commonly comes out with the large claw forward. According to Mr. Smith this species is a vegetarian, feeding upon the minute algae which grow upon the moist sand. In feeding, the males use only the small claw with which they pick up bits of algse daintily ; the females use indifferently either of their small claws for this purpose. They always swallow more or less sand with their food. Mr. Smith also . saw these crabs engaged in scraping up tho surface of the sand, where covered with their favorite algae, which they formed into pellets and car- ried into their holes, in the same way that they bring sand out, doubtless storing it until needed for food, for he often found large quantities stored in the terminal chamber." These crabs are very hardy and easily kept in confinement in a small quantity of water in which they keep in incessant motion for months without taking any visible food. ANIMALS BELOW LOW WATER MARK, ANIMALS NEAR LOW WATER MARK. FARTHER down the shore just below low water, or only uncovered at lowest tides, is a region which is inhabited by a greater variety of animals than that between tides, and will repay the trouble of wading and rowing along its borders. There live the crabs and lobsters, the latter well known at least in their dead and cooked condition, Fig. 36. If we compare a lobster with the small Crustacea described in the last chapter, we shall notice that the joints of the middle portion of the body are covered up by a shell, which ex- tends back over them from the head, and under the edges of this shell are a series of gills attached to the basal joints of the limbs. Five pairs of limbs are adapted for walking, the front pair of which have the large claws with which the lobster seizes its prey. 3 33 34 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. In front of the large claws are six pairs of smaller limbs used for chewing, and in front of these the eyes raised on short stalks and two pairs of an- tennae or feelers, or, as fisher- men call them, smellers. The hinder part of the body resem- bles more that of the other Crustacea ; its joints are distinct and it has six pairs of limbs for swimming, the hinder pair of which are very large and broad, and form, with the last joint of the body, a powerful swimming or leaping organ which the lobster strikes for- ward suddenly when alarmed, and so darts backward into its hole. Young lobsters swim for- ward by the little feet under the tail, but the adults creep on the bottom most of the time. The whole body is covered with a shell so hard that the animal has to shed it from time to time as it grows larger. The shell Ameri- cracks along the middle of the back, the front part separates from the tail and the limbs, even the large claws are drawn out in a soft and flabby condition. The skin of the eyes, the antennae and the inside of the mouth and throat, are Fig. 3 6. -Lobster, canus. LOBSTER. 35 all shed at these times. The limbs of lobsters and crabs break off easily, but are reproduced and after the next moult appear again, smaller than before but of the same shape and number of joints. The eggs of lobsters are often to be seen on specimens in the market, being carried under the tail attached to the swimming feet until they hatch. The young lobsters can be easily seen through the egg, in the later stages, with the Fig- 37- Young Lobsters; back and profile, below a leg and antenna. feet packed in underneath them and the eyes much larger in proportion than in the adult. When they hatch they differ greatly from the adult both in shape and habits, Fig. 37. Their five pairs of limbs and the pair of foot jaws in front of them are all about of the same size, the big claws being only slightly larger than the others. All these limbs are two-branched, one of the branches turning; outward and LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. upward above the other. The six pairs of feet under the tail are also nearly equal in size, the hinder part not yet enlarged as in the adult ; while the terminal joint of the body, which in the adult is narrowed toward the tip, is in the young widened into a fish-tail shape. On the back of the abdomen, too, are five spines on the middle of the segments, that disappear al- together in the adult. These little lobsters swim at the surface until they get the shape and appearance of the adult, and the larger part are eaten by other animals or killed in some way or other. When they get to be an inch long they begin to live more at the bottom, and from this size upward are often found under stones even above low water mark. As they grow up, however, they keep farther down a- mong the rocks that are Fig. 38. Common Shrimp, Crangon v nl- always Well Under water and garis. Natural size. here the traps for them are set. These are cages made of laths with funnel-shaped entrances like a rat trap, through which the lobsters go after the bait of dead fish and have not sense enough to find their way out again. SHRIMPS. 37 The common shrimp, Crangon vulgaris, Fig. 38, is often mistaken for the young of the lobster which it does not, however, much resemble. It lives on sandy or muddy shores and changes its color to imitate that of the bottom on which it rests. A dark individual, if placed in a white bowl, will soon become much lighter. This shrimp does not grow much larger than the figure and much smaller ones are often found with eggs. 38 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. The crabs may be considered as shortened lobsters. The middle portion of their bodies is covered up by a similar shell under the edges of which are the basal joints of the legs with the gills attached. The tail is very small and folded under the middle portion of the body, but if it is turned outward the same appendages are found as in the Fig. 40. Young Crab, " Zoea." lobster. The same number of jaws and palpi are also at- tached to the head. The crabs are usually wider than long and the habit of walking sidewise is common. The best known crab along the whole coast is Cancer irroratus, Fig. 39. It lives not far from the surface of the water, occasionally above low water mark under stones and sea- weed, and sometimes completely buried in mud. In its CRABS. 39 growth from the egg this crab goes through some very curious changes, differing so much, in its early stages, from thj a.lult that the young were long considered as belonging to entirely distinct species. The eggs are carried under the tail like those of' lobsters until they hatch and become little swimming animals like Fig. -40, but not more than a tenth of an inch in length. Its legs have not yet grown, and it swims in a jerky way by the front appendages which are eventually to become mouth or- gans. As it be- comes older, the legs appear just behind these swim- ming appendages, between them and the tail, and be- come gradually larger until the next metamorpho- Fig> 4I ~ Young Crab ' ' ' Me s al P s - sis. The tail is as large in proportion as that of a young lobster and . carried extended behind. These little crabs swim at the surface of the water, and if kept, in a dish col- lect around the edges keeping in constant motion, crowding each other out of the way with the sharp points on their heads. They are nearly transparent and sometimes can only 40 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. be found by their dark eyes, and spots on various parts of the body. These little crabs moult several times in this stage, but finally a great change takes place and they be- come like Fig. 41, a little more like the adult crab. They now have -their five pairs of legs ; but the eyes are still enor- mously large, there are long spines on the back, the abdomen is still carried extended, and they have swimming feet which are used like those of the lobster. They still swim at the surface, but rest on the bottom at times and are soon ready for another metamorphosis. In the next stage, the habit of swimming is given up, the tail is turned under the body and the little crab lives on the bottom like an adult ; but still the body is longer and the shape very different from the old crabs and it is only after several more moults that the final form is reached. A similar series of change is gone through by the other crabs, though they have not been so well made out as in this species. The nearest relative of this crab is Cancer borealis, which is found with and sometimes mis- taken for it. It is about the same size but is more oval, thicker, and much more peaceful in its habits. When the tides are unusually low, some of these crabs are occasionally found holding on the rocks in the most exposed places, stupidly waiting for the water to rise and cover them instead of following it down or hiding comfortably under damp seaweed as the other species does. They will allow them- selves to be picked up without showing fight and will lie quietly for hours, even if several are piled up together, in this respect differing decidedly from the common kind. The mud crabs, Panopeus, Fig. 42, are found among stones or buried in mud, and when caught stretch out their CRABS. legs stiffly as far as they can, so as to make themselves as unpleasant to handle as possible. They are of small size and are found along the coast as far north as Cape Cod. The "oyster crab" is carried wherever oysters are. The female lives inside the shells of oysters and is often found among oysters sold for food and cooked with them, but the males are rare and occasionally found swimming free in the water. The "blue crab," Fig. 43, which is much eaten in New York and southward, and occasionally found north of Cape Cod, lives also near low water on muddy shores and among eelgrass where it often conceals itself in the mud. Unlike the com- mon shore crabs, Cancer, it swims readily by the help of paddles on its hind legs. For eating, the blue crabs are preferred "soft-shelled," that is, after they have moulted and before the new skin has hardened. They seem to moult at various times during the summer and to remain soft a considerable time. There is another swimming crab, Platyonichus ocellatus, Fig. 44, found from Cape Cod southward very different from the last. It has a rounded body and is white with the back covered with red and purple rings. It swims rapidly at the surface, even when full grown, but lives usually near the sandy bottom, in which it can quickly bury itself for con- Fig. 42. Panopeus depressus. Mud crab. LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. cealment, or to escape being washed ashore in rough weather. It feeds on dead animals of any kind and soon finds any- thing decaying that may be left in the water. The "spider crab," Fig. 45, is a round long-legged species that lives among mud and weeds and has a coat of hair that entangles dirt of all kinds, furnishing a place of attachment for seaweeds and hydroids which help still more to conceal the animal. It grows to be a foot or more across. CRABS. 43 The "hermit crabs," Fig. 46, are among the most amusing animals of this group, on account of their peculiar habit of covering the hinder part of their bodies with a snail shell, or any other hollow object which they can carry about with them. Like the crabs, they swim at the surface when young, but at an early age settle to the bottom and begin to live in Fig. 44. Lady crab, Platyonichus ocellatus. deserted shells. Their tails are soft and have strong hooked appendages at the end for holding into the shell. Their legs are crowded forward, so as to project from the shell and enable the crabs to walk about, dragging the shell after them, without exposing much of their bodies. As they increase in size they have to leave their snail shells and find larger ones, going about from shell to shell until they are fitted. These 44 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. crabs are hard to keep in confinement, as they need a good deal of clean water to keep them healthy. The Amphipods and Isopods mentioned in the last chapter are still more abundant down among the seaweeds, and among them occurs a curious form, Caprella, Fig. 47, which at first sight would not be recognized as related to them. These Caprellas are very common on the eelgrass, holding Fig. 45. Spider crab, Libinia canaliculata. on by the hinder legs like canker worms and swingi ng the forward part of the body up and down. The middle legs are rudimentary. The horseshoe crab, Fig. 48, is common along muddy and sandy shores, and in the early summer pairs of them come up on the shores to lay their eggs in the sand. The cast- off skins of these animals are often found along the shores of muddy rivers. The horseshoe crab is interesting as being the last surviving relative of a group of animals which have SNAILS. 45 died out and are now only known in a fossil state. It differs greatly from the crabs and resembles in some respects the spiders, like which it has six pairs of limbs and no antennae. There are other curious animals often found under stones, and among seaweeds and hydroicls, that are nearly all legs, Fig. 49, known as Pycnogonidcz. Most of them live on hydroids. -The eggs are carried by the mother, attached in balls around the front limbs until they hatch; then the young, which differ considerably from the adult, at- tach themselves to the hydroids and go through metamor- phoses very much like those of some parasitic mites, like the red mite found on grasshoppers, for instance. The body of the adult is so shaped that there is no room for the in- ternal organs, except in the legs and branches of the stomach, and the eggs extend into these. On sandy mud, just below low water, lives one of the largest snails of the coast, Lunatia heros, Fig. 50. When in motion, the soft part of the body is extended out of the shell to three or four times the size of the latter, Fig. 51, so that the shell is nearly covered up ; but if the animal is Fig. 46. Hermit Crab, Enpagurus bernhardus, in a shell of Lunatia heros. 4 6 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. touched it squeezes out the water and in a few moments draws into the shell again, covering itself with the horny operculum which it carries on its back. It creeps about partly buried in the sand searching for its food. It lives on other snails and bivalve mol- Fig. 47. Caprella geometrica, enlarged. hisks, through whoSC shell it drills by means of the teeth on the tongue, Fig. 5 2, and scrapes out the contents through the hole. The eggs of this snail, which are laid in a ring mixed with sand, Fig. 53, may often be picked up on the beach. If one of these be held up to the light the egg cases can be seen as transparent round spots in each of which are several eggs. On sandy shores great numbers of the little snail, Tritia trivittata, Fig. 54, are often found creeping about through the sand leaving shallow fur- rows after them. They are very active animals for snails, and when kept in clean water will sometimes stretch out to their full length and jump about the dish. On more muddy flats another species, Ilyanassa obseleta, Fig. 55, is generally to be found following the same habits. Both species may be seen covering dead fish or anything decaying and are of great use as scaven- gers. A little brown shelled snail, Locuna vine fa, Fig. 56, is very Fig. 48. Limnhts poly- hemus. [From Tenney's 'oology.] SNAILS. 47 common on the eelgrass and makes the ring-shaped clusters of eggs so common there. The branching plant-like growths along the shore are most of them not plants at all but hydroids, stationary animals related to the jelly-fishes and some of them being the young of jelly-fishes (an account of which will be given further on) . Among these hydroids is the favorite hiding place of many Fig. 49. of the "Nudibranchs," or naked gilled snails. These are often brightly colored and have no shells ; but, in place of them, appendages of various shapes along the back, which make them resemble the branching objects among which they live. Their eggs are laid in lumps of transparent jelly attached to plants and hydroids and the young hatch as many snails do, with little shells with one or two spirals and with two lobes on the sides of the head, on the edges of 4 8 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. which are cilia by which the animals swim, Fig. 57. As they get older they lose the ciliated lobes and begin to creep on the foot like old snails ; but the nudibranchs, at this time, lose also the shell and have on the back the vari- ous appendages which have been mentioned. The largest native spe- cies is Dendronotus arborescens, Fig. 58, a 1 long brownish snail with tree-shaped appendages along the back that make it look like a mass of seaweed. This resem- blance is still greater when the animal shortens itself and gathers the branches together. Several species of ^Eolis, Fig. 59, are transparent white Fig. 50. Shell of Lunatia keros. . 51. Lundtia keros crawling, fully expanded. with red or brownish papillae arranged in rows on each side of the body. Another species, Doto coronata has a few club-shaped red appendages covered with black spots. The SNAILS. 49 genus Doris has a rosette of soft appendages at the posterior end of the body, Fig. 60. The common Doris pallida is white and has the back covered with white knobs. In cool weather these naked snails can be kept easily in confinement for several days. They are very hard to preserve in any way, and, when contracted by alco- hol, many different species are so much alike that they can only be distinguished by the teeth on their tongues, which are the only hard parts to their bodies . Several shallow water bivalves have been mentioned in connection with the clam in the last chapter, but none is better known than the oyster. This mollusk grows naturally from Cape Cod southward and is found in places farther Fig. 52. Fig. 53. Ring of sand containing eggs of Lunatia heros. north as far as the gulf of St. Lawrence, and old shells are found at so many places along the coast that it is supposed to have lived formerly at many more points north of Cape 4 50 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Cod. The oysters, now brought from southern waters and kept in beds north of this point, to fatten and be taken up as wanted, do not breed there on account of the coldness of the water or some other cause. The oyster eggs are very small and are discharged into the water where they develop in a few days into little swimming larvae, Fig. 61. Rudiments of the shell soon appear and the young, as further rMa 54 *^- developed, is shown in Figs. 62 and 63. They soon begin to settle to the bottom and those which fall in suitable places become attached by the edge of the shell which, as it grows, cements itself to stones or shells, or any solid substance on the bottom, Fig. 64. The young which settle on the mud come to nothing, and those which attach in shallow' water which is frozen in winter are all killed off before the next season, so that not one egg in a million produces a full grown oyster. Although the young become attached and start best on a hard bottom, the half grown oysters fatten better on muddy bottoms, full of microscopic plants, and it is therefore customary to dredge up young oysters and "plant" them on muddy grounds where they are left to grow a year or two before being gathered for the market. 1 Lacuna The differences between various kinds of vincta. oysters depend much on the kind of bottom on which they fatten ; the best places being generally shallow bays and mouths of rivers where the water is warm and brackish. The shells of oysters furnish good attachments OYSTERS. for their own young, and for many other animals which are carried with the oysters to distant parts of the coast where they do not naturally grow. The shells of oysters, like those of other mollusks, are formed from the mantle, as it is called, a fold of skin that lines the shell on the inside. This secretes from its whole surface the pearly lining of the shell, and from its outer edge the harder part that is added to the outside which usually shows lines of growth, like the rings in a tree, where the increase has not taken place at a uniform rate. Oyster shells also show their age by the deeper grooves between the portions of the shell, formed in different seasons which in some shells are very distinct. Pearls are formed when sand or any foreign substance gets between the mantle and the shell, causing the secretion of the shell lining to go on more rapidly at that point, and the beauty of the pearl depends on the kind of lining which the shell naturally has, those of the oyster being dull and opaque like the rest of the shell. The common "scollop," Pec fen irradians, Fig. 65, lives along the shore as far north as Cape Cod, on muddy bottoms and among the eelgrass, where it lies at rest with the shell slightly open, showing the thickened edges of the mantle, fringed above and below with tentacles among the bases of Fig- 57^ Young of Eolis diversa. LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. which are two rows of eyes extending round the shell. The scollops can swim by opening the shell and closing it sud- denly, driving themselves backward. The muscle which closes the shell is large and strong and is the part which is used for food, the rest of the scol- lop being thrown away. There is a much larger species, Pecten tenuicos- tatus, with a nearly smooth shell that lives farther north and is often dredged in deep water in Massa- chusetts bay and on the coast of Maine. There is a very curious bivalve, Teredo, Fig. 66, that burrows into wood just below low water and does great damage to ships, buoys and all kinds of wood-work under water. The holes are small at the surface of the wood, where they are begun by the animals when young, but as they grow they dig deeper and enlarge these holes to a quarter of an inch in diam- eter. The holes run through the wood in all directions but TEREDO. 53 never interfere with each other, twisting about wherever they find room. The eggs remain in the gill cavities of their parents until they develop into ciliated larvae, which can swim about in the water, and soon have a bivalve shell large enough to cover them. They then begin to attach themselves and, as soon as they find suitable wood, to bore into it. The shells always remain very small and the animal grows chiefly in length, so that it is popularly considered a worm. The tubes through which water runs in and out are small and must, of course, always be near the outer opening of the burrow. The Te- redo does not eat the wood which it digs out, but gets its food from the water which comes in through its tubes, just as the clam does ; so that paints, or other poisonous substances in the wood, are not much protection Fig. 59. Eolis pilata. Fig. 60. Dorisbifida. against it, and it can only be stopped by plates of copper or some such substance too hard for them to bore through. The wooden buoys used to mark the channels into harbors 54 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. are painted with copper paint, but are attacked wherever the paint is rubbed off and in course of time destroyed by these animals. The worms, which have been mentioned as occurring on beaches, and many others, live also farther down below low tide and may be found by digging or dredging ; but there are a few which live above ground and can hardly fail to be seen while looking for other animals. The eelgrass, rock- weed and other water-plants, are often covered with little Fig. 61. Young of Oyster. [From Brooks.] white spiral shells that are easily mistaken for those of snails while they are really made by worms, Spirorbis. If some of these are placed in a dish of water the heads and gills of the worms will soon be seen to protrude. The head is surrounded by a collar from which extend on each side feather-like gills often brightly colored. One of the branches, however, is club-shaped, and when the worm contracts is drawn in last, closing the mouth of the shell. On the eel- grass there is often found a small yellow worm, Nicolea sim- WORMS. 55 plex, which lives in thin tubes covered with dirt with only the long appendages of the head extended. It sometimes comes out of the tube and can swim about at the surface where it sometimes gets into the net with swimming animals. In tubes among mussels and hydroids there lives a little worm, half an inch long, Fabridd Leidyi, which often creeps out when these are kept a short time in standing water. It has six feather-like gills on the head and at the base of them Fig. 62. Young Oyster. [From Brooks.] a pair of eyes, and it also has a pair of eyes on the opposite end of the body. In the same places lives another worm which will be men- tioned again, Autolytus. It makes thin tubes covered with dirt but, in confinement, soon comes out of them and spreads round the dish. It has a large number of segments and long appendages to each, and two pairs of eyes and several long tentacles at the head. One curious thing about this worm is that it is often found dividing into two worms. One of the segments near the middle gradually takes the form of a head with eyes and tentacles and in course of time sepa- rates from the part of the worm in front. These tube-living 56 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. worms do not produce eggs ; but those which drop off from them behind develop into perfect males and females and swim about in the water (as will be noticed more fully here- after). Among stone3 and mussels are often found lumps of gelat- Fig. 63. Young Oyster, seen edgewise. [From Brooks.] inous looking animals, covered with dirt and showing no signs of motion except by two holes in each, which can be opened and closed and from which streams of water can be ejected. They need a good deal of washing to clean them so that their real shape can be seen, but when cleaned off, they look like Fig. 67, Molgula manhattensis, which is one of the commonest of these ascidians. When young they have a tadpole shape, Fig. 68, and swim in the water ; but become attached quite early, lose the tail and Fig. 64. Young Oyster. [After change their form entirely. Verrill. J They have two openings to the body, one the mouth into which the water passes into the throat and through openings in its sides into a large ASCIDIANS. 5 7 cavity, from which it escapes by the other external opening. The food passes down the throat into the stomach. Other species live singly, attached to stones : as Cynthia carnea, which is bright red and has two brighter spots around the openings. Cynthia echinata is round and is covered with branching spines which gather dirt enough to cover it completely. There are other ascidians which grow in corn- Fig. 65. Scollop, Pecten irradians. pound clusters and several of these are found near low water. One, Batryllus Gouldii, is in circular clusters, in the centre of each of which is a common discharge opening for the water from the respiratory cavities of all the members. At first there is only a single circle, but they increase rapidly by branching and at length form large clusters of hundreds of circles, all forming one jelly-like mass often covering up 58 LIFE OX THE SEASHORE. entirely the leaves of eelgrass, on which it grows, with a brown or greenish crust quarter of an inch thick. Little white clusters are often found on eelgrass and on stones, which are colonies of "polyzoa," Figs. 69, 71 and 72. These start from single individuals that multiply by branching in all directions, forming groups of hundreds, all more or less connected together. These things need a microscope and a good light to show them to advantage. They can be examined alive if allowed to stand quietly in Fig. 66. Ship worm, Teredo navalis. [After Verrill.J water, when they will put out the ends of their bodies with the mouth and circle of tentacles, Fig. 70. The shells have usually a large opening, through which the animal expands, and several small openings. They vary, however, in different species, Fig. 73. Some kinds grow in branching clusters instead of flat, as Bugula turrita, Fig. 72, in a spiral. Others branch in a fan-shape. On these branching kinds it is easier to see the little objects, like birds' heads, that are at- tached to each shell and open and shut without any appar- ent object, Fig. 74. Other species have movable spines that STARFISHES. 59 swing up and down in the same way. Some polyzoa do not make hard shells like those which form the white clusters on 4 stones, but soft and flexible ones. A very common one makes brown clusters on the rockweed and especially about its roots. The young polyzoa just from the egg have no resemblance to the adult and swim about by cilia, Figs. 75, 76 and 77. As they grow larger they have a bi- valve shell which remains till they have become attached and begun to branch Fig 6? _ A simple Asddiaiij into a compound cluster. The triangular larva, Fig. 75, is the young of Membrani- pora pilosa, Fig. 69 ; a very common species, Fig. 76, is the same seen edgewise. The other larva, Fig. 77, is of Flus- trella hispida, one of the soft-shelled polyzoa that form clusters around rockweed. Both figures are copied from - Barrois' Embryology of the Polyzoa. The starfishes are among the" most peculiar animals of the Fig. 68. A young Ascidian. seashore and belong to a class,* the Echinoderms, more of which live on land or in fresh water. The common star- fishes, Asterias forbesii, Fig. 78, and Asterias vulgaris, live near low water mark, coming above it occasionally and in winter retreating to deeper water. They live on mollusks 6o LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. and are a great nuisance to the oyster growers. They fold themselves around an oyster or mussel, turn their stomach Fig. 69. Polyzoa, Membranipora pilosa, much enlarged, At the left upper corner is a profile view of one cell. Fig, 71. Polyzoa, Crisia ebnrnea. Round cluster enlarged. out of the mouth and in between the shells of the bivalve and digest it without taking it inside their bodies. The starfishes move by , suckers in the fine grooves on the under side of their arms. To bring them into use they have to be fille d with water from the water tubes, which receive their supply from the po- rous i me po- Fig. 72. Polyzoa, Bugula turrita. Colored Enlarged twice. spot on the back of the star- fish and carry it through all the arms giving off a branch to each sucker. The skin of the starfish is filled with little hard plates and from it project spines of vari- ous shapes which have, around the base, clusters of little organs called pedicellariae, STARFISHES. 61 Fig. 79, which, like the similar organs on polyzoa, have jaws that open and shut for no apparent purpose unless to prevent dirt from sticking to the skin. At the end of each arm is an eye. The development of the starfish is very compli- cated ; the eggs are laid loose in the water, and grow into little larva-like worms that move about in Fig. 70. Polyzoa. A single animal otMem- the Water by means Of Cilia hranipora pilosa expanded, much enlarged. and have no trace of any radiate structure about them, Fig. 80. As they grow larger, they become more complicated in shape having long arms with lines of cilia running along them, Fig. 81. The internal arrangement becomes more complicated at the same time which may be easily seen as the whole animal is transparent. While it is very young, a pair of tubes begin to form at the sides of the stomach, which grow larger and larger becoming separate from .the stomach and 'opening outward by a hole in the middle of the back. The first Fi Pol zoa traces of the arms of the starfish appear One branch of Crisia eburnea, much en- larged. on these water tubes, each side of the stomach, as five little lobes in a row along the tube, Fig. 81. As these grow larger the rest of the larva at length begins to grow smaller and finally dis- 62 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. appears altogether inside the five lobes, which, instead of remaining in a row have bent around so that the end ones unite and form a star. The hole which lets water into the circulating tubes in the middle of the back of the larva becomes the colored porous spot between the two arms which close together last. Besides the common starfishes there is a smaller smooth species, Cribrella, which is darker colored, red or purple on the back and orange below. It develops in a different way. The eggs are laid early in the summer and carried under the arms of the mother until the young are able to crawl away. Some of them, however, escape and may be sometimes seen at the surface as bright red specks, moving slowly by cilia all over them and gradually changing into the shape of Fig. 82. The young have this deep orange red color until they leave the parent. The long-armed starfishes, Fig. 83, often come up above low water mark, under stones and in clusters of mussels, and are oftener found in the roots of large seaweeds thrown up on the shore. Instead of creep- ing by suckers they walk with their arms or squirm into cracks like a bunch of worms. These have free swimming Fig. 74. A branch of Bugula turftta, showing the birds' heads. SEA-EGG. transparent larvae of complicated shape similar to those of the common starfish. The common sea-egg, Echinus, Fig. 84, is common along Fig. 75- Young Polyzoa, Menbranipora pilosa. [ From Barrois. ] rocky shores and small specimens may be found under stones between tides, but the large full grown ones live where they are always covered with water and are shel- tered in cracks or among small stones. They may often be found by feeling under stones just below low water. The resemblance of one of these sea-eggs to a starfish is not very evident at first sight of a specimen out of water ; but let one be put in a dish with water enough to cover it, and it will soon Fig 7 6 Swim- straighten up its spines and put out five double ?o\yzo u }iAt- rows of suckers, which extend around the branipora pi- losa, seen edge- body from one pole to the other instead of wise. [From Barrois.] being on one side only as in the starfish. The sea-egg may be compared to a thick starfish with the back very 64 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. small and the arms turned together upward. The suckers can be run out a long distance and the sea-egg walks quite rapidly with them. The greater part of the body is covered with spines which are movable and appear to help the animal along and to keep it clear of stones and other objects among which it crawls. Each spine rests on a little knob and is moved by muscles radiating around its base. Among the spines are the "pedicellariae," Fig. 85, of several kinds and raised on long stems so as to reach beyond the ends of the spines. They are three-jawed and, if any part of the animal Fig. 77. Young Polyzoa, Flustrella hispida. [From Barrois.] is touched, turn toward it and open their jaws. Their office seems to be to keep the surface of the shell clean by picking up bits of dirt and passing them along where they will wash off. The pedicellariae can be seen in operation with a low magnifying power, but to understand their shape and structure it is necessary to pull some off and put them under a higher magnifying power. The sea-egg lives on plants which it gnaws with fine sharp teeth, with which its mouth is provided, and which are supported by a complicated framework inside the body. In confinement the sea-eggs need frequent changes SEA-EGG. 65 of water and are constantly discharging balls of excrement which help to make it dirty. The porous plate which covers the entrance to the water system is found also in the sea-egg near the middle of the upper side, Fig. 86. The fine little holes in a circle around this end are the openings through which the eggs are dis- charged. When the sea-eggs die they soon decay, and the spines drop off leaving a thin shell covered with little knobs, where the spines were, and rows of holes where the suckers came out. In this condition they are washed up on the beaches- and are better known among collectors of curious things than in their natural condition. 5 66 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Another animal allied to the sea-egg is the "sand dollar," Fig. 87, a flattened-out echinus, with a fur of little spines and very small suckers among them. It lives on sandy bot- toms seldom above low water mark and partly buried in the sand. When living, its color is dark purple which soon fades to green and gray when it is taken out of the water. " The fishermen on the coast of Maine and New Brunswick sometimes prepare an indelible marking ink from these sand dollars by rubbing off the spines and skin, and after pulverizing making the mass into a thin paste with water."* Related to these animals are the soft- bodied " Holothurians " one species of which, Leptosynapta Girardii, Fig. 88, lives buried in sand like a worm, for which it might easily be mistaken. It is white and translucent with fine opaque lines that show the division into five segments as in the sea- egg. It is about six inches long and a quarter to half of an inch in diameter and keeps buried entirely in the sand in holes leading down from the surface. At the upper end is the mouth surrounded by ten soft tenta- r . * rig- o- Young btar- cles. The intestine is usually full of sand from which the animal appears to extract its food. The skin is full of little hard plates with anchor-shaped hooks attached, Fig. 79. A spine of Starfish with a clus- ter of pedicellariae around the base. * Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound. SEA-ANEMONE. 6 7 Fig. 89, which make it stick to everything which touches it. Some other of these holothurians will be mentioned farther on among animals of deeper water, some of which have five rows of suckers and may be compared to an elongated sea-egg, while others creep on one side and look more like snails than they do like radiate animals. The sea- anemones have long been favorite seaside pets both on account of the ease with which they can be kept in confinement and their supposed plant- like form and habits so dif- ferent from all the more fa- miliar animals. The com- mon fringed sea-anemone, Fig. 90, lives among rocks near low water mark and still more abundantly on the piles of wharves and bridges, even where these are washed by a considerable quantity of brackish and dirty water at every tide. They vary much in size and color, but when contracted the greater part of them resemble in both these respects a baked apple. Other individuals are white, yellow, or spotted. The ten- tacles and the parts around the mouth which show when the animal expands are lighter, being flesh colored or various Fig. 81. Young Starfish, showing at the upper end the fine lobes, which become the arms of the adult. 68 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Fig. 82 Young Cribrella. shades of gray. The outer tentacles are small and very numerous, scattered over a disk which is scalloped and folded at the edge. Inside and around the mouth are a few larger and longer tentacles which, when expanded, stand up straight from the disk. The edge of the mouth is wrinkled and has two smooth grooves leading into it at opposite sides. The sea-anemone lives on small animals of various kinds that come against its tentacles as it stands spread out in the water. They adhere to the tentacles and are passed along into the mouth. The sea-anemone sometimes runs out white threads from its mouth or from holes around its sides. These threads are filled with "nettle cells" which can be conveniently seen by pressing part of one of these threads between two pieces of glass under the microscope. The nettle cells are large and long and Fig. 83. Starfish, Ophiobholis aculeata. each contains a thread coiled up within it which is thrown out when it is irritated ; such cells are found on other parts of the body and are common in all the animals of this class. Fig. 91 is a section across a sea-anemone to show how its body is divided by partial partitions. The sea-anemones though usually stationary are not per- SEA-ANEMONE. .. Sea-egg, Echinus, side view. [From Tenney's Zoology.] manently attached, but can crawl about slowly by the mus- cular base on which they stand. If kept in an aquarium they soon attach themselves and will creep up the glass where both top and bottom can be conveniently seen, and in small transparent indi- viduals a considerable part of the internal organs. This sea-anemone is very easily kept in confinement es- Fig. pecially in winter when the aquarium can be easily kept cool. In summer the water must be changed or strained oftener to keep it cool and clean, and the larger the amount of water the bet- ter. In keeping these Fig. 8 5 . Pediceiiaria of Sea-egg. and all other water ani- mals, it is better to use small ones as these require less water and show almost everything that the larger individuals do.' - On the southern coast of New England and farther south the "white armed sea-anemone, Sa- gartia leucolena, Fig. 92, is com- mon near low water especially on the under side of large stones some- times nearly buried in gravel. This is more elongated and more slender than the last and has a smaller, simple and plain disk, with the tentacles much longer and more slender and Fig. 86. Centre of upper side of Sea-egg with spines rubbed off. [From Tenney's Zo- ology.] 70 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. crowded together near the margin. The surface of the body is usually pale salmon or flesh color and the skin is trans- lucent so as to show the internal lamellae ; the tentacles are paler and more translucent and usually whitish, but some- times pale salmon. The tentacles in full expansion are over an inch long." The sea-anemones, although very much like the coral ani- mals, make no coral themselves ; but there is one species Echinara cli mmjxzrma, Fig- 87. Fig. 87 a. Young of Echinus. found-on the southern coast of New England which makes coral lumps of considerable size. "The Astrangia Dance, which is the only true coral yet discovered on the coast of New England, is occasionally found on the under side of overhanging rocks, or in pools where it is seldom or never left dry. The coral forms incrusting patches, usually two or three inches across and less than half an inch thick, com- posed of numerous crowded corallets having stellate cells about an eighth of an inch in diameter. The living animals, POLYPS. Fig. 93, are white, and in expansion rise high above the cells and expand a circle of long, slender, minutely-warted tenta- cles which have enlarged tips. These coral polyps, when expanded, resemble clusters of small, white sea-anemones, and like them they will seize their prey with their tentacles and transfer it to their mouths. They feed readily in con- finement, upon fragments of mollusca and Crustacea."* The coral formed by this polyp resembles, on a small scale, that formed in such large masses in more southern waters. After the ani- mals are dead and their softer parts Fig. 88. Upper end of a , . worm like Holothurian, decayed, it is left as a stony lump LeptosynaptaGirardu, with the tentacles partly covered with little rounded pits with extended, radiating partitions extending from the circumference nearly to the centre. Each of these pits is the place where one of the polyps stood and has been secreted by it, as the shell of a snail or the bones of a quadruped are secreted, the partitions being formed in radi- ating folds such as may be seen in the base of a sea-anemone attached to a glass. All corals are formed in some such way and are not to be considered as nests built by "insects" or other animals in which to hide themselves. Fig. 89. Plates and hooks from the skin of Leptosynapta Girardii. 1 Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound. 72 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Along with the fringed anemone there grow great bunches of a large Tubularia, Thammocnidia spectabilis, Fig. 94. It has a long transparent stem at the end of which is a circle of tentacles that spread sometimes over an inch in width. In the middle, above these, rise the stomach and proboscis with a circle of smaller tentacles around the mouth ; at the end Fig. 90. Common Sea-anemone, Metridium marginatum. and between the proboscis and the outer tentacles are bunches of round objects like berries which are the ovaries, in which may be seen young polyps of various stages with their arms folded together as they become ready to hatch. These after a while drop off as little eight-armed polyps, which float about for a short time and then become at- tached by the under side and grow up like their parents. POLYPS. 73 Besides this method of increase, these tubularias also branch, and a new head and tentacles develop on the end of each of the branches. When they are kept in con- I. finement the heads often drop off and after a time new ones grow on the same stems. In early summer, before the hot- test weather, it is easy to keep this species and see the young fall off and attach themselves to the dish. Among the heads Fig. 91 . Section of Sea-anemone to show the radial partitions of the body. that become detached from these tubularias are often great numbers of young pycnogonidcE, as will be described here- after, which live there as parasites. Cla v a leptostyla, Fig. 95, is another hardy polyp that grows near or even above low water. It is bright red and often lives on dark seaweed Fig. w-Sagartia leucolena. [Verrill,] it shows itself very distinctly, lying down and partly drying at low tide but reviving when the water covers it. The tentacles 74 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. are arranged irregularly around the outer end, and in the breeding season the ovaries are clustered below them as in the figure. Most of the year, however, these are absent and they have no branches except the tentacles. Coryne mirabitts, Fig. 96, is another species something like this. The buds below the tentacles, however, instead of producing young directly grow into jelly-fishes like d, Fig. 97, which become half an inch across and are among the most common jelly-fishes. They are very hardy and can be kept for some time in confine- ment if the water is clean. Most of the plant- like objects growing around the shore are not plants but Hy- Fig. 93. Five polyps of Astrangia Dante. Upper droids, Compound central one with tentacles fully expanded. animals allied to those just described, Fig. 98. They branch off originally from one individual and grow into clusters of different shapes according to the species. They look so much like plants that almost every collection of seaweeds includes some of them, and they keep very well pressed on paper like plants ; but the whole of them, stems and all, belong to the animals themselves whose mouths and tentacles are on the ends of the branches, while the lower parts are more or less con- nected together through the stem. All of the branches, however, do not have mouths and tentacles on the ends, HYDROIDS. 75 but instead have capsules which contain little buds which develop into ciliated young that are discharged and swim for a short time, and then grow up into new branching colonies like their parents ; or the buds develop into jelly- fishes that grow up and produce eggs, which in turn grow in- to stationary branch- ing hydroids, Fig. 96. More examples of this "alternate genera- tion " of hydroids and jelly-fishes will be given in the chapter on swimming animals. The general shape of the clusters of hy- droids is preserved well enough by pres- sing them on paper after the manner of plants; but the soft parts are lost alto- gether in this Way, Fig. 95- Clava. leptostyla, J enlarged. [After Agassiz.] is best to use alcohol which preserves the polyps so that they can be examined very easily though con- tracted somewhat. There are several sponges which grow around the shore, some even above low water. One of the commonest of 7 6 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. natural size. [Af- ter Agassiz.] these is Ascortis fragilis, a little white species that grows under stones among shells, often nearly covered up with mud. It consists of a number of little tubes about an inch high, connected together by other branching tubes at the base and when Fig. 96. -Cluster of dean > which is Seldom, Coryne mirabilis, , , . 111 nearly white and look- ing rough under the microscope from the sharp spicules which fill them. To see these spicules, . Fig. 97. Coryne mirabilis, a Small piece Should be torn 6ff and enlarged. [After Agassiz.] placed under the microscope and a little potash used to dis- solve the rest and leave the spicules clean. In sponges, there are little cavi- ties lined with cili- ated cells, that by their motions keep water passing over them and take Fig . 99 ._ ciliated ceils of Ascortis ~ fragilis. in from it the Fig. 9 8. Cluster sponge's food. These cells are very small. of Sertularia A W a'sS'] tAfter ^ Ut ^ oose ones ma y ke seen when a piece of sponge is examined fresh. The ciliated cells (Fig. 99) of this species have been described and figured by Clark. SPONGES. 77 A larger sponge, Chalina oculata, Fig. 100, with a fibrous framework, is often found just below low water. It is gener- ally attached by a small base from which finger-shaped branches spread into a half round cluster. This is more Fig. 100. Chalina oculata. , like the washing sponges, but its fibres are too brittle for it to be of any use. While examining animals with a microscope, infusoria of various kinds will often be met with, some swimming like the young of higher animals and others attached to shells and 7 8 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. plants. The stems of hydroids are often covered with corn- Fig. ioi. Vorticella from hydroid steins pound infusoria like Fig. ioi, mixed in with the heads of the hydroids themselves, so that to the naked eye they may not be distinguished apart. The stems of these animals are con- tractile and if one is touched the whole cluster suddenly draws together into a ball. When they are expanded a ring of cilia is seen around the outer end that keeps up a whirl of water around the point where food enters. These currents of water can be seen better if a little indigo or carmine is put in the water, and particles of the colored powder will soon be swallowed and can be seen in- side the infusoria. The cilia do not form a circle, but a spiral with the centre near the opening where the food is taken in. Fi s- "".- There are other similar infusoria that live singly each with INFUSORIA. 79 a separate stem. Another kind of Protozoa, one of the Acinetae, often found on hydroid stems, is shown in Fig. 1 02. Its stem is not contractile and the cilia on the outer end are straight and stiff. The lobe-like promi- nences on the top are young, which bud off in this way and finally drop and become attached by stems of their own. Other kinds have the cilia in two bunches and can contract and extend them. SURFACE ANIMALS, SURFACE ANIMALS. WHILE the most interesting of the beach animals must be searched for among mud and stones, there lives another group that are always afloat in clean water and may be picked up with a dip-net or skimmed from the surface as the boat sails along. A few of these, such as the large jelly-fishes, can not fail to be seen by everybody who fishes or uses a boat, but most of them are very small and a large part of them nearly transparent, so that to the naked eye, looking from above, they are invisible. The number of animals at the surface is usually greatest at night and in suitable weather, especially on calm and warm nights, when they show their presence in a peculiar way, by the phosphorescence of the water as it is called. Sometimes this is so great that the ripples along the 6 81 82 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. shore are enough to excite it and appear as white lines on the water, and at such times the boat and oars are surrounded by white light and drops from the latter look like sparks of fire. This phosphorescence often occurs on decaying fish ; even on fish that have not long been dead the slime on the surface may shine in the night. Nearly all the small surface animals shine in the same way, though it is difficult to trace the light to individuals. The best method of obtaining these small animals, where they are numerous, is to skim the surface with a muslin dip- net ; but where they are scattered, as is usual in the daytime, a net may be arranged to tow after a boat, as in the picture, or to fasten where the current is strong and let the water run through it. The net should be taken up often so that the animals shall not be crushed against the cloth, and the inside washed off in a small quantity of water. To find the animals in the water, it should be placed in a glass vessel and a strong light thrown into it from the sun or a lamp, so that the trans- parent objects may be seen. A vessel with a black bottom, or a glass dish standing on a black surface, is the best to show such objects while they are lighted from above or from one side. Most swimming animals have the habit of collect- ing together toward the light, and a large proportion of those in the vessel will be thus gathered in a small space in a short time. Other less active species collect around the edge of the water and may be found by looking over this line with a magnifying glass. Some animals settle to the bottom when caught, but after a time swim up again ; others are carried down by dirt adhering to them and can not rise, so that it is well to pour off the clear water and dilute the sediment with COPEPODS. 83 a fresh supply in order that the small animals mixed with it can be more easily picked out. For this work a pipette or medi- cine dropper with a rubber top is very useful, and a good supply of watch crystals, butter plates and other little dishes, should be kept on hand in which to separate them. After picking out everything visible, the water should be left stand- ing quietly over night when new things will often come to the sarface. The first thing that will attract attention in a dish of surface water is the great number of minute Crustacea which gather Fig. 103. A Copepod. toward the light. Some of these are to be found at all times of the year, several species occurring together on some days, while on others all will be of one species. It is useless to at- tempt to describe many of these little Crustacea, for even among naturalists few of them are known ; but one or two "will be enough to illustrate the group. Fig. 103 shows one of these Copepods. One pair of antennae are very long and sometimes modified into grasping organs in the male. The principal swimming organs are the short appendages under the tail. They appear to float at rest without effort and can 84 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. then only be distinguished by the colored spots which most of them have in the head and antennae. When they do move, however, their motions are exceed- ingly quick and they dart here and there like a flash for a few moments and then settle quietly again. Some of them are almost always carrying their eggs in a bunch or two bunches behind, and these are usually more brightly colored than the animal itself. One of our largest species, half an inch long, carries its eggs in the spring. Its body is brown with a transparent spot behind the head, as though a piece had been bitten out, and the eggs are very bright green and carried behind the body attached to the hairs of the tail. One of these copepods, "a species of Sxpphirina, is one of the most brilliant creatures inhabiting the sea. It reflects the most gorgeous colors, blue, red, purple and green, like fire opal, although when seen in some positions, by trans- mitted light, it is colorless and almost transparent. When seen beneath the surface of the sea in large numbers, the appearance is very singular ; for each one as it turns in the right position reflects a bright gleam of light of some bril- liant color, and then immediately becomes invisible, and scintillations come from different directions and various these depths, many of them being much farther beneath the sur- face than any less brilliant object could be seen."* The young of the common crab, Fig. 41, are found all summer long among these copepods, and are easily rec- ognized by their comparatively slow motions and short jerks up and down along the edges of the water. With * Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound. CRUSTACEA. 85 them occur also the young of hermit crabs and shrimps and occasionally of the lobster, Fig. 38. The young of My sis, Fig. 104, are also very common, distinguished by their large eyes extending each side of the head to twice the width of the body. Some of the adult crabs swim at the surface as the common "blue crab," the "lady crab," Pfatyonichus, and the males of the oyster crab. A curious little flat crustacean, Caligus rapax, is parasitic Fig 104. Mysts stenolepis. on fishes but swims much at the surface and is often caught in the net. It is from an eighth to a quarter of an inch long, dark brown in color, and the female often has two long eg^ sacs extending behind each side of the tail. They swim about rapidly in the dish when chased, but will sometimes hold so tightly to the sides that they can only be rubbed off. Several species of Isopods and Amphipods are common at the surface, including some already mentioned as occurring under stones on the beach, as Idotaa irrorata, page 29, which is often taken swimming or holding to floating bits of 86 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. weed. Idotcea robusta, a slate colored species, with the tail truncated, is usually found swimming farther out from the shore and probably is afloat much of the time. A curious amphipod, Hyperia, is also often taken. It has a short body and a head flattened in front with short antennae and im- mense eyes. It is parasitic on jelly-fishes. Among these Crustacea may be mentioned the cast-off skins, especially of barnacles, which are always floating and easily mistaken for living animals. On the bottom of the dish are usually some small roundish Crustacea with slender forked tails with which they push them- Fig. 105. Diastylis quadrispinosus, straightened out. selves awkwardly about among the dirt, but now and then one will turn the tail close over the back so as to look like a seed and swim up to the surface. These belong to a group called the Cumacea and there are several common species, Fig. 105. The large sea worms, Nereis, swim at the surface especially at night and in the breeding season. The males are, however, oftener found at the surface than the other sex. The adults of the smaller species of Autolytus swim all the year round. They are small worms half an inch to an inch long with long bristles at the sides and long curled appendages on the head. WORMS. The males, Fig. 106, may be distinguished by six or more narrow segments just behind the head, and the greater length and size of the appendages on the other segments and on the head. The females usually carry a bag of brightly colored eggs under the middle of the body, of different colors in dif- ferent worms. The young may be seen through the sac as minute triangular worms each with two red eyes. The young do not swim like the adults, but live in tubes among plants and hydroids and as they grow up divide into several worms fastened head to tail. The in- dividuals that drop off behind are those that develop into free swimming adult males and females. A great many worms, which burrow in the mud when adult, swim at the surface when young, and great numbers of these little larvae, Fig. 107, niciy be found in the net some swimming by a ring of cilia around the head, and others a little farther advanced with a few bristles and paddles often longer than those of the adults. Some worms with smooth bodies or with very short appen- Fig. 106. Male Autolytus. 05 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. dages manage to swim at times by wriggling the body spirally, and others with flatter bodies by a waving up and down motion like a leech. In the winter and spring the water is often full of straight transparent objects that usually lie still and stiff, but now and then dart across the dish and come to rest again. This is Sagitta elegans, a transparent worm. The middle of the body is smooth with two pairs of stiff fins at the sides and a fin at the tail like that of a young fish, but crossing the body horizontally instead of up and down. The head has a pair of eyes and three pairs of bunches of bristles closed together near the mouth. Although in this volume the fishes and other vertebrates have received but little attention, we can not omit to mention the young fishes and fish eggs that form so large a part of the Fig. io 7 .-Youn g worm. surface fauna, especially in the spring and summer. The young of many fishes, which when full grown feed usually at the bottom, swim at the surface until an inch or two long, when they disappear and are hard to find until large enough to bite the hook. The young of the grubby, Cottus, of the lump-fish, Cyclopterus, and of the cod and hake swim near the surface in this way. In like manner the eggs o r many fishes float at the surface, as for instance those of the cod. They are very small and transparent so that they are invisible except in the most favorable light, but a line of them will often collect around the edge of the water and CUTTLE-FISHES. 89 they can then be seen with the naked eye, or better with a magnifying glass of low power. The development in these eggs goes on rapidly and those which appear perfectly clear when taken will some- times show the next day a very fish-like embryo. The young fishes hatch in -a very immature state with a large ball of yolk still attached under them, and may often be taken at the surface in this condition, so transparent that they could hardly be found except by their color marks. Among the largest swimming animals are the squids or cuttle-fishes, Fig. 1 08. The common species are well known to fishermen, by whom they are caught for bait, and are about a foot in length with a distinct head with large and bright eyes, in front of which are the ten strong arms covered on the inner side with suckers. The mouth is provided with a strong beak, like that of a bird, and has within a tongue covered with rasping teeth like the tongues of snails. The Fig. 108. Squid, Loligo palllda. One- third natural size. 90 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. food is held by the arms and bitten off and scraped to pieces before being swallowed. The method of swimming practised by the squid is a very curious one. On the under side is a large chamber, nearly as large as the rest of the body, which contains the gills and the water which surrounds them. The opening to this chamber is by a slit just back of the head which can be closed when the animal wishes. In the middle of this slit is a flexible tube which can also be closed. When the animal wishes to swim it closes the sides of this slit and forces out the water through the tube, driving itself backward like a rocket. The direction can be changed by turning the tube and it can even shoot itself forward by pointing the tube backward. In the " Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound/' Smith and Harger give the following account of the habits of the squid, Ommastrepfas illecebrosa, at Provincetown, Mass., which they watched along the wharves, July 28, engaged in capturing and devouring the young mack- erel which were swimming about in schools, and at that time were four or five inches long. " In attacking the mackerel they would suddenly dart backward among the fish with the velocity of an arrow, and as suddenly turn obliquely to the right or left and seize a fish, which was almost instantly killed by a bite in the back of tbe neck with the sharp beaks. The bite was always made in the same place, cutting out a trian- gular piece of flesh, and was deep enough to penetrate to the spinal cord. The attacks were not always successful, and were sometimes repeated a dozen times before one of these active and wary fishes could be caught. Sometimes after making several unsuccessful attempts, one of the squids would suddenly drop to the bottom, and, resting on the sand, CUTTLE-FISHES. 9 1 would change its color to that of the sand so as to be almost invisible. In this way it would wait until the fishes came back, and when they were swimming close to or over the ambuscade, the squid, by a sudden dart, would be pretty sure to secure a fish. Ordinarily, when swimming they were thickly spotted with red and brown, but when darting among the mackerel they appear translucent and pale. The mack- erel, however, seemed to have learned that the shallow water is safest for them and would hug the shore as closely as pos- sible, so that in pursuing them many of the squids became stranded and perished by hundreds, for when they once touch Fig, 109. Cluster of eggs of Loligo Pealti. the shore they begin to pump water from their siphons with great energy, and this usually forces them farther and farther up the beach." The changes of color which they undergo to make them- selves more like their surroundings are caused by changes in the size of their color spots, which are constantly taking place and can be best observed in young specimens. The squids have one very peculiar habit. Inside the tube, through which the water is discharged' from the gill chamber, is a bag in which ink is secreted and when the squid is anx- ious to escape, it discharges some of it into the water, which is instantly blackened so that the squid can not be seen. 9 2 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. The eyes of squids are large and they are to some extent nocturnal in their habits and will collect around a light so that they can be driven ashore in large numbers. The eggs of one of the squids, Lohgo Pealii, are laid in clusters enclosed in jelly, and stuck together in large masses which are sometimes washed up on the shore, Fig. 109. The body of the squid is stiffened by an elastic piece called the pen, Fig. no, which is in the skin of the back and is of various shapes in different kinds of squids. The cuttle-fish bone used for canary birds is the pen of a short-bodied cuttle-fish. Farther out to sea there are larger squids which are occasionally found in the stomachs of fishes or whales, or thrown ashore dead or disabled. Within the last few years several specimens of gigantic squids have been cast ashore at Newfoundland from which measure- ments have been taken and parts of them preserved. One of the most complete of these was taken whole to New York and is preserved in a somewhat damaged condition at the New York Aquarium. When fresh this specimen measured nine and one-half feet from the tip of the tail to the base of the arms and was seven feet in circumference. The length of each of the long tentacular arms was thirty feet and of the longest of the other arms eleven feet. The largest suckers were an inch in diameter and had a row of sharp teeth around the edge. Fig. no. Pen of a Squid, Loligo fallida. CUTTLE-FISHES. 93 Fig. 1 1 1 is copied from a restored drawing of this specimen Fig. in. A large squid, Architeuthis princeps, one- fiftieth natural size. [Restored from the specimen in New York by Prof. Verrill.] by Prof. Verrill, lately published in the Proceedings of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences. 94 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. It can easily be imagined that such creatures as these could drown a man, or upset a boat, and they have furnished ma- terial for many fabulous accounts of sea-serpents and devil- fishes. These large squids are probably more numerous than was formerly sup- posed, as since the recent finding of several thrown up on the shore, numerous fishermen have re- ported seeing them near the fishing banks and have, in some cases, caught and used them for bait. Pieces of them sound enough to be recog- nized have often been seen by whalemen, thrown up from the stomach of whales when dying, and some of the largest jaws of squids known have been taken in this way. The Pteropods, Figs. 112 and 113, are another group of surface animals which swim by two wing-like appendages just behind the head. Fig. 1 1 2 is one of these, Clione papillo- nacea, from a sketch by Prof. Verrill. The mouth is at the upper end surrounded by six tentacles. The short appen- dages between the wings correspond to the "foot" of snails, Fig. 112. Clione papillonace a. PTEROPODS. 95 and the apparatus at the side belongs to the reproductive organs. This species is not common, living usually at some distance from land. Other Pteropods have shells, that of Styliola vitrea being a long cone, of Spirialis a spiral, and of Cavolina tridentata, Fig. 113, a complicated shape. They all, however, swim in the. same way by a pair of wings which are extended out of the shell. Many snails swim at the surface when young by means of cilia on two wing-like appendages similar to those of Ptero- pods, but which disappear as the snail grows up. These temporary appendages are nowhere more distinct than in the young of the naked mollusks which lose not only these but the shell, when they become adult. This is best ob- served in the young of Eolis diversa. Over the lower part of the mouth -. Fig. 113. Pteropod, Cavolina. of the shell extends the foot, covered with cilia and carrying the flat "operculum" which, when the animal is entirely contracted, closes the shell. Above are the lobes which have around their edges long cilia by which the young snail swims through the water. The large round objects seen inside are the ears. The eyes are on top of the head behind the swimming lobes. They swim much of the time when first hatched, but later rest oftener on the bottom. They can be easily raised from the eggs and kept a short time living in confinement. These Eolis young are almost transparent, but other species are brightly colored, usually around the edges of the swimming lobes just inside the large cilia, and can be easily seen in the water by these markings, LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. Fig. 114. They are apt to settle to the bottom when first caught and become mixed up with the sediment, but rise af- ter the water becomes quiet. They are less likely to gather around the edges of the dish than most surface ani- mals and swim up here Fig. 114. Veliger of unknown snail. , . .. . and there all over it. Most Ascidians are stationary when adult but swim free for a short time after hatching. Fig. 67 is the young of Molgula, a common ascidian under stones and among mussels. After swimming about for a time, the larvae attach themselves to the bottom, secrete a thick covering over them, lose the tail and transform into stationary animals. There are, however, other ascidi- ans which always swim or float, the Salpa, Figs. 115 and 116. They are as transparent as jelly-fishes, sometimes slightly reddish with blue around the edges of the mantle and about an inch long. They swim by forcing out water from the posterior respiratory opening. The white lines t Salpa CabottlTtea. '' fonmng Wlthm u< YOUNG STARFISHES. 97 running around the body are muscles. When they are mature there grows near the posterior end a chain of little Salpae united together in a double row of twenty or thirty pairs. As the chain grows larger it is dis- charged into the water and the Salpae grow up still con- nected together till the chain is a foot or more in length. The whole moves by the discharge of water from the bran- chial openings of the individuals composing it. Each member of these chains produces a single egg which develops into a soli- tary individual that in its turn produces another chain and so on alternately. They grow rap- idly and sometimes the water is completely filled with them. The young of starfishes and sea- eggs have already been men- tioned (pp. 6 1 and 63). They swim deep during the day .but rise to the surface in the even- 6W * a cdbotttTte. ing and get into the net some- Fi s- II6 - $&*> an individual from a mature chain; c, the processes times in considerable numbers. by which they are ] They can, however, be raised artificially by opening a mature female and discharging the eggs into water and then opening a male into the same water and after stirring, changing the water until no floating bits are left to decay. If they be kept cool and the water changed daily the development will go on regularly and can be watched from day to day. As soon as the young begin to swim, the water can be 7 98 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. changed by drawing it off below them with a siphon and they can be raised in this way as long as they con- tinue to float. In the early part of the summer, little round spots of a very deep orange-red color are found at the surface. They move slowly by means of cilia all over them, but later have a circle of five tentacles at one end and two at the other, Fig. 117. These are the young of a large holothurian, Lophofhuria, which will be de- scribed further on. Later in the season these red larvae settle to the bottom and may be Fig. n 7 . Young found among stones at low water with the Lophothurian. tentacles branched and scales on one side like the adult. Along with these round red larvse occur the similarly colored larvae of Cribrella, Fig. 82. Perhaps the most curious animals in the surface fauna are the jelly-fishes ; some of them as transparent as water, and containing so large a proportion of- it that, when dried, there is hardly substance enough left to show where they were- The larger species are familiar objects all along the coast in the early summer. Beginning in February and March as little disks not more than a quarter of an inch across, in the course of the season they reach a diameter of a foot or more and swim out several miles from the shore ; and, before autumn, having dropped their eggs, they become opaque and dilapidated and are thrown up here and there on the beach. The most interesting part of their history, however, is that in their earliest stages most of them pass through complicated changes between the egg and adult. JELLY-FISHES. 99 To begin with one of the best known let us trace the growth of the large white jelly-fish, A urelia, Fig. 118. In this jelly-fish are four colored masses half-way between the Fig. 118. Common white jelly-fish, Aurelia flavidula. mouth and the rim which consist of eggs. Late in the sum- mer, if the animal is put in a pan of water some of these become loose and slowly creep about on the bottom. If examined closely, they are seen to be covered with cilia and it is by these that their motions are kept up. These eggs, or larvae as they may now be called, are dropped loose in the water and those which happen to find suitable resting ' .places become attached by one end and soon Young 'of the white open a mouth at the other, surrounded by ten- Jeiiy-fi? h * - A it r eli a . tacles something like a minute sea-anemone, Firststa s e - Fig. 119. They live in this way all winter, and some of them longer, for they may be found under stones in the IOO LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. early summer. In the spring these polyps elongate and divide transversely into a pile of jelly-fishes, Fig. 120, which drop off one by one and swim away, Fig. 121. At this stage they do not look much like the adult, but have eight long arms forked at the ends and between these as many rounded lobes. It is by no means rare, however, to find one with a larger number of branches, twelve being a common number. As they grow larger the lobes increase Fig. 120. Fig. i2i. Young jelly-fishes ready to separate and swim away. more rapidly than the arms, so that the outline of the animal soon becomes a circle slightly scolloped. The forked arms carry between the prongs the eyes of the jelly-fish and these remain in the adult. As the lobes grow, they develop along the outer edge a fringe of five tentacles ; and at the same time four large tentacles grow around the mouth, and the ovaries begin as four clusters of tubes. The radiating branched lines running from centre to circumference (see Fig. ^ii 8) are tubes which branch from the central stomach and run to a circular tube around the outer edge of the animal and are the only circulating vessels that it has. It JELLY-FISHES. > J > swims from the first by contracting itselt around the edge suddenly and then slowly spreading again for another stroke ; but it moves slowly and does not appear able to go far in a definite direction but to drift about with the currents, moving only enough to circulate the water around it and to change the depth at which it floats. The red jelly-fish, Cyanea arctica, develops in much the same way, but it grows much larger and floats in deeper water. The tentacles which hang from the edge are longer and much more numerous, trailing out behind sometimes for ten feet from the disk. These tentacles have on them very strong nettle cells, and persons bathing are often stung by them so that their skin feels as if burnt. The white jelly- fish will sting the skins of some persons, even the hands, in the same way, but is harmless to most persons. In spite of their stings, these jelly-fishes furnish shelter for ome other swimming animals. Certain little fishes hide under them and swim in and out at pleasure, though occa- sionally one gets caught and swallowed. An amphipod crustacean, Hyperia, lives on them and there is a species of sea-anemone, Peachia parasitica, Fi Fig. 122. Peachia parasitica. ON THE SEASHORE. 122, that lives in the pockets around the mouth and should be looked for whenever one of these jelly-fishes is captured. It is impossible to preserve these large jelly-fishes satisfacto- rily, but small ones under an inch in diameter can be kept very well in alcohol which should be used at first weak and gradually strengthened, so that the animal will contract with- out becoming distorted. As is usual, however, in such work, Fig. 123. Obelia. several specimens will be spoiled for every good one. The development of other jelly-fishes goes on in a similar complicated way. In the water from the surface net, there are almost always some little flat, and very active jelly-fishes, Obelia, Fig. 123. They are usually about an eighth of an inch in diameter and are very transparent so that they are not easily seen until they move. Instead of the branching radiating tubes of the large jelly-fishes, they have four simple JELLY-FISHES. 103 ones connecting the stomach with a circular tube around the edge. The stomach hangs down in the centre and has a four-lobed mouth. The outer edge of the animal has a fringe of tentacles spreading out nearly flat, and at the bases of some of these are eyes. The four round bodies hanging from the four radiating tubes are the ovaries usually filled with eggs in various stages of development. These eggs grow up into branching hydroids, Fig. 124, with a mouth and tentacles on the end of each branch, and form a part of the feathery growths so common just below low water mark. All the branches, however, do hot produce mouths and tentacles ; but some o^ them form long capsules filled with little round bodies that gradually grow into jelly- fishes, and are discharged into the water where they grow up and lay the eggs for another generation. Another method of growth is that of Coryne mirabilis, Fig. 125, which is one of the most common jelly-fishes. It has the same four radiating tubes as those just described, but only four tentacles, one at the end of each tube with an eye at the base of each tentacle. The stomach is very long, ex- tending out of the bell, and small Crustacea may often be seen in it in process of digestion. This species swims more strongly than those with flat disks. The eggs form around the stomach and after they are laid grow up into stationary animals (see Figs. 97 and 98), with a mouth at the tip and tentacles along the sides for some distance below it. Among Fig. 124. Obeh'a coin m issrt rail's. One of the upper branches has the tentacles fully expanded. The lower branch is filled with buds which grow into jelly-fishes. 104 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. these tentacles, buds grow out after a time which take the shape of little jelly-fishes fastened by the top (see Fig. 97), and these finally drop off and swim away. One of the commonest jelly-fishes in early spring is the Fig. 125. Coryne wzV drachma polyclz- prina islandica (page 115), a deep-water na ' Male round clam, may be found in the harbor mud, especially small ones. Among the worms may be found Clymenella torquata (page 25), which manages to pick out sand enough to make its tubes and Trophonia affinis (page 116), a worm with long bristles extending forward from the head among which .six soft appendages are thrust out after it has remained a short time in water. The appendages on the segments be- hind the head are all short and the body tapers toward the tail. This is often dug at low water on muddy shores, but small specimens have been found in considerable numbers 122 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. swimming at the surface in Beverly harbor. Nereis virens, the common bait worm (page 23), Nephthys ingens and Nephthys cceca, are also common mud worms ; the latter have short appendages and a short proboscis with a circle of papillae around the end that is thrust out when they are put in alcohol. Where the mud is hard, Diopatra cuprea (page 117), may be found, a large and showy worm with a pair of spiral gills rilled with red blood on each segment. It makes a strong tube which extends above the sand two or three inches and is there covered half an inch thick with pieces of stone and shell. It draws down below the surface quickly when touched and the tubes are oftener dredged than the worms. It lives, however, above low water in some places and can be got better with a spade. The conical shells of Cistenides Gouldii are often found in sand and mud some- times with the worm enclosed. The snails are chiefly those which can be found at low water, among them Lunatia heros (page 48), and its near relative, Never ita du- plicata, whose shell is not so round and has a thickened brown piece turning out of the mouth around the middle of it. The young of Lunatia heros are often marked with three rows of spots running around the shell, sometimes inside as well as outside. Illyanassa obsoleta (page 50) is another mud snail and where it is a little cleaner, Tritia trivittata (page 50), one of the most active snails of the shore/ Fig. 148. Phascolosomo cementarium. Enlarged. WORMS. 123 Where the bottom is hard enough to hold it grows the " devil's apron," Laminaria, a brown seaweed with a round stalk like India rubber and a flat blade three or four feet long and six or eight inches wide. It is attached to stones and shells by small clinging branches from the base, and among these hide away a great many animals most of them the same as found at low water on gravelly shores. Among them are the scaly worms, the long- armed starfishes, and several mud worms, Polycirrus, de- scribed on page 25 and Am- phitrite (page 1 1 8) a large flesh- colored worm with long soft appendages at the head, and the rest of the body enclosed in a soft tube of mud. The Laminaria is often attached to a large mussel and brings it up with it, sometimes the common species and some- times the red mussel, Modi- ola modiolus. The shells seem to be held tightly together by the seaweed but the mussels are usually alive. The dredge often gets into this Laminaria by mistake and comes up covered with it, but if it is dredged for purposely, a grappling hook of some kind is better. After cutting off the roots the rest of the Laminaria should be looked over, before being thrown away, for polyzoa and hydroids which often cover large surfaces upon it. At very low tides the Laminaria can be got at without dredging Fig. 149. Shell of Buccinum undatuin . 124 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. and there are always chances of pulling it up on fish-hooks and anchors and finding it on open shores after storms. The dredging on rocky bottoms near the shore is cleaner work, but it needs more care in the management of the boat and wears more on the dredge and rope. Comparatively little is taken up from rocky bottoms, for the more active ani- mals hide in the crevices, and only those attached to the upper surface or among the weeds are in the way of the dredge. The motion of the dredge over rocks can be felt by hold- ing the rope, or even at a distance from it by the jarring of the boat. A strong dredge with a sound canvas cover over the net should be used, with a rope strong enough to hold in case of a sudden strain. On such ground the dredge jumps along picking up a little here and there and finally gets caught among the rocks and will only let go when the boat is hauled back over it, or sometimes the small line breaks and it comes up sidewise. The dredge will generally be full of red seaweeds covered round the base with polyzoa consist- ing largely of Membranipora pilosa and Crisia eburnea (page 60), but mixed with it are many other beautiful species which need more careful examination to tell them apart than can be given between the hauls of the dredge, so it is well to cut off the incrusted parts of the weeds and keep them in clean water till they can be looked over. There are some polyzoa to be found here that have soft shells and grow round the stems of rockweed and Irish moss. The best specimens from rocky bottoms come up with loose stones that will almost always be found here and there, and shells of Mussels and Cyprina mactra. Few living CHITONS. 125 mollusks expose themselves where they can get into the dredge; but Crepidula fornicata (page 19), and Crucibulum Fig. 150. Pentacta frondosa , partly expanded. striatiirn, a similar shell but smaller and with grooves from the apex to the edge, come up attached to stones. Several Chitons are also common on stones. These are snails with thick skin on the back in which are eight shelly plates lapping over each other like fish scales. The head and foot are concealed beneath and the gills are 126 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. in two grooves on each side just over the foot. They cling closely to stones and resemble them in color. Leptochiton apiculatus, which is common south of Cape Cod, is dirty white like the stones among which it lives, while Trachydermon r uber, Fig. 145, a common species farther north is bright red, and lives on stones incrusted with "nullipores " of the same color. This nullipore is a plant as hard as stone that covers the stones and shells in certain places, and even the backs of crabs and lobsters with a reddish coating usually flat and smooth but rising in places into ridges and knobs. The spores grow in little hollows in the surface. Trachydermon ruber and Chiton m&rmoreus hide themselves readily on this crust, and so does another nearly white species, Trachy- dermon albus. Another Chiton, Amicula Emersonii, lives in the same localities and is dirty brown like the bare stones and has branching hairs on the back. The shells of this species are small and nearly covered up by the skin. The rocky bottoms are favorite places for the naked mol- lusks. Doto coronata, a small species with club-shaped red papillae dotted with black, is very common and so are the green Polycera Lessonii and Elysiella catulus. The former is half an inch to an inch in length, with bright, yellow spots on the ends of the tubercles and yellow tipped gills ; the latter half as large, and dark green with sometimes white spots. Fig. 151. Ascidians covered with sand. CRUSTACEA. 127 Among the red seaweed lives a long-legged red crab, Hyas coarctatus, shaped something like the spider crab (page 44), but not more than an inch or two long and red colored. Its motions are very slow, and its back and legs are covered with seaweeds which grow there as long as the crab, so that it is hard to find. Hippolyte Grcenlandica, a shrimp two or three inches long is also bright red like the seaweed. Several other shrimps are also found and a Caprella (page 46), col- ored like red seaweed. Some of the stones often have white tubes attached to them which belong to worms of the genus Serpula. These have a wreath of feather- shaped tenta- cles or branchiae around the head which are expanded when the worm is at rest. A Spiror- bis with a more delicate shell than the common shore species in an open spiral also occurs on the seaweed. Fig. 152. Pandaliis annul ic amis. The shore starfishes and es- pecially the sea-eggs are very common on rocky bottoms and it is not uncommon to get a dredge full of the latter mixed with stones. The common sea-anemone and another kind, the thick- armed sea-anemone, Urticina crassicornis, are both found on stones ; the latter has fewer and thicker tentacles and is red, or marked with red spots, around the sides and bases of the 128 IJFE ON THE SEASHORE. tentacles. They sometimes contract so as to be almost flat. In some places the whole bottom is covered with small stones and coarse gravel which come up in large quantities in the dredge, bringing with them the same animals which escape when attached to larger stones. Sometimes immense numbers of shells of dead bivalves are mixed with the stones or even form the whole covering of the bottom. Shells of Mytilus and Modiola often occur in this way, and also those of Cyprina islandica and Mactra solidissima in places where a living specimen of either species is seldom found ; for they hold on or dig into the bottom when alive and so are passed over by the dredge. These shelly bottoms are favorite places for hermit crabs (page 45), which inhabit the dead snails' shells of all kinds, especially those of Lunatia heros of various sizes. The shells inhabited by crabs are often covered with a growth of white or pink animals, Hydractinia polyclina, Figs. 146 and 147, which should be carefully examined. They form a crust all over .the shell from which extend upward little polyps some- thing like Clava, but of several different kinds in different parts of the colony. In some spots most of the individuals are females with ovaries along the sides filled with eggs and mixed with them are other sterile ones. In other places a large part are males mixed with sterile ones of a different kind. Many of the smaller shells are occupied in another way by a 4< Sipunculoid worm" Phascolosoma cementarium, Fig. 148, a common species on the northern coasts of New England. "This worm takes possession of a dead shell of some small Gasteropod, like the hermit-crab, but as the aperture is always WORMS. I2 9 too large for the passage of its body, it fills up the space around it with a very hard and durable cement, composed of mud and sand united together by a secretion from the animal* leaving only a small, round opening, through which the worm can extend the anterior part of its body to the distance of one or two inches, and into which it can entirely withdraw at will. It thus lives perma- nently in its borrowed shell, dragging it about wherever it wishes to go, by the powerful contractions of its body, which can be extended in all direc- tions and is very changeable in form. When fully extended the forward or retractile part is long and slender, and fur- nished close to the end with a circle of small, slender tenta- cles, which surr(Tund the mouth ; there is a band of minute spinules just back of the tentacles ; the anal orifice is at the base of the retractile part ; the region posterior to "this has a firmer and more granulous skin, and is furnished toward the posterior end with a broad band of recurved spines, which evidently aid it in retaining its position in the shell. As it grows too large for its habitation, instead of changing it for a larger shell as the hermit-crabs do, "C'nciola irrorata Say. Fig. 153. Unciola irrorata. 130 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. it gradually extends its tube outward beyond the aperture by adding new materials to it. A larger sipunculoid, Phascolosoma Gouldii, lives in grav- elly bottoms near low water where it is hard digging. The dead shells are usually full of holes running along under the surface, so that they are completely honeycombed and break in pieces easily. These holes are inhabited by worms which can not easily be pulled out, but creep out themselves after they IVlg. 154. Margarita have been standing for some time without the ooscura, water being changed. Some of these holes in shells are caused by sponges which fill them up and ex- tend little finger-shaped processes through the surface of the shell. On the southern coast of New England two of the largest snails on the coast are found on these bottoms, Sycotypus canaliculatus and Fulgur carica, with shells six or eight inches long. Crepidula fornicata is very common and sometimes the bottom is covered with its dead shells. Buccinum itndatum, Fig. 149, is a com- Fig. \*&.Astarte mon shell farther north, up to low water. This is the English "Whelk," and in Europe is much used as an article of food. On both rocks and shells are often found white or variously colored masses looking like pork or tapioca pudding. These are compound ascidians of the genera Amaroscium and Leptoclinum. The individuals are very small and connected by a thick jelly-like substance through which are the open- HOLOTHURIANS. 131 ings by which the water passes in and out. The structure is best seen by cutting a slice. With the starfishes and echini there occurs, south of Cape Cod, a dark purple Holothurian, Thyone Briareus, four or five inches long, covered with fine papillae all over the surface, and in Massachusetts bay and farther north, Pentacta fron- dosa, Fig. 150, the largest Holothurian of the coast. This is dark brown, five or six inches long and shaped like a cu- cumber, with five grooves from one end to the other in which are five rows of suckers. When expanded in water it puts out a circle of ten branching tentacles and may be preserved partly expanded by tying a string around below them before it has time to draw them in. Another Holothurian, Caudina arenata, lives buried in sand, but is sometimes washed ashore after storms. It is shaped quite differently from Pentacta, one end of the body being drawn out narrow so that it can be extended up to the surface while the rest is buried. The mouth is at the end of this narrow portion. On sandy bottoms the "sand-dollar" is sometimes dredged in great quantities, as are also several Ascidians that cover themselves with a coating of sand which adheres even after they are taken out of the water, Fig. 151. While they are contracted they are entirely concealed and look like balls of sand ; but when at rest they put out two tubes, at the ends of which are the holes through which the water runs in and out. The animals which have been mentioned thus far are the ones most likely to be met with along the northern coast in bays and harbors, and we will now only mention a few which I 3 2 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. live in colder and deeper water, at different depths in differ- ent places, on hard, muddy, or sandy bottoms. The common shrimp, Crangon vulgaris (page 36), is found from low water down to a considerable depth, where another stouter species, Crangon boreas, occurs with a more spiny shell and marked with spots of reddish-brown. The most common deep water shrimp is Pandalus annitlicornis, Fig. 152; it often gets into the dredge and still oftener into the trawl, and usually dies before reaching the surface. It is partly transparent and marked with red on the edges of the segments. Another species, Pandalus borealis, grows larger, five or six inches long, and lives in deeper water. Both species are good eating, but the front part of the body con- taining the stomach should be thrown away. With these are several other shrimps of the genus Hippolyte, most of them beautifully marked with red. There are two Amphipods which are commonly found, in dredging, on various kinds of bottom and even at low water, and might have been mentioned before. One is Undo la irrorata, Fig. 153. It is covered with red and white mark- ings when fresh, and is much more flattened up and down Fig. 156. Sternaspis fossor. AMPHIPODS. 133 than most of the group, so that it can rest back up. The other is a stout species, Ptilocheirus pinguis, which is gray or purplish with a lighter border round the segments. Fig. 157. Boltenia Bolteni, a long-stalked Ascidian. Among the snails besides Lunatia hcros, a much smaller 134 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. species, Lunatia immaculata, is common. It is white, smoother and more pointed than the large species. Buccinum undatum (page 123), is still found here. Fusus decemcostatus is a large shell two or three inches long with high ridges around it. Margarita obscura, Fig. 154, and other species of Margarita are short shells with ridges run- ning around them and they have a pearly color. Menestho albula is a long whitish shell about an inch long. Scalaria Grcenlandica is an inch to an inch and a half long, and has raised ridges running across it at short distances apart. Fig. 158. Terebratulina septentrtonalis. There are several naked snails here that are not found near the shore. One of these is Dendronotus robustus, a stouter species than arborescens (page 52), with a wider head and shorter gills. There are also several species of Eolis. Among the bivalves are Astarte sulcata, Fig. 155, Astarte castanea, a smooth species, and Astarte quadrans. Nucula delphinodonta is a little shell that looks like a grain of gravel and is often found mixed with it. Ledo tenuisul- cata is a thin shining shell like Yoldia limatula (page 114), but smaller and with one end long and narrow. There are two very conspicuous worms, one a small worm BRACHIOPODS. Sternaspis fossor, Fig. 156 (much enlarged), with a pair of little shells on its back. The other is one of the largest worms, Aphrodite aculcata, which grows to be four or five inches long and two inches wide. It is related to the scaly worms (page 26), and is covered with long bristles of various shapes that curve up over the back and make it look like a small quadruped covered with fur. Small specimens are oftener found than those of the largest size. The most conspicuous of the deeper water ascidians is Boltenia Bolteni, Fig. 157, which gets to be two or three inches long and has a stem six or eight inches long by which it is attached to the bottom. Small individuals are often found on seaweed. Another large Ascidian is Cynthia pyriformis, which becomes even larger, but is attached by a wide base to the bottom. It is sometimes brightly colored red and yellow like a peach. The common Terebratulina septentri- onalis, Fig. 158, is attached to stones or lumps of mud by a short stem. It has an upper and under shell which open a short distance when alive and show the two spiral arms or gills at the sides of the mouth. This does not belong with the bivalve mollusks but to the Brachiopods, a class of animals of which there are very few living species, but great numbers of fossils. The shells are often covered by a sponge which grows larger than the shell itself. Fig. 159 - nan I Corymorpha pcndnla. The thick end of the stem extends below the sand. 136 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. On the same bottom with Tewbratala grow many sponges. Grantia riliata is an egg-shaped sponge with an opening in the upper end surrounded by long needles. A species of Polymastia grows over stones or shells and has long papillae extending up from various parts of it which have their spicules arranged in two sets, one running length- wise and the other around so as to form nearly square open- ings. These sometimes get torn off and come up alone in the dredge. A species of Tethya grows in flat masses covered Fig, 160, Altyonium carneum. Three polyps, enlarged four times. with long fine spicules like hairs. Other sponges grow in large soft yellow masses that fall to pieces soon after leaving the water. Where the bottom is sandy, one of the commonest animals is Corymorpha pendula, Fig. 159. It is colored pink and white and grows six inches long. The dilated end of the stem is embedded in the sand. There is a compound polyp, Alcyonium carneum, Fig. 1 60, that grows in large flesh colored clusters attached to stones. These clusters are entirely soft and make no coral. ECHINODERMS. 137 On this bottom are several other Echinoderms. The Lopho- thuria Fabricii, Fig. 161, is one of the commonest. While Pentacta has a soft body with fine rows of suckers all alike, Fig. 161. Lophotlmria Fabricii expanded, turned up so as to show the -soft under side. the Lophothuria has only one side soft and the three rows of suckers belonging to it. The other side is covered with hard 138 LIFE ON THE SEASHORE. scales of a bright red color. The animal rests and crawls on the soft side so that it does not look at all like a radiate animal. The tentacles round the mouth are usually drawn in when they come up, but after resting a short time in water they will expand like those of Pentacta. The same starfishes as are on the shore are found down to considerable depths and with them a more delicate white one. Leptasterias tenera and a ten-armed one, Solaster endeca. Great numbers of interesting animals are brought up by fishermen in lobster-traps, seines and even on fish-hooks, es- pecially where the latter are left down a long time as on "trawls ;" but it is hard to induce these men to bring in any- thing except marketable fishes even for a fair price. When this can be done, however, a surprising quantity of new ani- mals is sure to be found, as has been the case at Gloucester during the past few years where fishermen have become inter- ested in the work of the U- S. Fish Commission and have brought in cartloads of things that were formerly thrown away and were almost unknown to naturalists. Other animals, especially shells, are to be found in the stomachs of fishes which have swallowed them in deep water, and great numbers of interesting things have been collected from this source. INDEX, INDEX. PAGE PAGE Actinia 67 Cerebratulus 27 Alcyonium carneum 136 Chiton marmoreus 126 Amaroscium . 130 Chitons 125 Amicula Emersonii 126 Cistenides Gouldii . . 24, 122 28, 44 Common clam 19, 2O, 21 Aniphitrite 123 Clava 73 Angulus tener 121 Clione papillionacea 94 Animals between tides . . I-IO Clymenella torquata 24, 25 Animals below tides 33 Copepods 82 Anomia 19 Coral .... 70 Aphrodite aculeata 135 Corymorpha pendula 136 Ascidians 56-130, 135 Coryne mirabilis 74, 125 Ascidians compound TQO Crabs .... 38 Asterias *^* 59 Crangon 132 Astrangia 70 Crepidula fornicata 18, 1*5, 130 Astarte castanea 134 Cribrella 98 Astarte quadrans . 134 Crisia eburnea . . 124 Astarte sulcata 134 Ctenophorse 106 Autolytus . 55, 86 Cumacea 86 Aurelia 99 Cuttlefishes 8-9 Cyanea . . . IOI Barnacles ii Cynthia pyriformis 135 Beach animals . 11-32 Cyprina islandica 121 Beach snails 16 Blue crab 4* Dendronotus arborescens . 48,134 Bolina .... n>7 Dendronotus robustus . 134 Boltenia bolteni i35 Devil's apron 16 Bottom animals 109 Diopatra cuprea 122 Brachiopods . 135 Doto coronata . 48, 126 Buccinum undatum ton IQA T) A Burrowing worms * j^t 1 34 23 g Echinus 6 3 Caligus 85 Elysiella catulus 126 Callinectes 41 Eohs .... . 48, 134 Cancer , 38 Caprella 44 Fabricia Leidyi 55 Caudina arenata . . 1 3 1 Fiddler crabs 3 Cephalopods 89 Fish eggs 88 142 INDEX. .PAGE" PAGE Fulgur carica 130 Metridium marginatum 67 Fusus decemcostatus T 34 Megalops 39 Membranipora pilosa 124 Gammarus 28 Menestho albula 134 Gelasimus 3 Modiola modiolus '6, 123 Modiola plicatula J 5 Hen clam 21 Molgula 56 Hermit crabs 43 Mud worms . 2 3 Hippolyte groenlandica 121 Mussels 14 Holothurians . 66, 131 Mya arenaria 19 Horseshoe crab 44 Mysis .... 85 Hyas coarctatus 127 Mytilus edulis 14 Hybocodon . 105 Hydractinia . 128 Naked snails 47 Hydroids 74 Nanomia 105 Hyperia 86 Nassa obsoleta . 46, 122 Nemertines . . . 26 Idotaea . . 29, 86 Nephthys . . . 122 Idyia . . . 107 Nereis .... 23, 86, 122 Infusoria . . 78 Nereis virens . 23, 186 Isopods . - 29, 85 Neverita duplicata 122 Nicolea simplex 54 Jelly-fishes . . . 98 Nucula delphinodonta . 134 Nudibranchs . 47, 126 Lacuna vincta . . 46 T aminAria Obelia _ _ Ledo tenuisulcata 134 Oceania languida 104 Lepidonotus . 26 Ophiurans . . 62 Leptasterias tenera . . 1 3 8 Oyster 49 Leptochiton apiculatus 126 Oyster crab 41 Leptoclinum I 3 Leptoplana variabilis 2 7 Pandalus 132 Leptosynapta Girardii 66 Panopaeus 4 Limnoria . Pecten . CT Limpet 39 18 Pedicellariae . . f>A Limulus . 44 Pentacta frondosa 125,131-137,138 Lineus viridis 26 Periwinkle J 7 Littorina . . . 17, 18 Phascolosoma cementarium 128 Littorina litorea 17 Phascolosoma Gouldii . 130 Littorina palliata . 17 Physalia 106 Littorina rudis . 17 Planarians 27 Lobster 34 Platyonichus . . 41 Lophothuria . . . 98 Pleurobrachia . . 107 Lophothuria Fabricii > 137 Polycera Lessonii 126 Lunatia heros 17, 45, 132, 133 Polycirrus 25, 123 Lunatia immaculata 134 Polymastra . . 136 Polyp, compound . 136 Macoma fusca .22, 121 Polyzoa . . . 58,124 Mactra solidissima 21 Portuguese man-of-war 106 Margarita obscura 134 Pteropods . . . 94 INDEX. 143 Ptilocheirus pinguis Purpura lapillus Purpura lapillus, eggs of, PAGE 133 16 J 7 Surface animals . . Sycotypus canaliculatus . Tangle .... PAGE 8l I 3 Quahaug . . . Razor clam Round clam . Sagartia leucolena 21 . 20 21 6 9 88 Tectura testudinalis Terebratulina septentrionalis Teredo Tethya .... Thyone briareus Tiaropsis . . . . Tima formosa 18 *35 52 136 131 104 104 126 Salpa .... Sand dollar Saxicava Scaly worms Scollop 96 . 66, 131 20 26 Tritia trivittata . . . Trophonia affinis . . . Tubularia . . ... 46, 122 121 7 2 Sea anemone Sea egg . . Ship worm . Shore animals 6 7 6 3 : * Urosalpinx cinerea Urticina crassicornis Venus mercenarea 17 127 21 Siliqua costata Solaster endeca Spider crab . Sponges Squids .... Starfishes 22 .38 42 75, 135, 136 89 Worms . . . Worm tubes . . . Yoldia limatula Zoea 23,54 24 I2I-I34 38 Sternaspis fossor 135 LD 21- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY