-
DRIFTING LIFE
_,
133
lobster that
_eaten for food in the British Isles.
It
is the “
Langouste,”which is,
mùch_preférred as '
adelicacy by'the French.î
__
"
_
.
'g—
'
'
_
The larva is a most curious sight (Plate 51).
The body, '
measuring about a quarter of an inch across in the Oldest '
individuals, is quite transparent and attened like a piece
of paper, While the long feathery legs and projecting eyes
stick out all round and effectively aid the purpose of the
'
attened body in preventing the animal from sinking
through the water.
_
_
It is” not necessary to resort to experiment to prove that
.,
these structures are an aid to suspension in the water, -It
'
,
is known that the visooSity of water varies with the tem—_
perature, a rise in temperature lowering theviscosity to a ‘
marked degr_‘ee, so that the resistance the water offers to a _“
'
body sinking in it is cohsiderably lessened.
If, then, an
animal or plant lives normally in warm Water it will need
to be extra well equipped with hairs
cOmpared
with its cousins who liv6in cold waters.
.
-
_
N ow, it is a remarkable fact that by the side of organisms
'
fr0m cold and temperate regions those from the tropics ,
exhibit _to a much greater degree these structural exores- —
—
Cences, making many of them bizarre and grotesque in
It has even been found that the same species
of Peridinian may dier from place to placein form.
For
instance, in two individuals of the same species,the one
from tropical seas has very much longer homs than those
of its relative from our own colder waters—.
.
.
,
In these few pages an attempt "has been made to put
before the reader some of themai11 features of that remark_
able community of drifting life, the plankton. Their im—
portance cannot be over-estimated and plankton study
DRIFTING LIFE
_,
133
lobster that
_eaten for food in the British Isles.
It
is the “
Langouste,”which is,
mùch_preférred as '
adelicacy by'the French.î
__
"
_
.
'g—
'
'
_
The larva is a most curious sight (Plate 51).
The body, '
measuring about a quarter of an inch across in the Oldest '
individuals, is quite transparent and attened like a piece
of paper, While the long feathery legs and projecting eyes
stick out all round and effectively aid the purpose of the
'
attened body in preventing the animal from sinking
through the water.
_
_
It is” not necessary to resort to experiment to prove that
.,
these structures are an aid to suspension in the water, -It
'
,
is known that the visooSity of water varies with the tem—_
perature, a rise in temperature lowering theviscosity to a ‘
marked degr_‘ee, so that the resistance the water offers to a _“
'
body sinking in it is cohsiderably lessened.
If, then, an
animal or plant lives normally in warm Water it will need
to be extra well equipped with hairs
cOmpared
with its cousins who liv6in cold waters.
.
-
_
N ow, it is a remarkable fact that by the side of organisms
'
fr0m cold and temperate regions those from the tropics ,
exhibit _to a much greater degree these structural exores- —
—
Cences, making many of them bizarre and grotesque in
It has even been found that the same species
of Peridinian may dier from place to placein form.
For
instance, in two individuals of the same species,the one
from tropical seas has very much longer homs than those
of its relative from our own colder waters—.
.
.
,
In these few pages an attempt "has been made to put
before the reader some of themai11 features of that remark_
able community of drifting life, the plankton. Their im—
portance cannot be over-estimated and plankton study