102 ZOOLOGY 



into the shallower bays ; the time of migration depending 

 upon the length of the season. It is said to be a nocturnal 

 animal, searching most actively for its food at night. The 

 sense which probably aids it most in this search is that of 

 smell, as the attraction of the bait in the traps - - the so- 

 called lobster-pots testifies. In respect to food it is, like 

 the crayfish, omnivorous. 



Protection of the Lobster. There has been much differ- 

 ence of opinion in regard to the size at which a lobster 

 becomes mature and before which, therefore, it cannot be 

 caught without danger of extermination. The legislation 

 on the matter has accordingly been very varied. In Con- 

 necticut the law makes the limit six inches, while in 

 Massachusetts and New York it is placed at ten and one- 

 half inches. Herrick has carefully investigated the relation 

 of length to maturity, and concludes that, on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast at least, the lobster becomes mature between 

 the limits of eight and twelve inches, and hence that all 

 present legislative protection is insufficient. The increasing 

 rarity of large lobsters in our markets testifies to the 

 correctness of this conclusion. 



Enemies of the Lobster. Besides its worst enemy, man, 

 both the adult (particularly the egg-bearing female, called 

 by fishermen the " berry lobster," or "berry hen") and 

 young lobsters are attacked by many kinds of fish. Two 

 or three internal parasites are known to infest the lobster, 

 while sometimes it is greatly hampered in its movements 

 by the number of messmates it; carries about attached to its 

 shell. Barnacles, mussels, tube-forming worms, and various 

 seaweeds are all found at times attached to the shell of the 

 lobster. Upon moulting, however, the animal is enabled to 

 rid itself of all these hangers-on ; but this very process of 



