The Sea-Shore, Shown to the Children

CHAPTER II. The Molluscs

THE MOLLUSCS

Plate VII. 1. and 2. The Cuttle VIII. 1. and 2. The Whelk IX. 1. The Dog Whelk ” 2. The Sting Winkle ” 3. The Periwinkle ” 4. The Dog Periwinkle ” 5. The Purpura X. 1. The Sea Snail ” 2. The Wentletrap XI. 1. The Common Limpet ” 2. The Key-Hole Limpet ” 3. The Smooth Limpet ” 4. The Cup and Saucer Limpet XII. 1. The Painted Top ” 2. The Grey Top ” 3. The Cowry ” 4. The Chiton

CHAPTER III. Bivalve Molluscs

BIVALVE MOLLUSCS

Plate XIII. 1. The Oyster ” 2. The Saddle Oyster ” 3. The Cockle XIV. 1. Inside of Mussel Shell ” 2. The Mussel ” 3. The Horse Mussel XV. 1. The Variable Scallop ” 2. The Radiated Scallop ” 3. The Hunchback Scallop XVI. 1. Inside of Sunset Shell ” 2. The Sunset Shell ” 3. The Gaper XVII. 1. The Piddock ” 2. and 3. The Little Piddock XVIII. 1. The Shipworm ” 2. Wood bored by Shipworm XIX. 1. The Razor ” 2. Top of Razor from Front ” 3. The Sabre Razor XX. The Pinna

CHAPTER IV. Crabs

CRABS

How Crabs Grow How Crabs See How Crabs Hear and Smell Plate XXI. The Edible Crab

XXII. 1. The Shore or Green Crab ” 2. The Fiddler Crab XXIII. 1. The Masked Crab ” 2. The Thornback Crab XXIV. 1. The Long-Beaked Spider Crab ” 2. The Four-Horned Spider Crab XXV. 1. The Pea Crab ” 2. and 2 A. Crab Caterpillars ” 3. and 3 A. Crab Chrysalids XXVI. 1. The Hermit Crab in Whelk Shell ” 2. The Hermit Crab out of Shell

CHAPTER V. Lobsters and Their Kin

LOBSTERS AND THEIR KIN

Plate XXVII. The Lobster XXVIII. 1. The Prawn ” 2. The Æsop Prawn ” 3. The Shrimp XXIX. 1. and 1 A. The Sandhopper ” 2. and 2 A. The Sand Screw XXX. 1. Acorn Shells ” 2. Ship Barnacles

CHAPTER VI. The Sea Worms

THE SEA WORMS

Plate XXXI. 1. The Sea Mouse ” 2. The Sabella XXXII. 1. and 2. The Serpula XXXIII. 1. The Terebella ” 2. The Lug Worm XXXIV. 1. The Nemertes ” 2. The Nereis

CHAPTER VII. Starfishes

STARFISHES

Plate Starfishes’ Legs XXXV. 1. The Five-Finger Starfish ” 2. The Bird’s-Foot Starfish XXXVI. The Sun Starfish XXXVII. The Brittle Starfish XXXVIII. 1. The Sea Urchin without Spines ” 2. The Sea Urchin with spines

CHAPTER VIII. Sea Cucumbers and Jellyfishes

SEA CUCUMBERS AND JELLYFISHES

Plate XXXIX. 1. The Sea Cucumber ” 2. The Common Jellyfish XL. 1. The Stinging Jellyfish ” 2. The Sea Acorn

CHAPTER IX SEA ANEMONES

How Sea Anemones are formed Plate XLI. 1. The Smooth Anemone ” 2. The Daisy Anemone XLII. 1. The Thick-Armed Anemone ” 2. The Snake-Locked Anemone

CHAPTER X. Madrepores, Corals, and Sponges

MADREPORES, CORALS, AND SPONGES

Plate XLIII. 1. The Madrepore ” 2. The Sea Finger XLIV. 1. The Tuft Coral ” 2. The Bread-Crumb Sponge ” 3. The Grantia Sponge ” 4. Foraminifera

CHAPTER XI. Sea-Weed

SEA-WEED

Plate XLV. 1. The Bladder-Wrack ” 2. The Oar Weed XLVI. 1. Coralline ” 2. Dulse XLVII. 1. The Green Laver ” 2. The Purple Laver XLVIII. 1. Carrageen Moss ” 2. The Sea Grass ” 3. The Grass Wrack

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book is intended to help little boys and girls to use their eyes. The world is full of beautiful sights and wonderful creatures; and some of the most beautiful and wonderful of all are to be seen on the sea-shore. So I have tried to tell boys and girls, who are fortunate enough to visit the sea-side, what they ought to look for, and where they ought to look for it. And I can assure them that if they will only take the trouble to see what there is to be seen, they will find fresh objects of interest as often as they go down upon the beach, and that a sea-side holiday will prove ten times as delightful as ever they found it before.

THEODORE WOOD.

THE SEA-SHORE

CHAPTER I. Fishes

FISHES

PLATE I

THE GOBIES (1 and 2)

In this little book I want to talk to you about some of the strange and wonderful creatures which you may find when you go to stay by the sea-side. And first of all I should like to tell you something about the fishes. A great many of these, of course, live in the deep water, where you cannot catch them, or even see them. But there are a good many others which you can find very easily indeed. All that you have to do is to wait until the tide has gone out, and then to go down and look into the pools which are left among the rocks. There you are almost sure to see a number of shadowy forms darting to and fro through the water. Some of these, most likely, will be shrimps and prawns, which are always very common in the rock-pools; but the others will be tiny fishes. And even if you have not got a net you can often catch them quite easily. Just bale out the water with a small pail, or even with your hands, until the pool is nearly empty, and you will be able to seize them with your fingers.

Among the fishes which can be caught in this manner are several kinds of Gobies. You can easily tell them from all other fishes by the curious way in which their lower fins are made. These fins are placed close together, so as to form a kind of cup-shaped sucker or soft pad, by means of which the little creatures can cling so firmly to the rocks that even a wave will not wash them from their hold. And if you take them home alive and put them into a basin full of sea-water, they will cling to the sides and stare at you in a most inquisitive way! Owing to this habit the gobies are often called “rock-fishes.”

The commonest of these odd little creatures, perhaps, is the Black Goby. But the Spotted Goby is very nearly as plentiful. It is rather hard to see, because it is coloured just like the sand at the bottom of the pool, on which it is very fond of resting. But if you scoop out the water from a shallow pool you will often find, not only the goby, but its nest as well. For this little fish makes a most curious nest in which to place its eggs. First of all it hunts about till it has found half an empty cockle-shell, lying at the bottom of the water with its hollow side downwards. It then scoops out the sand from underneath it, so as to form a little chamber about as big as a marble. You would think that the walls of this chamber would very soon fall in, wouldn’t you? But the fish smears them all over with a kind of slime, which very soon sets and becomes quite hard, just like cement. It then makes a tunnel leading into the chamber by means of which it can go in and out; and last of all it covers the cockle-shell all over with loose sand. So unless you look very carefully at the bottom of the pool you will not see the nest at all. But if you notice a kind of lump in the sand, and find that half a cockle-shell is buried underneath it, you may be pretty well sure that you have discovered the home of a spotted goby.

This nest is always made by the male fish, and when it is quite finished his mate comes and lays her eggs in it. Then for eight or nine days he remains on guard outside the entrance, so as to prevent any hungry creature from finding its way in and devouring them. At the end of that time the eggs hatch, and a number of baby gobies make their appearance; and although they are so small that one can hardly see them, the father-fish seems to think that they are quite able to take care of themselves. So he swims away, and leaves them to their fate.

If you catch these little fishes with your fingers you must be careful how you handle them, for they have rather long and sharp teeth, and can give quite a smart bite.

PLATE II

THE SMOOTH BLENNY (1)

This fish, which is sometimes known as the Shanny, is also very common in the rock-pools. But you are not likely to see it unless you bale out all the water from a pool, for it always hides during the daytime in the crannies among the rocks, or underneath sea-weeds. Or it will even burrow down into the sandy mud beneath a big stone, so that you will not find it at all unless you dig for it.

When it is fully grown this fish is about five inches long, and it is quite a remarkable creature in several different ways.

In the first place, it varies a great deal in colour. Sometimes it is partly green and partly yellow, sometimes it is olive brown nearly all over, and sometimes it is almost black. But you can always tell it by the ring of bright crimson which surrounds each eye.

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