36 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



WOODS HOLE LABORATORY. 



-The Woods Tlole laboratory was opened as usual for biological 

 researches on July 1, 1802, but several of the workers arrived aud 

 were given the necessary facilities for carrying on their studies during 

 June. The laboratory was in charge of Dr. James L. Kellogg, of Johns 

 Hopkins University, and the Oomniissioner was also present during 

 most of the season, giving personal direction to such parts of the 

 investigations as were undertaken for the Fish Commission. The total 

 number of investigators in attendance, not including the regular em- 

 ployes of the Commission, was fourteen; of these, two were engaged 

 in the study of special subjects for the benefit of the Commission. 

 The work carried on by each maybe summarized as follows: 



Dr. James L. Kellogg was occupied mainly with the study of the 

 spawning and early habits of the common scallop or pecten {Peeten 

 irradians), the younger stages of which were found attached in great 

 abundance to ulva in the Acushnet River, near New Bedford, Mass. 

 The breeding season of this si^ecies occurs during May and June in 

 this region, and is probably of shorter duration than in the case of 

 many other important food mollusks. During June the young were 

 observed to present very slight variation as to size, and during the 

 two succeeding months, the growth was not rapid. The attachment to 

 ulva was by means of a well-developed byssus, the occurrence of which 

 in the first stages of growth has been recognized for some time. The 

 byssus-forming gland, which.was carefully studied, was found to remain 

 functional until the latter part of August, when it became atrophied, 

 and in the adults all traces of it have disappeared. Late in August 

 the shell in many instances reaches a diameter of two-thirds of an 

 inch, but considerable differences then exist with respect to size. The 

 method of byssus attachment was determined in both the young pecten 

 and the black mussel, and it was made out that in each of those species 

 the byssus could be thrown off at will, the animal crawling about by 

 means of its foot and reattaching. A vestigial organ, probably a non- 

 functional byssus organ, was discovered in the young of Yoldia, another 

 form of Lamellibranch. 



The practical bearing of the results of Dr. Kellogg's observations 

 relate to the artificial propagation or transplanting of the scallop, 

 which, during its attached stage, could be transported conveniently in 

 immense numbers with slight danger of loss. Moreover, if reared in 

 confinement, a suitable collector could readily be provided for the 

 attachment of the young, thereby obviating the diliiculties attending 

 the handling of large quantities of fry in a free condition. Studies 

 were also conducted by Dr. Kellogg relative to the morphology and 

 physiology of several bivalve mollusks. 



Prof. Francis H. Herrick, of Adelbert College, Cleveland, Ohio, con- 

 tinued his observations, begun in 1890, on the development and the 

 life-history of the lobster. As previously announced. Professor Herrick 

 is preparing for the Fish Commission a comprehensive report upon the 



