112 KEPOKT OF COMMLSSIONEli OF I'1.S1I AND FISHERIES. 



waters ill Ijoiij;' Ishiiid Sonud, the uystei-^iowi^'rs lutve nothing to fear 

 lor (he, safety of llicir beds, no great amount of pollntion Laving been 

 found at any i)la('c examined, and the interchange of Avaters -with the 

 open sea being sullieient also to insure their purity far above tlie stand- 

 ard required for oyster-raising. Much lias been learned with respect 

 to the present condition of the oyster beds and of the adjacent bottom, 

 and as to the natural-history features of the region, including tlie habits 

 of starlishes; but no n^.w methods have been discovered for the destruc- 

 tion of this enemy, although suggestions have been oflered which may 

 prove of some value. 



During the course of the investigation it was not observed that any 

 of the oyster beds were being harmed to any ai)preciable extent by the 

 growth of sponges or Avorm tubes, the hitter, however, having occa- 

 sioned some loss in 18SU in the vicinity of New Haven. The large Avin- 

 kles {Fulfjur and ISycotyinis) are said to do a greater or less amount of 

 damage, but no instance of their destructiveness came directly to the 

 attention of the party, and, owing to their size, they may readily be 

 detected and remoA^ed. The oyster- groAvers claim, moreover, that Avheu 

 they have once been cleaned from the Ijeds they give them no further 

 trouble during the same year, and they also state that they are rapidly 

 decreasing in abundance, due no doubt to the numbers which are de- 

 stroyed annually, together Avith their eonspicuous Qgg capsules. The 

 drills and starfishes dispute the title of being the most destructive of the 

 oyster pests, the former operating chiefly in the more brackish and shal- 

 low Avaters, and the latter invading all other territory, although not 

 entirely absent from the former. The drill, hoAvever, feeds generally on 

 smaller oysters than the starfish, and the extent of its damage is less 

 appreciated by the oystermen. The starfish, therefore, is usually most 

 dreaded, and very justly so, in the more open Avaters of the Sound, 

 where the great majority of the beds are situated. 



It is unnecessary in this connection to enumerate the mass of facts 

 that has been obtained to show the amount of damage caused annually 

 by these tAvo enemies of tlie oyster. In fact, it is very difficult to esti- 

 mate th.e money vahie of tlie losses, Avhichmay include only the outlay 

 in the planting and tending of the beds, or extend to the prospective 

 profit on the crop after it has matured. An invasion by starfishes may 

 be detected early enough to insure their being dredged up before they 

 have accomplished much injury. OtherAviso they may succeed in de- 

 stroying a portion of a bed, or even an entire b(*d of large area, and 

 they generally appear smldenly, Avithout any Avarning. 



Opinions diifer as to the months during AAiiieh starfishes are most 

 destructive. The evidence (;ollected, however, tends to prove that they 

 are feeding on or about the beds during the entire year, and when the 

 food in one locality is exhausted they moveelseAvhere, the places Avhcre 

 they congregate and do the most damage changing more or less from 

 year to year. The breeding season a])i)ears to extend over nearly, if 



