INLAND FISHERIES. 43 



It was found during- the past summer that the starfish in Mt. 

 Hope Bay and in the vicinity of Nayatt were feeding in great 

 numbers upon a little bivalve which closely resembles a young- 

 quahog. This little animal, however, is not a young qualiog, but 

 an adult mollusc of another species — Mulinia lateralis. Fig. 1 

 represents a large specimen drawn natural size. The " Fish 

 Hawk" found these animals to be exceedingly abundant during 

 the last season in certain parts of the Bay. 



Mussels are a favorite food of the stars, and doubtless many 

 thousand bushels of mussels are devoured by them every season. 



Indeed, some of the mussel beds have disappeared within the 

 last few years, having been destroyed, probably, by the starfish. 

 Unlike the oyster beds, the mussel beds are not protected from 

 the onslaughts of the stars, and we can appreciate the extent of 

 the damage to the mussels, if we imagine the condition- of a bed 

 of small oysters unprotected from the starfish for a single season. 



In rearing the young stars for the purpose of studying their 

 rate of growth, etc., I found them to be very fond of small clams 

 and barnacles, as well as of young oysters. I will speak in more 

 detail of the damage done to the young* clams b;^ the starfish in 

 another chapter. 



I have caught starfish in the act of devouring oyster drills, and 

 believe it jjrobable, therefore, that the drills, which are a serious 

 menace to the oysters in some localities where the starfish are 

 rare, are to some extent held in check by the stars. 



VII. What is the method of feedbty ^ 



This question has been satisfactorily answered by Dr. Schiemenz, 

 a German, and a brief review of the results of his work, as well as 

 some of the current opinions on this topic, were given in the re- 

 port of last year. The point of Schiemenz's results is as follows : 

 The starfish grasp both valves of the shell fish, and by persistently 

 exerting a constant, steady strain, finally fatigue the nuiscles hold- 

 ing the valves together so that they gap open slightly. Then the 



