REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 147 



referred to. In confinement in the rearing bags the food item be- 

 comes of tremendous importance. Molting three times in from 10 

 to 14 days, while in each molt important structural changes occur, the 

 lobster demands regular and almost continuous feeding. Their 

 feeding apparently does not take place chiefly at night, as in the adult, 

 but on the contrary they seem to feed most frec^uently during the 

 day. The warmth of the water and the bright sun seem to favor their 

 growth, or at least the rapidity of molting. Lobster fry very often, 

 when taken from the rearing bag and placed in a shallow dish for 

 observation, will molt in a very short time if it is a bright sunny day. 

 This occurs so often as to lead one to conclude that the warmer tem- 

 perature of the water in the dish hastens the molting. Since these 

 conditions of temperature favor growth, they must undoubtedly 

 encourage more abundant feeding in order to supply proper material 

 for growth. But we are not to conclude that the lobster does not 

 feed during the night. Flash-lights thrown on the water in the rear- 

 ing bags at night have shown fry eating pieces of clam. The fact 

 that the proportion of those feeding was not as great as in the day- 

 time must not be taken as an indication that the lobster feeds 

 principally by day, for a sudden light greatly excites the lobster and 

 may have caused the dropping of food. 



The practice of feeding the fry as frequently during the night as 

 during the day has been carried on at Wickford. The kind of food 

 used is determined, not so much by the preference of the lobster, as by 

 the requirements of the scheme of rearing. The fry feed quite as 

 readily on one kind of food as another. Fish, perhaps, is as much 

 preferred as anything; but it is very oily and fills the water with 

 grease. This interferes with observation and is unfavorable to a 

 healthy condition of the fry. Moreover, those particles which fall 

 to the bottom of the bag rapidly decay, fouling the water and rotting 

 the bag. Soft-shell clams seem to be the best available food. The 

 advantages are lightness, requiring little current to keep it up in the 

 water, absence of oil, and are less likely to decay. The fry eat it very 

 readily. The preparation of the clams consists in cutting them from 



