REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 191 



indicative of the fact that a great time must elapse between succes- 

 sive molts. It is true that vast colonies of barnacles and hydro ids 

 and algie and tube-dwelling worms may be developed in a single sea- 

 son, but it is not probable that the excessive growth of these forms, 

 found on the shells of huge lobsters and other aged macrurans, can 

 be interpreted as the result of a single season's setting. 



One of the largest lobsters of which accurate data is available is 

 spoken of by Herrick. Its length was somewhat over 20 inches and 

 its weight 23 pounds. In December, 1905, a huge specimen was 

 captured in a fishing trawl outside of the mussel ridges of Rockland, 

 Maine. This lobster is said to have measured 22^ inches and to have 

 weighed 19^ pounds. The fishermen who saw this lobster believed 

 that it was at least 50 years old. This is, with little doubt, an over- 

 estimate, though it is entirely probable that its age was in the neigh- 

 borhood o*f 30 years. The largest lobsters from Rhode Island waters 

 which have come within the writer's personal observation were 18^ 

 and 19 J inches long and weighed 11 J and 19 pounds, respectively. 

 This would seem to indicate that a very slight difference in the length 

 of these large lobsters may be accompanied by a great difference in 

 the weight, although the greater number of recorded lobsters over 20 

 inches long remain very close to a certain average weight. This fact 

 is readily observed from most of the records which have been made 

 of "giant" lobsters, as wdll be noted in Table No. 17. It is also ap- 

 parent that, as Herrick has already suggested, the increase in the 

 weight of the lobster is chiefly the result of gain in the size of the 

 claws, while the body itself may experience but slight change in 

 length. Ehrenbaum ('94) mentions the case of a lobster 42.2 cm. 

 (16f inches) long, which gained scarcely a millimeter in length at a 

 molt. Other cases of a similar nature are reported. Though our 

 data on this point are too meagre to warrant far-reaching conclusions^ 

 it is fair to judge that the amount of increase for "giant" lobsters is 

 not over 4 per cent, at the most, and that the molting process does not 

 •occur oftener than once in several years. According to this estimate, 



