178 REPORT OP COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



October or the first of November; furthermore, that it lies dormant 

 through the months of December, January, February, and March, molt- 

 ing into the twelfth stage sometime in April or in the first part of May. 

 It is entirely possible, however, that under certain conditions the 

 young lobsters may enter the tenth stage in October or November 

 and undergo two molts in the following spring; but this must be the 

 exception rather than the rule. There are some instances (see Tables 

 Nos. 25, 26) which have fallen under the writer's observation wherein 

 certain individually cared for lobsters passed into even the twelfth 

 stage before winter; but as has been said, these cases are excep- 

 tional. In any case, this view is rather in contradiction to Herrick's; 

 that a lobster under one year old may molt three times between December 

 and the following June, and that a lobster one year old has molted from 

 14 to 17 times. 



VII. Observations on the Rate of Growth of Lobsters Over 

 One Year Old. 



We will now turn our attention to the rate of growth of lobsters 

 over one year old. Herrick mentions the case of 16 young lobsters 

 which were driven ashore at Woods Hole after a storm on January 16, 

 and whose measurements were from 39 to 83.7 mm. Herrick thinks 

 it possible that all may have been hatched during the previous summer, 

 in which case none of them could have been over 8 months old. We 

 know, however, that the young lobsters, at least in the earlier stages, 

 grow more rapidly in Narragansett Bay than in the region of Woods 

 Hole. Hence, since the largest of 79 lobsters one year old reared at 

 Wickford was only 79 mm. in length, it is exceedingly doubtful that 

 any of the shore-washed lobsters, recorded by Herrick as 83 mm. in 

 length, could have been less than one year six months old. In this 

 regard the writer would direct attention to records of two yearling 

 lobsters raised from the egg, whose approximate age and stage were 

 known. 



