260 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



snout. It has gleaming emerald eyes and a bright 

 yellow liver. It looks more like a shrimp than a lobster 

 and is often mistaken for a larval gurnard. 



The little lobsters grow very fast, their develop- 

 ment taking place in stages. The end of each stage is 

 marked by a molt ; the little lobster discards its shell 

 and, while it is growing, gradually goes through 

 several changes. At first the larval lobster swims aim- 

 lessly about, but soon it learns to swim in search of 

 food. It continues swimming about until at the end of 

 the fifth stage, when it is eight to ten weeks old, it 

 seeks the bottom and comes inshore. 



During the rest of its life the lobster remains on 

 the sea bottom unless it is forcibly withdrawn. 

 Lobsters do not migrate up and down the coast at 

 definite periods as do many fishes and other marine 

 animals, but in warm weather they come in closer 

 to the shore, and in autumn they retire to deeper, 

 warmer water. 



Lobsters continue to molt and grow throughout 

 their lives. After each molt they grow a new shell 

 just a little larger than the old one, and increase a 

 little in length and weight. The very fact that there 

 are so few large lobsters caught is an indication that 

 very few mature lobsters escape the trap for more 

 than a year or two. 



We think of lobsters as extremely awkward 

 creatures that are scarcely able to move because we 

 have seen them lying helplessly on ice in some fish 

 market. But in the water, where they are buoyed 

 up by the weight of the liquid they displace, they 

 are very active creatures, walking nimbly over the 



