44 INLAND FISHERIES. 



stomacli is protruded between the shells, and the soft body of the 

 mollusc is digested. Frequently I have noticed that small ani- 

 mals are taken into the stomach through the mouth, which is able 

 to stretch to a surprising extent. On one occasion I found, on 

 cutting open a starfish, that it had swallowed a clam whose shell 

 was so large that I could not push it back through the ring of 

 bony plate which surrounds the mouth. 



YIII. At vjhat season of the year do the starfish spawn? {If 

 at a particular season, a special effort should he made to kill the ani- 

 mals before sjyaioning, and thus destroy hoth stars and spaicn.) 



I have attempted by two methods to determine the spawning 

 season of the starfishes in the upper portion of our Bay and at 

 Woods Holl. The first method consisted in examining a large 

 number of adult staiiish at intervals during the year, to see if 

 they contained lipe eggs and milt. The second method consisted 

 in dragging a fine silk " tow net " at surface of the water, to catch 

 the free-swimming young. 



Most of the adult starfishes examined were obtained through 

 the kindness of the oystermen in Kickemuit river, Mt. Hope Bay, 

 and the vicinity of Rocky Point, The observations on the condi- 

 tion of the eggs and sperm were begun in July, 1897. On the 19th 

 and 22d of this month 630 stars were carefuUj' examined, and the 

 sizes of the specimens (taking always distance from mouth to tip 

 of arm), and of the sexual glands, were tabulated. The specimens 

 ranged from 1^ to 3^ inches (31 to 90 millimeters). Of these, fif- 

 teen specimens were found to contain eggs or sperm which was 

 apparently ripe. In some, only one arm contained ripe products. 

 None of these apparently ripe specimens were smaller than two 

 inches. In the great majority of the specimens the sexual glands 

 were small, less than one-half the length of the arm. 



During the remainder of the summer, stars from these localities 

 were frequently examined, and occasionally a specimen was found 



