BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 31 



abiiutlauce of food suitable for lobsters, aud toward the center lias a 

 sffiucient depth of water, with soft bottom, to afford some protection to 

 the lobsters during the colder part of the year. Into this park large 

 quantities of soft-shelled lobsters, of lobsters minus one or both claws, 

 as well as of young individuals under the legal size of 10 or 10^ inches, 

 have been i)Iaced for growth and repair, and it is claimed that the 

 results have been very satisfactory in that particular. At the begin- 

 ning of cold weather the lobsters retire to the deeper parts of the bay, 

 and at times, when the water has been calm and clear, they have been 

 observed almost comi)letely buried in the mud, with only their feelers, 

 eyes, and a small portion of the front of the carapax exposed. Many 

 of the injured lobsters first placed in the park were females with spawn, 

 and since then berried lobsters have been i)urposely added from time to 

 time. Young individuals of different sizes were said to have been 

 abundant at last accounts, but in an exijeriment of this character a con- 

 siderable lapse of time is required to test its merits. As such parks do 

 not depend for their practical success solely upon the rearing of the 

 young, but rather upon the perfecting of market supplies, which come 

 from the traps in poor condition, it is possible that they may be made 

 to ])ay if carried on economically. Their effect upon a general increase 

 of supplies would probably never be very great. 



So far as we are aware, experiments upon the propagation of lobsters 

 in Euroiie have been confined mainly to Norway, and were commenced 

 there in 1873. The first report upon this subject was published in 1875. 

 The berried lobsters were kept in boxes, constructed so as to retain the 

 embryos after hatching. The young remained alive for several weeks, 

 and their habits and the causes of their destruction were carefully 

 studied. The results of these experiments will be of great service in 

 the treatment of the young at the Wood's Holl Station next summer. 

 Mr. Danuevig's more recent investigations in the same line have been 

 noticed above. 



TRANSPLANTING OP LOBSTERS. 



Of great interest in connection with the artificial propagation of lob- 

 sters, and bearing upon the same subject, is the question as to whether 

 lobsters can be successfully transplanted from one region to another. 

 This experiment has already been tried two or three times, but so far 

 without success. The transportation of live lobsters long distances, 

 even by railroads, has been accomplished, and they have also been 

 carried from this country to England. Mr. Livingston Stone made 

 three attempts to introduce the East Coast lobster on the coast of 

 California, and on the last trial succeeded in planting a number of liv- 

 ing individuals near the mouth of San Francisco Bay. As full accounts 

 of these experiments have already been published by the Fish Commis- 

 sion,* we do not need to repeat them here. 



*Eeport U. S. Com. of Fisli aud Fisheries, Part III, pp. 259-265, 1873-75 (1876); 

 Part VII, pp. 637-644, 1879 (1882). 



