38 U. 8. BURHAU OF FISHERIES 
sible if the abundance or lack of food supply of these two areas is 
taken into consideration, for only those areas of bottom which con- 
tain living mollusks or their shells are suitable for starfish. Dead 
shells, while not contributing directly to the starfish food supply, 
provide favorable conditions for attachment, growth, and multiplica- 
tion of many low forms of marine animals which constitute an im- 
portant part of the diet of young starfish. 
Spawning of starfish in Long Island Sound begins about the end 
of June when the temperature of the water approaches 20° C. and 
continues until the latter part of August. The free-swimming period 
lasts 3 weeks, after which the starfish larva sets on the bottom 
and undergoes metamorphosis. As very little was known of the 
setting of starfish in the Sound, a study of this problem undertaken 
in 1935 was continued in 1936. Results of this study may be sum- 
marized as follows: 
1. In both years setting occurred at all depths ranging from mean 
low-water mark to 70 feet. 
2. In 1935 the most intense setting occurred at a depth of 10 feet, 
whereas in 1936 the setting star-fish were more or less evenly dis- 
tributed between 5 and 25 feet. 
3. Setting continued from July 15, to September 9, 1935, and from 
July 27, until September 3, 1936. The most intense setting occurred 
on or about August 5, 1935, and on July 27, 1936. The survival of 
young starfish depends largely on their environmental conditions. 
‘Those that set on soft bottom usually die from lack of food. A hard 
bottony covered with dead shells offers more favorable growing 
conditions. 
These studies of the distribution, movements, and propagation of 
starfish provide much needed information on which to base methods 
of control and eradication of the pest. It is evident that, inasmuch 
as there is no general well-defined seasonal migration of starfish, their 
movements usually originate from the areas of highest concentration. 
These dispersal centers are found in the western part of the Sound 
and in some places along the Connecticut shore. Such large congre- 
gations of starfish should also be considered centers of starfish propa- 
gation as the spawn produced by adult animals is probably carried 
by currents for a considerable distance. Larvae developed from the 
eggs discharged by starfish set on new oyster grounds and after trans- 
forming into starfish begin to attack young oysters and other mol- 
lusks. The elimination of such centers will materially reduce the 
starfish in Long Island Sound. 
Tt is evident that the eradication of starfish cannot be very efficiently 
carried on as long as oystermen protect only their own grounds, for 
numerous unleased and uncultivated areas of bottom will then con- 
tinue to serve as centers of starfish propagation and dispersal. The 
only effective method is to combine the efforts of individual oystermen 
in an attack on the areas of highest concentration. 
During the summer of 1936, studies were continued on Orchitophyra 
stellarum Cépéede, a gonad parasite of the starfish Asterias forbesi. 
Although this parasite is found generally in males, it occurs occa- 
sionally in females. Of 326 males examined microscopically, 43, or 
13.2 percent, contained Orchitophyra, whereas only 5, or 1.1 percent 
of the 382 females were parasitized. The incidence of parasitism in 
