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PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1926 J00 
tion of the beds that only very young clams are commonly found. 
A short report of these conditions with recommendation for a size- 
limit regulation was submitted to the supervisor of fisheries of the 
State of Washington. 
After examining canned samples of Cardium corbis and consulting 
with interested operators, a suitable method of processing this clam 
has been worked out. By using this species it is possible for the 
canneries to operate during the winter, when razor clams can not be 
obtained, and during the late summer, when there is a closed season 
for razor clams. The supply of this species is quite extensive and the 
product is of satisfactory quality. 
SCALLOPS 
The scallop investigations in North Carolina, begun in July, 1925, 
by J. S. Gutsell, have been continued through 1926. Special empha- 
sis has been laid on spawning, growth, and longevity. 
Spawning has been found to begin in the spring (if, indeed, it 
ceases at all through any season) and to continue to the end of the 
year. However, there is accumulating evidence, chiefly from the 
collections of small scallops, that the principal spawning occurs 
over a shorter period, beginning in early fall or late summer and 
extending through the fall, perhaps into the winter. New methods 
of collecting small scallops and of examining the collected material 
have given greatly improved results for this as for other aspects of 
the work, so that good evidence throughout 1927 is anticipated. 
Growth data that show remarkable homogeneity of size grouping 
indicate an increase in length from 114 inches in May to about 3 
inches in the next fall or winter. Commercial destruction of scallops 
at Pivers Island and other known sources of supply in February, 
1926, prevented extension of knowledge of later growth and normal 
longevity. These problems we hope to solve during the coming 
year. 
; On advice of the investigator, some modification of the scallop 
season by the State authorities aready has been made. It is hoped 
that when the present studies are completed, or sufficiently advanced, 
detailed recommendations of practical value may be made available 
to the State board, which has taken an active interest and to which 
thanks are due for cooperation. 
FRESH-WATER MUSSELS 
Undoubtedly the outstanding work carried out in 1926 in connec- 
tion with fresh-water mussels, of value to the pearl-button industry 
for their shells, was performed at the Fairport (Iowa) fisheries 
biological laboratory by Dr. Max M. Ellis, of the University of 
Missouri, a special investigator of the bureau. After working on 
the problem several summers Doctor Ellis succeeded in developing 
a nutrient solution that serves as a medium for the development of 
mussels from the glochidial to the adult stage. This elimination 
of the parasitic stage in the life history of the mussels prom‘ses to 
simplify greatly the propagation work that the bureau is conducting 
with a few of the more important commercial species. Doctor Ellis 
plans to develop the use of this solution during the coming summer. 
T. K. Chamberlain, director of the Fa‘rport station, went to 
Arkansas to represent the bureau in devising more satisfactory 
