230 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



first five pairs of abdominal appendages, known as swimmerets, are all 

 similar and consist of a short basal piece and two terminal pieces side 

 by side. The appendages of the sixth segment consist of the same 

 arrangement of parts, but the pieces are broad and paddle-hke, and, 

 with the terminal plate attached to the last segment, constitute a 

 i:)owerful caudal paddle or tail. In the male the abdomen is narrower 

 than in the female, and the first two pairs of swimmerets ditt'er much 

 from those which follow. 



The color of the lobster is subject to great variation, but most fre- 

 quently is dark bluish-green above, mottled with dark-green blotches; 

 there is usually more or less red or vermilion on the appendages, 

 especially on the tubercles, tips, and under side of the great claws 

 and on the antenna^; the walking legs are light blue with reddish tips 

 and tufts of hair. Occasionally specimens are found which are almost 

 entirely red, and more frequently they are blue or bluish in general tone. 



DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE. 



The lobster is found from Labrador to Delaware, its range covering 

 about 1,300 miles of coast line. Stragglers have been taken on the 

 coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. While the bathic range is prac- 

 tically limited by the 100-fathom line, it is occasionally found long 

 distances from land on the fishing-banks off the New England coast. 



The lobster is most abundant in the northern jiart of its habitat. 

 On the United States coast it is most numerous in Maine. In tlie 

 provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec, and also in 

 Newfoundland it is extremely abundant. 



MOVEMENTS. 



The movements of the lobster are chiefly on and off" shore. Such 

 coastwise movements as characterize the mackerel, bluefish, and men- 

 haden are never undertaken by the lobster. This fiict makes possible 

 the rapid dei^letion of fishing- grounds, and even tlie practical exter- 

 mination of the lobster in given areas; it also affords basis for the 

 belief in the efficacy of artificial means for maintaining and increasing 

 the supply. 



There are well-marked movements of the lobster induced by various 

 influences, among which are the abundance or scarcity of food, the 

 water temperature, and the spawning instinct. On the United States 

 coast there is in the spring months a shoreward movement of large 

 bodies of lobsters ; 'on the approach of winter the lobsters move out 

 into deep water. 



FOOD. 



The principal food of the lobster is fish, either dead or alive. Such 

 bottom species as the sculpin, flounder, and sea-robin can doubtless be 

 readily caught by the lobster, alnd they also consume a large number 

 of invertebrates, among them being crabs and other crustaceans, clams, 

 conchs, and other mollusks, starfish, sea-urchins, etc. Lobster eggs 



