THE ECONOMIC MOLLUSCA OF ACADIA. 61' 



everywhere around Prince Edward Island and the New 

 Brunswick coast are shallow salt lagoons as well as many 

 places where artificial ponds could be cheaply made. It has- 

 been proven by Prof. J. A. Eyder, that they can be raised in 

 shallow ponds from artificially hatched eggs in the United' 

 States, and there is no reason to suppose that the same would 

 not be possible with us. Seed-oysters of the best quality are ■ 

 at hand in the old beds. Another circumstance of the highest 

 importance is the scarcity of Oyster enemies on our North 

 Shore. The Starfish, which does annually more damage to 

 the beds of the United States than the entire Canadian fishery 

 is worth, is rare and does little damage on the North Shore. 

 One old oysterman of Shediac told Mr. Ingersoll, of the United' 

 States Census Staff, that he had only seen three Starfishes in 

 his life. ] " DriW" (Buccinumcinereum), though Tpresent 



not common. Mr. Whiteaves did not find it at all in his 

 examination of the Shediac beds. The same may be said of 

 the Purple-shell (Purpura la2nlhis), another enemy; it is 

 present but rare, and was not seen by Mr. Whiteaves. The 

 writer has made a careful examination of a large box of mud 

 from the North Shore beds, which was taken from the barrels 

 containing Oysters. In this, among the two dozen or more 

 species and hundreds of individuals of Molluscs which live 

 with the Oyster on the beds, not a single specimen of either of 

 these species was found. Again, on the coast of the United 

 States, two very destructive animals are the two Conchs or" 

 Winkles, Gasteropod Molluscs several inches in length, the 

 Sycotypus canaliculatus and Fulcjur carica. These are- 

 entirely wanting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and if our beds 

 are planted from our own, as they should be, there is no danger 

 of their introduction. It surely must be an immense advan- 

 tage to any culturist in our waters, that some Oyster-enemies 

 are comparatively harmless and others entirely wanting. 

 Doubtless, the reason for the scarcity of the above forms iS' 

 due to the generally sandy character of the region, most of 

 them being rock-loving species. Tiles for Oyster-culture could 

 be made as cheaply in these Provinces as in the United States^ 

 and it is possible that some of our slate rocks could be utilized. 



