796 NATURAL HISTOEY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



the adult size is another matter of prime importance, as the breeder's success must also depend on 

 his producing au early harvest. The age of what may be considered adult Lobsters (teu to 

 eleven inches) is not known, estimates by different observers placing it all the way from three* 

 to a dozen years. If the latter estimate be correct, we would be almost forced to consider lobster- 

 breeding as an industry impracticable from the start, as the care, during ten or twelve years, of 

 the number of young necessary to produce salable Lobsters in marketable quantities would involve 

 an expense quite out of proportion to the prices which could be obtained for them. We very 

 much doubt, however, this prolonged extension of the immature stage of the Lobster, although 

 we have no direct proof to the contrary. Lobsterinen, as a rule, consider that Lobsters grow to 

 be ten inches long in the course of three to five years, and they base their conclusions mainly 

 on the fact that the increase in size at each molt is considerable; but this question is discussed 

 elsewhere in this report. We do not pretend to say that, in case the slow growth of Lobsters 

 is proved, breeding would be without many good results; for, if the growth and habits of Lobsters 

 could be well understood, much care and protection might be accorded them, which would 

 materially increase their numbers. Any new and carefully made observations on the spawning 

 habits and growth of Lobsters would be gladly welcomed by all who are interested in the lobster 

 question, whether from a scientific or a practical standpoint. 



SPAWNING SEASON. Lobsters appear to have no definite spawning season, as they are 

 found with eggs, in different stages of development, during the entire year. According to the 

 statements of lobster fishermen and others who have had abundant means of observation in this 

 line, spawning takes place mainly from March until September. It should be remembered, 

 however, that the winter lobster fishery is of very much less importance than the summer, and 

 that during the former season the number of Lobsters handled does not in any way compare with 

 the number taken in the latter, so that the proportion of spawning Lobsters to non-spawning 

 ones, in the two seasons, may not be as great as would seem to appear. Winter observations on 

 the natural history of the Lobster, as well as of many other of our marine food invertebrates, are 

 very much desired. It is said that on the northern New England coast, from Capo Cod eastward, 

 Lobsters with spawn about ready for extrusion from the body begin to appear abundantly in 

 March, and with the spawn or eggs on the outside, as well as hatching, are most abundant from 

 June to September. In the Bay of Fundy, Lobsters spawn principally from the last of June to 

 the last of August. Southward of these limits the spawning season begins earlier. 



Considering, now, the fact that spawning Lobsters occur throughout the entire year, we are 

 left without data as to the frequency of spawning in each individual Lobster. Did a short, 

 definite spawning period exist for each year, we might assume that Lobsters spawned only once 

 a year, or at least we could assert that they spawned no oftener than once a year. The only way 

 of determining the fact positively would be to study individual Lobsters for a certain period of 

 time, in their natural haunts and under natural conditions, and every one knows how difficult 

 such an undertaking would be with most marine animals. As it is, the possibility exists of 

 Lobsters spawning more than once a year, and there is no evidence to prove that they spawn 

 with any exact regularity as to time. We have the statements of several individuals, some 

 published and others not, to the effect that quite fully developed eggs are sometimes apparent 

 in the ovaries when the Lobster is carrying spawn on the outside of the body. But there is no 

 w:iy of determining how long a time must elapse before the second lot of spawn might be 

 fertilized and made ready for extrusion. We are justified in believing, however, that, as a rule, 

 Lobsters spawn but once a year. In the Lobster, as in many other marine animals, only a portion 

 of the ova is fertilized and developed at each spawning time, often leaving the ovaries still quite 



