REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 89 



or three stages following the fourth stage the shelter-seeking instinct 

 becomes more and more pronounced and the swimming habit is 

 given up. It is therefore apparent that the older the lobsters when 

 liberated, the greater will be their chance of surviving. 



An attempt was made, at the close of the season in 1905, to rear 

 some lobsters to the fifth stage. This was not entirely successful, 

 apparently because the lobsters were reared from the very last lot 

 of eggs and were undersized and weak. Another attempt was made 

 during the past season with a lot of 5,000 which had come into the 

 fourth stage on the same day. These were counted into a rearing 

 bag and treated like the fry in the first three stages. Although a 

 number of these escaped over the top of thebag, which was accidentally 

 submerged for a short time, over 4,000 fifth-stage lobsterlings were 

 counted out. Because of this encouraging result it was decided to 

 rear the remainder of the season's output to the fifth stage. The 

 best results obtained were 80 per cent, of the fourth-stage lobsters 

 reared to the fifth stage, and the average percentage was 60. 



Fourth and Fifth Stages Com'pared. — Observations made on the 

 behavior of the lobsters in fourth and fifth stages, when they were in 

 the confinement of the rearing bag and when they were liberated 

 under various circumstances, revealed certain very desirable advan- 

 tages which those of the later stage possess. These observations 

 may be briefly summarized as follows: 



In the confinement of the rearing bags the lobsterlings which have 

 recently entered the fourth stage occupy an area quite near the 

 surface and swim vigorously against the current created by the 

 paddle (negative rheotropism). The claw-limbs are stretched out 

 in advance and kept close together, making the lobsterlings appear 

 like little black lines. Very few at this period cling to the sides of 

 the bag. As they become older they swim deeper in the water, and 

 more of them cling to the sides. When the fifth stage is reached 

 very few of the lobsters are in sight. The rest may be found hidden 

 among the tufts of algae which grow upon the sides of the bag, or 

 upon the bottom of the bag in the grooves made by the inside slats. 



