REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 45 



the crabs ever touch clams of this size. But it does show tli.it 

 they would, if compelled by hunger. 



As a control to the above, experiments with small snails were 

 carried on ; and the small percentage of deaths would make im- 

 probable the supposition that the clams in the former experiments 

 had first died and had then been eaten by the crabs. 



Sea Snail. — Neverita. — (Figs. 13 and 15). — Often along- the shores 

 where clams occur, shells are found with holes neatly bored 

 through them, usually near the hinge. These holes, which are 

 nicely countersunk, measure almost T Vinch in diameter. Similar 

 holes are frequently found in the quahaug shells (Fig. 13). The 

 holes in quahaug shells are easily traced to the sea snail 

 (Neverita), since in almost every case where a Neverita is found, 

 if one will examine the under side, a quahaug will be found buried 

 in the folds of flesh. It would have been natural, judging from 

 the similarity of the perforations in the clam and in the quahaug, 

 to assign them to the same cause ; but since the clam lies buried 

 in from 6 to 11 inches of soil, and both the snail and the quahaug 

 are surface animals, it is difficult to say positively that the cause is 

 the same, unless these perforated clams are some that have made 

 their way to the surface. In the early part of September, Mr. Ma- 

 dison, while digging in one of our experiment beds, brought up a 

 Neverita and clam together from a depth of six inches. The 

 Neverita had not as yet finished its w r ork, but had already pene- 

 trated the shell. The presence of great numbers of bored shells 

 along the shore where clams are thickest gives evidence of the de- 

 structiveness of the snail, but it is likely that many of the shells 

 are not brought to the surface and that many more are washed 

 away. 



A rather crude experiment was tried, to determine the amount of 

 damage which the snail would do in a limited time. An orange 

 box, with two compartments, was inverted over a part of one of 

 the clam-beds after the surface of the ground had been cleared of 

 debris. One Neverita was placed in each of the two compart- 



