232 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The following table illustrates, with approximate accuracy, the egg- 

 producing capacities of lobsters of the lengths indicated under normal 

 conditions: 



Length of lobster. 



I Number of 

 eggs laid. 



8 inches 5, 000 



lu inches 10,000 



12 inches 20, 000 



14 inches 40, 000 



16 inches 80, 000 



MOLTING AND GROWTH. 



The act of shedding the shell, or molting, is important and critical. 

 It is oiih' after shedding that growth takes place; during the early- 

 stages of the lobster's existence this function is often exercised in a 

 comparativel}' short time, while later it occurs only at long intervals. 

 Molting in the lobster consists in throwing off the entire external skele- 

 ton, together with the lining of the digestive tract. 



The fir.st molt takes place about the time the young emerges from 

 the egg, when it is about a third of an inch long, and many lobsters 

 do not survive this. During this first stage the larval lobster swims 

 at or near the surface. A second molt ensues in from 1 to 5 days, and 

 the lobster enters on its second stage, its average length being about 

 two-fifths of an inch and its habits similar to the first stage. In 2 to 

 5 days another molt takes place, and the length of the larva increases 

 to about half an inch. This is followed in 2 to 8 days by another molt, 

 and the lobster enters on the fourth stage, when its length becomes 

 slightly greater. From 10 to 20 days later the fifth molt ushers in the 

 fifth stage, after which the surface-swimming habit is discarded and the 

 larva goes to the bottom and begins to assume the characteristics of the 

 adult. This stage lasts 11 to 18 days, and in it the young lobster has 

 attained a length of about three-fifths of an inch. From this time on the 

 molts are at longer and longer intervals until the fully mature condition 

 is reached, when shedding takes place only once in one or two years. 



The food of lobsters during the larval stages consists chiefly of small 

 crustaceans. A. very pugnacious instinct then characterizes them, and 

 active cannibalism prevents their artificial rearing for lack of abundant 

 natural food. 



Larval lobsters are very susceptible to the influence of the sun (helio- 

 tropic) while in the first three stages, being attracted by bright rays 

 to the surface of the ocean or to the side of a vessel. This peculiarity 

 is lost during the fourth stage. 



During the first year the young lobster, which since the fourth stage 

 has become more and more like the adult in form and habits with each 

 molt, attains a length of about 2 or 3 inches. At the end of the second 



