REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 83 



in the tidal current, they grew more rapidly than in the most favorable 

 shore locality I have ever seen. In one experiment with clams rang- 

 ing from 5 to 17 millimeters the increase in bulk during five weeks and 

 two days was 1,861 per cent. 



In the case of sessile animals like oysters, Crepidula, Anomia, 

 Molgula, Botrijllus, sea anemones, tubicolous worms, etc., and of those 

 which spin a byssus like the mussel, young clams, and pectens, it is 

 only necessary to provide the proper surface for them to set on and 

 protection from predatory animals. In case of the hatching of such 

 eggs as those of the flatfish, Menidia, Fundulus, and the lobster, with 

 which we have had experience in the course of our operations, it 

 would seem that the term "hatching" could hardly be used in a transi- 

 tive sense, for, if the eggs are provided simply with water of proper 

 constitution, temperature, and conditions for respiration, the eggs 

 inevitably hatch themselves. These non-pelagic eggs, in fact, belong 

 to the same category as the sessile or slow-moving animals and may 

 be treated accordingly. The method of stripping and swirling lobster 

 eggs has been given up with us and instead the ripe-berried hen- 

 lobsters are allowed to crawl about in the rearing cars with the result 

 that the eggs hatch most satisfactorily. Similarly the eggs of the 

 flatfish (Pseudopleuronectes) were hatched with almost no loss by 

 placing them on a piece of scrim which formed the bottom of a box 

 about 6 inches deep floated on the top of the water in a protected pool. 

 The eggs of Menidia and Fundulus are hatched successfully by 

 practically the same treatment. 



ADAPTATION TO FISHES AND OTHER PELAGIC FORMS. 



REQUIREMENTS. 



In the development of the method of fish culture with which our 

 station is identified the installation of a laboratory directly upon the 

 water and the confining and rearing of animals in cars placed in the 

 water marked the first step. For many animals of the types we have 

 mentioned, the slow-moving, or creeping, the burrowing, and the 



