272 NOTES ON THE LOBSTER. 



Rorreri grows along the coast on rocks and wood-work; it vegetates on the 

 former as high up as Clevedon. At Blue Anchor the plants of it are larger, 

 and grow upon mud-covered rocks; this and Callithamnion Rothii, are the only 

 indigenous plants of the genus I have seen on the Somerset coast. Like the 

 land Flora, the Marine approaches to that of the adjoining county of Devon; 

 and all the rarer species are such as are confined in their range to the 

 southern coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. 



October, 1853. 



NOTES OjS" the LOBSTER. 



BY WILLIAM THOMPSON, ESQ. 



In the September N"o. of "The Naturalist," Mr. Jackson, of East Looe, 

 inquires, "What becomes of the young Lobsters and Crawfish, previous to 

 their attaining a marketable size?" and he states that although the old ones 

 are commonly taken in spawn, the young are never seen. 



This question I can answer. If Mr. Jackson will turn to the "Zoologist' 

 for February, in this year, page 3765, he will find a description of a young 

 Lobster, measuring only nine lines in length, which I caught on the 18th. of 

 August, 1852, in from five to seven fathoms of water, off" Redcliffe Head, in 

 Weymouth Bay, whilst dredging over a bed of RyfipMcea pinastroides. 



I had drawn out a very full specific description of it, not knowing at the 

 time but that it might be a new species closely allied to the Lobster. Having 

 sent it to Dr. Gray, he decided it was the young of the Lobster. 



The most apparent difi'erence between it and the adult Ijobster consists 

 in the much shorter antennae, the more slender and more equal anterior 

 legs, the wider rostrum, and the more acutely triangular plates of the 

 segments. 



Lobsters are caught by means of pots, made of withys, with the bars some 

 little distance apart, or in nets; in either case the bars of the pot, or the 

 meshes of the net allow all but such as are of a marketable size to pass; and 

 as Lobsters lay amongst rocks where no net can reach, they are safe from 

 all danger, except what they themselves run into: this is the reason that the 

 young are so seldom seen. 



In the months of August, September, and October, pots are laid down for 

 Prawns, (Paloemon serratus,) and then we sometimes obtain small Lobsters. 

 The Prawn-pots are made precisely the same pattern as the Lobster-pots, but 

 smaller, and the open bars closer together, in order to prevent the egress of 

 the Prawn — this also prevents the escape of the Lobster. 



There are now in the Aquavivariura of the Zoological Society five Lobsters, 

 which I have sent from here: all of them were obtained in Prawn-pots; the 

 smallest is four inches in length, and the largest about five. 



These facts answer the question of Mr. Jackson. 



