. Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. Their distribution, variations, and habits. Decapoda (Crustacea). A. E. Verrill—Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 457 from the Carolina coasts or the Florida Keys should not flourish in Bermuda if once introduced there iti considerable numbers and protected from their enemies at first. Probably hundreds of species have been accidentally carried there, singly or in small numbers, in past times, which have failed to estab- lish themselves, either because they became too far separated to find their mates at the breeding season, or because they were too soon eaten up by
. Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. Their distribution, variations, and habits. Decapoda (Crustacea). A. E. Verrill—Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 457 from the Carolina coasts or the Florida Keys should not flourish in Bermuda if once introduced there iti considerable numbers and protected from their enemies at first. Probably hundreds of species have been accidentally carried there, singly or in small numbers, in past times, which have failed to estab- lish themselves, either because they became too far separated to find their mates at the breeding season, or because they were too soon eaten up by voracious fishes. Yet a single female crab, carrying fertilized eggs, might succeed in introducing the species, for their eggs often amount to 5,000, or even 10,000 at one time. Aside from edible species, the introduction of the smaller kinds would afford a large additional supply of food for useful fishes, and thus benefit the fisheries. Probably there is no locality in the world so well adapted by nature for experiments in the naturalization of marine animals as Bermuda. There are here numerous deep basins and ponds, of pure sea water, due to fallen caverns, which have subterranean connec- tions with the sea through pores and crevices in the porous lime- stone, by which the sea water is constantly renewed. In such places large numbers of marine creatures could be protected and allowed to breed till well naturalized, and numerous enough to be safely liberated. The equable temperature of the climate is also particu- larly favorable for such experiments. That any given species of the West Indian marine fauna is not now found in Bermuda does not prove that it is not able to live there, but rather that it has lacked the opportunity or means of arriving there. There is a large field open here for enterj)rising naturalists and Figure 67.—Sesarina Ricordi, var. terrestris, uov. Bermuda; x \lj^. Phot. A. H. Please note that these images are extracted from s
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdecapodacrustacea
