Glimpses of Ocean Life 32

Glimpses of Ocean Life 32

The 'Aquarian Naturalist,' p. 224.

 

I have made two careful drawings of the jaws and teeth of the Echinus.

No. 1 represents, as it were, the 'elevation' of the pentagonal pyramid

above described, while No. 2 constitutes the 'plan' of the same object.

 

The _Echinus sphæra_, or common Egg-Urchin, may often be seen forming

a curious ornament in the drawing-rooms of the "West End," and also in

the dwellings of the poorer classes, who, according to some authors,

boil it like eggs, and so eat it. Hence its popular title. Among the

ancients the Echinidæ were accounted a favourite dish. 'They were

dressed with vinegar, honied wine or mead, parsley and mint. They were

the first dish in the famous supper of Lentulus when he was made Flamen

Martialis. By some of the concomitant dishes they seemed designed as a

whet for the second course to the holy personages, priests and vestals,

invited on the occasion.'

 

The illustration on Plate 10 was drawn from a living specimen, and

gives a somewhat unusual representation of a Sea-Urchin. In general the

spines alone are shown, but I have endeavoured to give the uninitiated

reader some faint notion of the appearance which the _suckers_ present

when extended from the surface of the shell.

 

The young Urchin sat very quietly while I was engaged in taking his

portrait, but continually extended crowds of his slender tubular legs

in all directions, as above indicated, much to my gratification and

apparently to his own.

 

In preparing a Sea-Urchin for a chimney ornament, the most important

point is to remove the spines so as to let the tubercles remain entire.

In performing this operation some little experience is necessary.

Several times I attempted the process by aid of a pen-knife and a pair

of pliers, but not with a satisfactory result. Having mentioned my

difficulty to a friend, he laughingly asked me if I had ever heard of a

certain pilgrim who, for some peccadillo he had committed, was doomed

to perform penance by walking to Loretto's shrine with peas in his

shoes? Of course I was acquainted with the story, but could not see

what it had to do with Sea-Urchins, and told my brother naturalist so.

Still smiling, he said, 'Do you remember the relief that was said to be

afforded to the humorous rascal, both mentally and bodily, by _boiling

his peas_?' Yes. 'Well, then,' was the reply, 'do you boil your

Sea-Eggs, and you will find your troubles speedily cease.' I did as I

was directed, and found the advice of great service; for, after being

an hour or two in the 'pot,' the spines of the Urchin may be totally

rubbed off by aid of a nail brush, or some such instrument. Moreover,

the colour of the shell is improved, and the dental apparatus may be

drawn out entire, with the greatest ease.

 

I may here take opportunity to mention, that the student who may think

proper to act upon the hint above given, should not boil the Urchin too

long, or the fleshy parts will become dissolved, and the entire shell

fall into a multitude of fragments.

 

This unfortunate result actually happened on one occasion to a genial,

clever friend of mine, much to his chagrin and my malicious delight.

 

There are several other species of Sea-Urchins whose forms are

tolerably well distinguished by their popular appellations. Thus we

have the 'Silky Spined Urchin;' the 'Green Pea-Urchin,'--the latter

is the commonest and prettiest of all its kindred, its back being

covered with a kind of powdery green, as is seen on the elytra of

many beetles; the 'Cake-Urchin,' which from its flattened form may be

regarded as a link between the Sea-Urchins and the true Star-fishes;

the 'Purple Heart-Urchin,' and the pretty 'Rosy Heart-Urchin,'

appropriately named from the brilliant crimson hue that its body

presents during life.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XX.

 

Sea-Cucumbers.

 

(HOLOTHURIADÆ.)

 

 

 

 

XX.

 

 

There is a very singular group of animals, the _Holothuriadæ_, that

claims a passing notice, from their near relation in structural

formation to the Sea-Urchins, although externally they also exhibit

a certain resemblance to the _Annelides_. They are commonly termed

Sea-Cucumbers, from the fancied likeness which they bear, both in shape

and colour, to their namesakes of the vegetable kingdom.

 

A Holothuria is very unattractive in appearance when lying listless

upon the sea-beach, but if a small specimen be transferred to the

aquarium, it exhibits features of a very singular and interesting

character. When about to change its position, the head, hitherto

concealed, is protruded and expanded, until it assumes the form of a

beautiful flower.

 

The animal moves principally by aid of sucker-like feet, similar in

form to those of the Asteriadæ, or Sea-Urchins. In most species, the

body is divided longitudinally into five rows of suckers. In some,

however, these organs are scattered over the entire surface, while in

the small Sea-Cucumber (_Psolus phantapus_), they are arranged in three

rows upon a soft, oblong, flat disc, situated beneath the body of the

animal, like the foot of a gasteropod mollusc.

 

Of one genus--the Trepang--many species are eaten by the omnivorous

inhabitants of the Celestial Empire, by whom it is employed in the

preparation of 'nutritious soups, in common with an esculent sea-weed,

shark's fins, edible birds' nests, and other materials affording much

jelly.' The intestines, which are generally found to be filled with

coral, and solid masses of madreporic rock, are extracted, and the

animal then boiled in sea-water and dried in smoke.

 

Nothing can possibly be less enticing than the black and shrivelled

carcases of these defunct gasteropods, as they are seen spread out and

exposed for sale in the China markets. There are many varieties of

Trepang, some being held in higher esteem than others,--hence the great

difference which exists in the price of the article. The lowest quality

being ten dollars, and the highest fifty dollars, per pecul of 133 lbs.

 

The following are titles by which a few of the Holothuriæ are known in

China:--

 

Great Black-Stone Trepang;

Peach-blossom Trepang;

Great White-Stone Trepang;

The Bald Trepang;

The Scarlet Trepang;

Great Clear-Ball Trepang;

The Middle Ash-Bald Trepang, &c., &c.

 

The illustration on Plate 11 gives a good idea of the typical form

of the Holothuriadæ. It represents a species of the genus Cucumaria,

_C. communis_, or common Sea-Cucumber. Its length is from four to

eight inches; but, like all its kindred, it possesses the power of

considerably extending or contracting its body at will. The Tentacula

are ten in number, pinnate and plumose, stalked and rather large. The

body is five-sided, with numerous suckers on the angles, but more on

the sides, which are papilose. The colour is yellow, or brownish-white,

although specimens found on the Irish coast exhibit a purplish hue.

 

This, the most common species of its genus, is an inhabitant of

deep water, and is therefore most frequently taken with the dredge.

Occasionally, specimens may be found after violent storms stranded on

various parts of the shores of the United Kingdom.

 

The Sea-Cucumbers possess the singular power of disembowelling

themselves upon the slightest provocation, and also of throwing off

their Tentacula entire. There is one species, indeed, that exhibits

a still more wonderful phenomenon. At certain times members of this

species will divide their body into a number of parts, each of which

will in due course become a new and completely-formed animal. After

this the reader will be prepared to learn, that to build up a new

inside, or create a new set of branchiæ, is to a Holothuria a very

trifling and insignificant task.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXI.

 

The Aplysia, or Sea-Hare.

 

 

'The origin and the source of the smallest portion of the universe

overpowers our comprehension. How little can the acutest senses, the

profoundest judgment, the widest view, embrace! It is as nothing; it is

as less than nothing. We are capable of doing no more than surveying

the edifice and adoring the Architect.'

 

SIR J. DALYELL.

 

 

 

 

XXI.

 

 

At several parts of the Scottish coast, and especially at North

Berwick, may be found specimens of that curious gasteropod named the

Aplysia, or Sea-Hare, the _Lepus marinus_ of the ancients.

 

On visiting North Berwick during summer, I have been astonished to

discover, in almost every pool, from two to twenty of these creatures.

 

At rest, the Aplysia is not by any means inviting, but when in motion,

elevating and depressing the fleshy mantle that covers over the fringed

and lobed branchiæ, its appearance is exceedingly graceful.

 

Striding across a pool on the look-out for some Gobies, whose forms

darting beneath a large stone had not escaped my glance, I perceived

the water in the rocky basin gradually lose its crystal brightness, and

become changed to crimson. The Gobies were therefore allowed to rest

in peace, while I proceeded to investigate a phenomenon that, at the

moment, seemed somewhat singular.

 

A kind friend and brother zoologist, who happened to be near, called

attention to the fact that the crimson stream flowed thickest near where my foot rested.