The last is one of the most beautiful of the larger Macrourans. Its general tint is pale flesh colour, with darker shades in parts, its pubescence light brown. This is generally considered a northern species, but Mr. Bell states that he has received specimens from the Mediterranean. It is found plentifully on the coast of Norway, on the Scottish coast, and in the Bay of Dublin. It is considered the most delicate of all the Crustaceans.
Fig. 339. Crangon vulgaris, a, Anterior foot or claw.
Before concluding this chapter, we perhaps should not omit brief notices of the common prawn (Palæmon serratus) and the shrimp (Crangon vulgaris), as types of an extensive variety of form of crustacea, which inhabit all seas, and which perform important functions as regards the sanitary state and economic condition of the waters of the ocean. These small animals are the scavengers of the sea—they pick up and devour all dead matter, leaving (it may be) a clean skeleton, without a shred of fibre behind. In this respect they resemble the ants on land, doing their work always thoroughly and effectively. We need hardly mention, what is so well known to every reader, that prawns and shrimps are amongst the most esteemed delicacies at our table, and as articles of food occupy no mean place on the fish-stall. At Billingsgate alone, it is hardly credible the immense quantities which arrive and are daily consumed in the Metropolis by all classes of the community. The shrimp, which although the smaller crustacean, is perhaps the finest flavoured of the two, is sold in much larger quantities than its more aristocratic congener, the prawn. The fishery of these savoury comestibles gives occupation not only to regular able-bodied fishermen, who devote themselves to this branch, but also to large numbers of women and children, who—with their baskets and small nets—may be seen plying their vocation in a multitude of well-known localities on our coasts, especially on the southern and south-eastern shores. To the habitués of Hastings, Southampton, Bognor, &c., there is not a more picturesque or familiar marine picture than to behold a troop of little shrimpers, in their grotesque and somewhat outré equipments, wading patiently knee deep all in a row, as they push before them their pole nets.
Without giving a detailed technical and anatomical description, which our space will not permit of, we may observe that the common prawn (Palæmon serratus) is about four or five inches long, with a rounded carapace, which is jointed and furnished at the head with numerous long antennæ, the eyes being large and round. The tail is broad and flat, the caudal laminæ of which are furnished with long hairs on the terminal margins. The animal is also furnished with several pairs of feet, very slender, and ordinarily bent within themselves.
The colour is light grey, spotted and lined with purplish shades. In the water, however, prawns are almost transparent, from the nearly entire absence of carbonate of lime in the carapace; they are thus very beautiful objects in the marine aquarium, moving as they do like shadows in the water.
When prawns are boiled, they become of a delicate pink colour, thus adding beauty to the dainty morceaux.
Like most other kinds of crustacea, the prawn is much larger in tropical climates. On the coast of South America, for instance, they attain a size of nine or ten inches in length, three of them being considered quite sufficient for a meal.
The London market is chiefly supplied with prawns from the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coast.
Like the prawn, the shrimp has many varieties. The common shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) is about two and a half inches long, from the eye to the extremity of the tail. It is also furnished with a rounded articulated carapace, with two antennæ. The eyes are prominent, marked, and near each other; the tail flat, laminated, and hirsute. The shrimp is not very unlike the prawn in general appearance, but is of a much less complex and finished structure.