Wonder Creatures Of The Sea (Paperback)

WONDER CREATURES OF THE SEA by A. HYATT VERRILL Illustrated by photographs and drawings by the author D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY INCORPORATED NEW YORK 1940 LONDON Going on a visit to tJte wonder creatures of the sea INTRODUCTION TO paraphrase a familiar saying, The sea is so full of a number of things. As many a person has remarked, it is extraordinary what amazing crea tures inhabit the sea. Not only are these denizens of the ocean wonderful and amazing, but they are most fascinatingly interesting as well, for the sea is a world by itself, a world inhabited by living creatures totally unlike those of the land, a world that is new and unknown to most persons. A world wherein there are creatures more bizarre in form than any imagi nary denizens of another planet, where there are ani mals more brilliant in color than any flowers of our fields or woodlands, where the myriad forms of life wage the ceaseless universal war for supremacy and self-protection and exhibit habits, traits, and ways of life more remarkable by far than those of their fellow-creatures inhabiting the land. There are ani mals so delicate and fragile that they appear to be made of spun glass, yet so tough and strong that they might well be fabricated from steel wire. There are others so dainty and lovely in form and colora tion that they rival the fairest of flowers, yet are deadly voracious creatures more savage and more dangerous to their neighbors than are cobras or man-eating tigers on earth. vi Introduction In size the denizens of this watery world range from the most gigantic creatures that exist to minute forms of life so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. And there are countless thousands of marineanimals totally unknown to even the great est scientists. Many of the sea creatures are familiar to every one who has ever visited the seacoasts. We are all acquainted with sea-shells, some species of crabs, shrimps, lobsters, and fishes. There are few of us who have not seen sponges and corals, starfishes and barnacles, sand-dollars and sea-urchins, or at least the dried preserved skeletons of these animals. Even these familiar forms of sea life usually inter est the average person and arouse curiosity regard ing them and their mode of life, yet they are by no means the most unusual, the most remarkable, or the most interesting forms of life found in the sea. Moreover, it is not impossible or even difficult to observe and study these wonder creatures of the sea. To be sure there are many forms of sea life which inhabit deep water and therefore are beyond the reach of all but scientists equipped with specially designed apparatus for capturing them. But there are equally interesting and almost equally numerous closely related animals inhabiting our shores and shallow waters which may readily be observed, studied, and even collected if desired, by any one, and the habits of these are fully as remarkable as those of their deep-water cousins. Introduction vii In fact the wonder creatures of the sea abound everywhere in all portions of the oceans, although they may be passed by unnoticed, their presence un suspected, or even if they are observed they may be deemed uninteresting and not worth-while until our attention is drawn to them and we learn something of their strange and wonderful ways. Even persons who are lovers of Nature and quite ardent naturalists deeply interested in birds, reptiles, plants, insects, or other forms of life on land, seldom turn their at tentions to the animals in the sea. It is really remarkable that the majority of peo ple know so little of the teeming denizens of the ocean and its shores. And it will come as a distinct surprise to many to learn how truly strange, inter esting, and remarkable are the lives and habits of some of the most familiar of sea animals...