females than the preceding' year. That is vrhy, in 1947, the station 

 has purchased all the berried fenales captvired uy the fishernen 

 from Grande-Riviere to Ilev/port inclusively^ These females have been 

 transported in a -Hbruck from the region of their capture to the 

 station; but many among them, almost the majority, have arrived in 

 very sickly condition at the station's fish tanl:se It Ig important 

 to point out that also in case the females appear in good condition, 

 their eggs have been mostly somearhat affected* 



One of the first consequences of transportation has been the 

 decimation of feimles in captivity* In fact, after a fexr days of 

 captivity, one recorded a very high mortality, viz., 13 per cents 

 This state of things is repeated for the larvae among ivhich the 

 percentage siorvival at hatching has been very feebloo In fact^ 

 according to probabilities, the 204 berried fema.los held in cap- 

 tivity s?iould release several hundred thousands of larvae; and 

 actually, 96<0S2 larvae only have emerged from the hatching appa- 

 rat\is, T.hich may agree vrell with the facts mentioned above concern- 

 ing the vreak state of the berried fe:nales on their arrival at the 

 fish tanks e L fresh layer of paint on the hatching boxes seems 

 also to have been unlucky for the larvae and also possibly for the 

 feixiles also; but this unfavorable factor cannot explain by it- 

 self,, it sceiiis to us, the failure of hatching* 



In the best rearing conditions realized to date, one knovj-s 

 that thfe survival- rate up to the fourth stage is about 25 per ce:± , 

 that means that of the 96,000 larvae collected in the hatchery 

 one vras able to expect that about 24,000 might be raised to the 

 fourth stage for ln.beration in the seae But- of this nuiiDer of 

 larvae, the majority vrere, at hatching, in a precarious- state of 

 vitalitys and furtheriaore in the course of the rearing period^ 

 an electricity failure has forced us to restrict the circulation 

 in the rearing boxes, and we have in 48 hoiATs recorded a mortality 

 of 30i,G0O larvaeo 



Lt the end of the rearing period^ we have liberated in the 

 sea a fevj- less than 3,000 larvae of stages 1, 2^ 3 and 4, This 

 almost complete check of rearing operations represents for vis a 

 year of delay in this experiment,, but otherv^ise it makes evident 

 the influence of certrin factors conditioning the success of 

 rearing, and we believe to be able to control these factors v;ith 

 more mr.stLry in consequoiice of such a bheoki 



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