38 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



growth varies enormously even under apparent!}'' similar conditions^ 

 so that the size of the lobster is no criterion of its age. Third, the- 

 young lobsters can withstand the cold of ordinary winters and the 

 freshened water of the spring even in our comparatively shallow 

 estuaries. Some of the specimens were kept over three winters in 

 cars sunk in about 8 to 10 feet of water. 



In the experiments just mentioned the rate of growth varied 

 greatly, even among the specimens in the same car. The records of 

 these differences in the rate of growth are published in previous re- 

 ports, but the following record of the growth of specimens hatched 

 last summer and reared in the cars will serve to illustrate it stilL 

 further: 



Table Showing Growth of Lobsters in Cars at House-Boat During the Summer of 



1904. 



24 ItV 

 20 IfV 



