Morning journal and courier., 1888-04-19
HIN OCEAN PRISONS.
Some Strange Forms of Submarine Life Existing fn Captivity.

Some Strange Forms of Submarine Life Existing i'm Captivity.
 Among the crabs we may find many pris-
 oners-thus the little red forms Cred when
 cooked) that we find in oysters are prisoners
 in the shell, writes Professor Holden. Pin
 natheres is their scientific name, and resting
 among the soft folds of the oyster they pass their time, rarely if ever venturing forth, and feeding upon the various objects that are waited into the mellusk by it's cilia The old writers, as Pliny, were familiar with many prisoner crabs, as there are several bi- valves that possess them, and believe that between the ill-assorted pair there was a partnership to the effect that the shell should provide the crab with protection, and that the latter should keep "weather eye'' out h the interests of it's host, a sly pinch from one of the biting claws being the signal for the valves to close. The barnacles, cousins ot the crabs, might be termed prisoners, as they are unable to move from where they take their original stand, though many fassen l themselves to moving objects, and so lead a compulsory rowing life. A variety is found growing upon the feathers of the peneuins ! in the South Pacific. and I have taken @ ! goose barnacle from the mouth of a sunfsh l Ia curious prison indeed-and the stalk was ! just long enough to prevent being crushed by 1 the curious teeth of the huge mola.
 l One of the strangest prisoners to be found l anywhere is the little eel or 1ance-liks fish, | fierasfer Nearly all the members of the family appear to lead life of singular re- 1 tirement. I first found my specimen in wad- I ing ever the Florida reef, about sixty miles l beyond Key West. t 1o, | | thurian from its bed on the soft sand of the atoll, and was about to place it in glass. when from an exhalent opening at the end of the creature appeared the head of the fish. I placed it in the glass tank and it soon came out entirely, the veriest ghost of fsh-so I silvery white that could almost have read through it. It swam about for while, then dropped to the bottom and died at the very moment of it's seeming release On the reef we often found these curious prisoners, but
 never without their living prison, and I was forced to believe then that they never,
 at least at this place, came out. Recent investigations at the famous Naples aqua
 rinm have shown, however, that they do l venture into the outer world to feed, and perhaps the most astonishing feature of the I entire performance is the return to jail, for
 the herasfer is ticket-ef-leave fish and re- ports st headquarters with great reguIari- I ty. The fsrasfers of some localities live in
 starfishes, and all, as have said, show this curious habit. If we leave the world of the
 ocean we shall find many curious prisoners on land. The female hornbill in entombed by her mate in 8 hollow tree.s the latter pa
 tiently feeding her through small window
 until the egg or eggs are hatohed. Some ants make prisoners not only of their allies, but of beetles and other insects, keeping
 them in the care of aphides for their so-
 called milk, and again for the perfume or odor some beetles emit, while many are kept merely as prisoners, to act as slaves and do the hard, laborious work of the community.