ABOUT LOBSTERS 131 



hands at it. Rhode Island was perhaps the earliest. Today 

 (1960) only Massachusetts, at its Oak Bluffs (Martha's 

 Vineyard) station, hatches and raises lobsters through the 

 fourth stage. 



To understand the benefits of and problems of rearing 

 lobsters, it is necessary to know the facts about them. 



The female lobster extrudes her eggs onto the under- 

 side of the jointed part of her body and sticks them to the 

 swimmerets located there. There will be perhaps five thou- 

 sand eggs and up, and they resemble caviar. She carries the 

 eggs nine or ten months, and must be constantly on guard 

 against marauding fish which seek to steal the exposed eggs 

 and at the same time must control her own movements lest 

 the eggs be scraped off on the rocks. A high per cent of the 

 eggs eventually hatch into tiny mosquito-like larvae. 



Upon hatching from the egg, the young lobster swims 

 helplessly near the top of the water for a period of from 

 ten to thirty days, depending upon the temperature of the 

 water. The swimming resembles " treading water " rather 

 than actual vigorous, directional, swimming. During this 

 period of heavy, aimless swimming it does not have the 

 characteristic form of the adult lobster, but resembles more 

 nearly a tiny shrimp, and, in addition to its tiny size, is in 

 further jeopardy due to the fact that while in this helpless 

 state it sheds its shell three times (see Figure 17). 



In Massachusetts waters, these juveniles may go through 

 eight to eleven molts in their first year of life, the annual 

 number becoming progressively smaller with increasing age. 



Each stage— representing the time between molts— has 

 a characteristic form. In the first three stages the young 

 lobsters are especially delicate and exhibit extreme cannibal- 

 istic tendencies, appearing to prefer to feed on each other 

 than on any other kind of food. They do not have the usual 

 instincts of caution or protection which are so pronounced 

 in the adult lobster, but swim headlong into obstacles and 

 dangerous looking situations. In passing into the fourth 

 stage, the young lobster takes on a shape quite similar to 

 that of the adult. In the early part of this stage, it swims 



