Besides being good food for us, and for the fish, Shrimps and Prawns
have another use. They are scavengers. They pick to pieces and eat the
vegetable and animal stuff which floats in the sea. Before it can decay
and become poisonous, these useful creatures use it up as food. Great
numbers of Shrimps and Prawns are caught for our markets. Some are
caught by men who push a small net over the sands near shore, but most
are caught by the _shrimp-trawl_, a large net cast from a small sailing
vessel.
The rocks, and the wooden piles of the pier, are often covered with the
hard shells known as Barnacles, or Acorn Shells. If you slip on them
with bare feet their sharp edges cut you. Each Acorn Shell is a little
house. Have you ever caught a glimpse of the animal living inside?
If you will look very carefully, you will see that the Acorn Shell is
made of three-sided pieces, closely joined. There is a little door at
the top, kept tightly closed until the tide comes up and covers the
rocks. Then watch, and you will see a bunch of tiny feathers appear
through a slit in the door. This means that the animal is hungry, and
has put its twelve legs out of doors to catch a dinner!
This is strange, but true! The Barnacle is always upside down in its
home, and its twelve feathery legs are thrust out of the door at the
top.
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