143
MAN’S INFLUENCE ON ANNELÏDS AND CRABS.
degree. Thus the Bâche de mer (Trepang) shery of Australia
and the South Sea Islands seems to show no_sign of exhaustion
-
—n0twithstanding the eager
search for these holothurians as a
'
_
favourite article of diet for the Chinese.
Doubtless the pelagic
,
_
larvæ, like those of the brittle-stars and sea-urchins, enable
them to survive.
Indeed it would appear that the echinoderms
in which the larvæ are reptant (and not pelagic) are fewer in
Ï
numbers than those provided with free—swimming young.
The
_
,
group as a whole is important and furnishes food for many
,
invertebrates, shes and gulls.
,
_
.
Am0ngst the annelids there are a few forms which have
_
been
sought from early times by man for hait, e.g.
'
the lobworm (Arembola marina), On limited areas of sand or
-
,
muddy sand numerous shermen have almost daily plied their
spades, and while; perhaps, the examples may not be so
abundant as at rst, there is, as a rule, no lack of them on
most beaches.
The lobworm, indeed, is an instance of a marine
form—placed within easy reach of the instruments of capture—
'
_
which has resisted the attacks of -man, probably because a '_,
sufcient stock of ripe examples and the very young are
at all times by the tide.
The Palolo of Samoa and
Tonga, so much esteemed as food by the natives, and
.
—
_
in its season
with the utmost keenness, is still as abundant as in
former generations.
This annelid lives amongst the coral reefs
—
of these islands, becomes pelagic for the-sake of discharging its
eggs into the surrounding water, and is then captured in great
,
-
_quantities for food. Man has persistently taken as many of each
'
:
species as he could, yet both maintain their abundanoe. '
The enormous numbers of pelagic larval annelids, in suc-‘
__
cessive swarins, which throng the sea throughout the greater
part of
the year, together with such adults as Tomopteris and
the O'hœtognath, Sagitta, show in this group alone a great
perennial Source of noui*is‘hnüent.
The demersal adults are
everywhere a favourite food of shes, which ndthem where
"
man cannot.
'
,
-
'
110
class îS_'ühe boundless wealth of the sea in
latitudes
more conspicuoüs than in the crustaceanS or crabs.
_
It
is necessary ; however, to consider them in two groups, viz.,
MAN’S INFLUENCE ON ANNELÏDS AND CRABS.
degree. Thus the Bâche de mer (Trepang) shery of Australia
and the South Sea Islands seems to show no_sign of exhaustion
-
—n0twithstanding the eager
search for these holothurians as a
'
_
favourite article of diet for the Chinese.
Doubtless the pelagic
,
_
larvæ, like those of the brittle-stars and sea-urchins, enable
them to survive.
Indeed it would appear that the echinoderms
in which the larvæ are reptant (and not pelagic) are fewer in
Ï
numbers than those provided with free—swimming young.
The
_
,
group as a whole is important and furnishes food for many
,
invertebrates, shes and gulls.
,
_
.
Am0ngst the annelids there are a few forms which have
_
been
sought from early times by man for hait, e.g.
'
the lobworm (Arembola marina), On limited areas of sand or
-
,
muddy sand numerous shermen have almost daily plied their
spades, and while; perhaps, the examples may not be so
abundant as at rst, there is, as a rule, no lack of them on
most beaches.
The lobworm, indeed, is an instance of a marine
form—placed within easy reach of the instruments of capture—
'
_
which has resisted the attacks of -man, probably because a '_,
sufcient stock of ripe examples and the very young are
at all times by the tide.
The Palolo of Samoa and
Tonga, so much esteemed as food by the natives, and
.
—
_
in its season
with the utmost keenness, is still as abundant as in
former generations.
This annelid lives amongst the coral reefs
—
of these islands, becomes pelagic for the-sake of discharging its
eggs into the surrounding water, and is then captured in great
,
-
_quantities for food. Man has persistently taken as many of each
'
:
species as he could, yet both maintain their abundanoe. '
The enormous numbers of pelagic larval annelids, in suc-‘
__
cessive swarins, which throng the sea throughout the greater
part of
the year, together with such adults as Tomopteris and
the O'hœtognath, Sagitta, show in this group alone a great
perennial Source of noui*is‘hnüent.
The demersal adults are
everywhere a favourite food of shes, which ndthem where
"
man cannot.
'
,
-
'
110
class îS_'ühe boundless wealth of the sea in
latitudes
more conspicuoüs than in the crustaceanS or crabs.
_
It
is necessary ; however, to consider them in two groups, viz.,