46 



Felicity, altliough there are considerable variations in the dense- 

 p.ess of the reef. Most of the oysters from all of these reefs are 

 of poor shape, and whenever we took up any they were of poor 

 condition. There were a great many mussels among the oysters 

 on the reef along the north side of the lake, and some, although 

 a much snuiUer number, among the oysters on the reefs along the 

 south side. On all of the reefs there were a great many Crepi- 

 dulas attached to each of the oysters. Besides these molluscan 

 companions most of the oysters from the southern reefs were com- 

 pletely covered with large numbers of a small simple ascidian. 

 While there is no evidence that these animals are directly 

 harmful to the adult oysters, they ]uake the shells of the oysters 

 on the reefs so dirty that there is little chance for the spat to 

 become attached and thus hinder the restocking of the reefs. 



The oysters from Lake Felicity are mostly taken to be used 

 for seed and it is said by the oyster men that these oysters do not 

 get fat during the winter season when the lishing for market 

 is being done . 



The salinity of the water in this lake averaged 1.0153. The 

 amount of oyster food in the water was smaller than in most of 

 the bodies of water in this reegion. 



There are two reefs in Bayou V Eclat, where the oysters are 

 arranged in scattered clusters as on the reefs in Lake Felicity. 

 1^'arther down in the bayou there are some hard reefs where 

 there are a few good single oysters. In Lake V Eclat there are 

 some extinct reefs, but no living oysters outside of the bedding 

 grounds. 



South of Lake Felicity there is a good-sized body of water, 

 Lake Little, which communicates with the former lake by two 

 bayous— 5a?/o» Le Vieux and Bayou La Vieille. In both of these 

 bayous there are dense reefs of oysters, but the bottom everv- 

 Vv'here outside of the reefs is composed of soft, deep mud. Lake 

 Little is some five miles long and two miles wide at the widest 

 point. At the south end of the lake there is a bayou that goes 

 to Timbalier Bay, and a connection with Bay Jaeko through a 

 series of small passes and bays. The water is from four to six 

 feet deep in this lake. In the northern part of the lake there 

 are some small oyster reefs surrounded by a soft, muddy 

 bottom. In the central and southern paijts of the lake the bottom 



