HABITS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOBSTER. 81 



August, and in others again in August. On the eastern coast of Maine the period 

 of egg-laying probably extends into the first part of September and in Newfound- 

 land and Labrador possibly even later. The exact determination of this period for 

 different sections can only be made after more material has been collected. * 



Development can be hastened by artificially raising the temperature of the water, 

 but it is not yet known if any advantage would attend this practice. Bumpus has 

 suggested in his paper on the embryology of the lobster (Journ. of Morphology, vol. v) 

 that if the young were hatched by artificially raising the temperature of the water 

 during the cold months of the year, and were then liberated into the ocean, they 

 would be certain to escape the attacks of many summer enemies. It is almost equally 

 certain, however, that the young lobsters would find new enemies in winter, and that 

 the indiscriminate destruction by storms, which must be very great at all times, would 

 then be enhanced. 



The female protects her eggs to the best of her ability, and aerates them by her 

 natural movements in the water, and also by the fanning m otions of the legs of the 

 "tail" to which they are fixed. When creeping over the bottom she is careful to keep 

 her "tail" well folded. Owing to the unequal development of the individual eggs the 

 hatching of a brood occupies upwards of a week. After hatching, the young receive 

 no fosterage, but are immediately set adrift. 



At the time of hatching, the embryo not only gets clear of the egg membranes, but 

 molts and enters upon the first stage of its larval life. This first molting, which occurs 

 at the time of hatching or shortly after it, is very critical, and the failure to accomplish 

 it successfully is the cause of death to a considerable number which are hatched 

 artificially at the Woods Holl Station. The young lobster, just hatched, is about one- 

 third of an inch long. It differs in habits and structure from the adult, but like 

 the latter its growth is characterized by a series of well-marked stages or molts. With 

 each molt it casts off its old shell and assumes new characters until the fourth stage 

 is reached, when the adult characteristics are fairly established. It still, however, 

 swims at the surface, which it continues to do to some extent in the next stage. Its 

 fooa consists of microscopical organisms which float in the water, and, as at earlier 



* Since this was written, I have obtained some new facts which throw light upon the breeding 

 habits of the lobster. Mr. V. N. Edwards sent me some lobsters from Woods Holl, Mass., December 4, 

 1893, and among these was an egg-bearing female, 121 inches long, with eggs of a peculiar light yellow- 

 ish green color. They were iu the stage of development which closely follows the egg-nauplins, and 

 probably had been laid about November 1. I have also recently received, through the kindness of 

 Mr. F. W. Collins, a number of specimens of the eggs of tbe lobster from Maine, which establish 

 beyond question the late breeding of the lobster on the coast of this State. In one individual from 

 York Island, November 15, tbe eggs were but two or three days old, and iu another specimen taken 

 at Cranberry Isle, November 25, the egg-nanplius is barely outlined. In the latter case the eggs 

 were probably extruded about November 10. 



The breeding season of the lobster may now be said with certainty, to extend from June to Novem- 

 ber, and it is possible that it covers even a larger part of the year. This important subject is being 

 carefully investigated, in order to ascertain what proportion of lobsters breed outside the months of 

 June, July, and August, wheu, without doubt, the greatest number of eggs are laid. 



This late breeding of the lobster undoubtedly accounts for much of the obscurity which has hung 

 over its reproductive habits and may also explain the cases of the occasional hatching of lobsters out 

 of season, which have been recorded. Statements have been formerly made that lobsters have been 

 taken with freshly laid eggs in the fall and winter, but they could never be received, because they 

 were not supported by a microscopical examination. 



F. C B. 1893—6 



