海底兩萬里 第327期 第23章 珊瑚王國(26)

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Meanwhile, as the sun got progressively higher, it lit up the watery mass more and more. The seafloor changed little by little. Its fine-grained sand was followed by a genuine causeway of smooth crags covered by a carpet of mollusks and zoophytes. Among other specimens in these two branches, I noted some windowpane oysters with thin valves of unequal size, a type of ostracod unique to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, then orange-hued lucina with circular shells, awl-shaped auger shells, some of those Persian murex snails that supply the Nautilus with such wonderful dye, spiky periwinkles fifteen centimeters long that rose under the waves like hands ready to grab you, turban snails with shells made of horn and bristling all over with spines, lamp shells, edible duck clams that feed the Hindu marketplace, subtly luminous jellyfish of the species Pelagia panopyra, and finally some wonderful Oculina flabelliforma, magnificent sea fans that fashion one of the most luxuriant tree forms in this ocean.

太陽陸續(xù)上升，照得水底更加明亮了乙地下也漸漸起變化。細沙地之后，接著是突起的巖石路，路上鋪著一層軟體動物和植蟲動物形成的地毯。在這兩門動物的品種中間，我看到殼很薄的大小不一致的胎盤貝，這是紅海和印度洋特有的一種牡蠣；介殼圓形的橙色滿月貝；突錐形貝；一些波斯朱紅貝，諾第留斯號的美麗色彩就由這種貝供應的；多角巖石貝，長十五厘米，在水底下豎起來，像要抓人的手似的；角形螺貝，全身長著尖刺；張口舌形貝，鴨子貝，這是供應印度斯但市場的可以食用的蠅貝；帶甲水母，發(fā)出微弱偽亮光；最后還看到使人贊美的扇形圓眼貝，像很美麗的扇子，是這一帶海中最易繁殖的樹枝形動物之一。

In the midst of this moving vegetation, under arbors of water plants, there raced legions of clumsy articulates, in particular some fanged frog crabs whose carapaces form a slightly rounded triangle, robber crabs exclusive to these waterways, and horrible parthenope crabs whose appearance was repulsive to the eye. One animal no less hideous, which I encountered several times, was the enormous crab that Mr. Darwin observed, to which nature has given the instinct and requisite strength to eat coconuts; it scrambles up trees on the beach and sends the coconuts tumbling; they fracture in their fall and are opened by its powerful pincers.Here, under these clear waves, this crab raced around with matchless agility, while green turtles from the species frequenting the Malabar coast moved sluggishly among the crumbling rocks.

在這些活的植物中間，這些水甲蟲的搖籃下面，有無數(shù)從伍不整齊的節(jié)肢動物跑動，特別多的是齒形蛙類，身上的甲殼作彎曲的三角形；有這一帶海中特產(chǎn)的卑格魚；有那可怕的單性魚，形狀非常難看。我好幾次碰見了那種跟單性魚一樣難看的動物，就是達爾文曾經(jīng)觀察過的大蟹，大自然給了它一種本能和力量，可以吃椰子。它爬上海岸，爬到椰子樹上把椰子弄下來，椰子掉下來的時候跌破了，它拿它的有力的鉗把椰子剝開來吃。在這里明亮的水底下，這種蟹在走動的時候非常靈便。不可比擬。同時又有自由自在的魚鱉類，就是常到馬拉巴海岸的那一類，在動搖的巖石中間慢慢地爬走。、七點左右，我們終于到了小紋貝礁石巖脈上，巖脈上繁殖著不可數(shù)計的億萬珍珠貝、這些寶貴的軟體動物粘附著巖石，它們被那些棕色的纖維結實地縛在石上，擺脫不開。從這點來看，珍珠貝甚至于不如談菜，因為大自然還給淡菜有可能移動的能力。