One tap and all the babies disappear

Gosse quotes James Salter observing young crustaceans staying close to their mother, retreating beneath her after a tap on the bottle, and emerging again when it was left still[[cite:6]]. Later historical crustacean literature records brood-pouch return in Gammarus and other peracarids[[cite:7]]. This is a specific reported observation, not a universal rule for amphipods.

A tiny cloud of young, a disturbance, a sudden retreat. James Salter’s repeated aquarium observation, preserved by Gosse.
A little cloud followed her.
Salter watched tiny young swimming close to an amphipod mother.
Then someone tapped the glass.
The young rushed beneath their mother and vanished from view.
Stillness brought them out again.
Once the bottle rested quietly, the young returned to the water around her.
He saw it happen again and again.
Gosse preserved Salter’s account of the tiny retreat and return.

One tap and all the babies disappear

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