38 



Size and Matukiti. — Tlie minimum size A\aries from about 

 8 in. in the souttiern districts to about 9| in. in Xorthumber- 

 land. It would be desirable to get further details with regard 

 to this point. 



An analysis of the figures shows that an 8 in. size limit is 

 of very little value anywhere, a 9 in. limit protects only a few 

 berried lobsters on the south coast, a 10 in. limit would protect 

 25-35 per cent, of the berried lobsters of the south coast, and 

 only 5 per cent, on the east coast. It may be recalled, however, 

 that the 9 in. size limit on the Northumberland coast protects 

 8 per cent, as caught with the apparatus at present in use by 

 our fishermen, and that the lobsters at their next ecdysis or 

 casting will be mature. That is to say those approaching 8 in. 

 will have become over 9 in., and those just under 9 in. will be 

 over 10 in. 



Frequency of Breeding. — The Board refers to Cunningham's 



observation and to Scott's confirmation of the same that it is 



possible for a lobster to come into berry again without casting. 



This must be looked upon as a rare and abnormal proceeding. 



Indeed it hardly seems credible that the spermatophores could 



be transferred to the spermatheca of a hard lobster. In all the 



numerous experiments we have made at Cullercoats, hatching 



has been followed by ecdysis, and if a male be present it is at 



this period that the spermatophores are transferred to the female. 



In other words the frequency of breeding in the case of the 



adult lobster is also the frequency of casting. As I have pointed 



out before ecdysis at once becomes biennial in the female when 



maturity is reached, and this is determined not by growth but 



the reproductive function. The male is not subject to this 



modification of the relationship of growth to ecdysis. It is plain 



also with regard to the female that while at the onset of maturity 



reproduction regulates ecdysis, the balance between growth and 



ecdysis is restored after a few years when two or three ecdyses 



have taken place. After that period ecdysis regulates spawning, 



that is to say, when a size is reached when it is not possible 



to complete sufficient growth to enable casting to take place 



biennially. These remarks it may be mentioned are not merely 



theoretical, but are based on the results of observations in the 



Laboratory, and on marking experiments, and are true of crabs 



as of lobsters. 



