"Shrimping is the most beautiful and most enviable of sports," "It develops initiative... cures rheumatism... and gives one a sense of achievement," "Mommy!" "I caught a shrimp!" "SHRIMP STORIES" "flashing like a crystal in its headlong flight, this pathetic victim resorts to futile wiles." "Its precarious refuge of algae and rocks offers little protection from the implacable net, which in one fell swoop wrests it from its family." "Preceded by gropÌng sensory antennae... topped by a rostrum, a pitiful weapon, despite its proud curves, and the silk that grows between its sawlike teeth," "Its eyes on stilts take in its whole world yet see only in vague shadows," "from head to tail its colors that run in unexpected lines embellish the architecture of its body," "This fan is both rudder and brake as it swims with its sculling feet set behind the pincered walking feet," "These pincers, using violent jerks, Ìf needed, serve to seize food and carry it to its mouth... or carve it into pieces before settling down for a meal." "Here we see the movements of the stomach that push the food along," "The food is first broken up outside the mouth by the maxillipeds," "Then it cleans itself, an essential procedure to ensure that all its sensory organs are alert and ready for action." "The strong claw is used for heavy work." "The finest one is reserved for the nooks and crannies of the delicate parts, such as the respiratory organs... or for polishing the eyes." "And thanks to the acrobatic folding action of its medieval armor, they reach under the abdomen to scratch the sculling feet." "The eggs laid by the female cling in dense clusters to her sculling feet." "We see the well-formed babies in their casings." "After three weeks there's an unstoppable and explosive delivery." "Of these thousands of larvae few will have much of a future." "These tiny larvae must undergo a transformation to become shrimp." "Even the adult shrimp must periodically break its rigid skin once every month or so." "It's always a dramatic operation." "The shrimps waits expectantly, and the contractions follow." "The back of the carapace suddenly breaks open," "then, Iike a ghost emerging from its draphanous cloak, the shrimp pushes away its old casing, trampling its discarded skin with its sculling feet." "With one violent leap it makes a clean break." "It seeks to find its balance." "Before its new skin hardens the creature is soft and defenseless long enough to serve as prey for its hungry fellow shrimp." "All that remaÌns now is its last monthly shroud."