314 THE SEAS 



Crustaceans 



Of the edible Crustacean shellfish the largest and most 

 valuable are the European and American lobsters (Homarus 

 gammarus, and Homarus americanus) . The former (Plate 

 113) live in comparatively shallow water just below low- 

 water mark and are especially common where there is a 

 rough hard bottom, in the crevices of which they find 

 shelter, darting out at the approach of food. They occur 

 along the coasts of Europe from the Mediterranean to Norway 

 but the most important lobster fisheries are found in the 

 more Northern regions especially Norway, Scotland, Eng- 

 land, Ireland, and Heligoland, the usual methods of capture 

 being by means of traps known as " Lobster pots " or 

 " creels." Some of these are of wickerwork, rounded with 

 a flat bottom and a funnel-shaped opening on the top — 

 rather like a safety inkwell — so that the lobsters can 

 easily enter but usually fail to find their way out ; others 

 are in the form of a half-cylinder with a framework of 

 wood and netting. These traps are usually fastened 

 together with rope having cork buoys at the ends, and before 

 they are placed in position are baited with pieces of stale 

 meat. Fine specimens of this lobster may attain a weight 

 of ten pounds, and specimens of fourteen pounds have been 

 caught, but the American lobster, almost exactly like the 

 European species in other respects, grows much larger 

 and may attain a weight of twenty -three pounds. It 

 is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from 

 Labrador to New England, and the collection and canning 

 of lobsters forms an important industry in Canada, New- 

 foundland, and New England. In many regions lobsters 

 have been caught in such numbers as seriously to affect the 

 fisheries, and protective measures of various kinds have 

 been tried ; in some places it is illegal to take from the 



