REJ'OJIT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAN'I) i'lSIIEJtJ ES. 23 



not pnll the mollusc out of its shell, but if it be suspended by this 

 string it cannot sustain for a long time even its own weight. On 

 the same principle a man who can hold at arm's length a weight of 

 twenty pounds cannot hold his empty hand in this position for 

 ten minutes. Schiemenz showed by experiment that the star 

 could exert a pull of over 1,200 grams, and that a pull of 900 

 grams is sufficient for opening a good size quahaug if allowed to 

 act for thirty minutes. 



My own observations and experiments are entirely in accord 

 with Schiemenz's results. 



Frequently more than one star-fish takes part in opening an 

 oyster, and once an oyster is opened other star-fish often happen 

 along and enter into the feast. It is the young oysters that are 

 in greatest danger from the stars, and the danger decreases as the 

 oysters grow larger. Oysters of marketable size, that is, three or 

 four years old, are comparatively unmolested. Of course, the 

 larger star-fish can open the larger oysters, but fortunately the 

 larger stars are more easily caught in the " mops " and thus more 

 easily kept off the beds. It has not been ascertained how large 

 an oyster can be opened by the star-fish. 



YIII. How rapidly may a star-fish devour oysters ? 



The answer to this question depends ui)on several conditions, 

 viz.: — the size of the stars and of the oysters, the temperature of 

 the water, and the hunger of the star-fish. I cannot at j)resent 

 give a very satisfactory answer. Collectively the star-fish devour 

 an enormous number of oysters in a few days. A Providence 

 oysterman informs me that a few j^ears ago, during a few days 

 when his engines were being repaired, so that he could not " mop " 

 the stars, the latter completely destroyed a whole bed (several 

 acres of seed oj^sters) leaving hardl}^ an oj^ster alive. 



Collins (Notes on the Oyster Fishery of Connecticut) estimates 

 that in 1888 the damage done to the beds in the Connecticut 

 waters alone was $631,500, in siDite of the fact that -12,000 bushels 

 of stars were taken from the beds that same year. 



