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crawfish, but extends to many other marine invertebrates as 

 well as fishes, as, for instance, the snoek. Some years ago 

 some enterprising citizens of East London thought to remedy 

 this unequal distribution of the gifts of Providence by import- 

 ing a shipload of crawfish from Cape Town. The consignment 

 arrived safely, and was placed in a suitable locality, but 

 apparently the fish did not thrive, as tliey were never again 

 seen. 



There have been suggestions from time to time of the 

 advisability of transporting a number of crawfish from Table 

 Bay to False Bay, where they might breed and multiply. 

 This seems a more feasible proposition than that just men- 

 tioned, but, for the reasons stated above, the success of the 

 experiment is highly improbable. 



The fact that the Cape Crawfish as a commercial asset has this 

 comparatively limited range renders it all the more probable that 

 the supply may be affected by indiscriminate fishing, and the more 

 necessary that adequate means be taken for its preservation. 



5. Sexual Differences in the Crawfish. 



The difference between the male and female crawfish are at 

 first sight not very striking, and this is of importance in 

 connection with the practical difficulties in carrying out any 

 legislative measures for the protection of the female. 



The differences are chiefly the following : — 



(i) The female is, as a rule, smaller than the male, and is 

 never much over 4 inches in length measured from the base of 

 the eye-stalk to the end of the carapace. Individual specimens 

 have been known to measure between 5 and 6 inches, but 

 these are exceptional. It follows from this that a size limit of 

 4 inches would form a very effective measure for the protec- 

 tion of the female, which, we will see when dealing with this 

 question, is a very vital point in the protection of the industry. 



(2) The female, as a rule, seems to differ in colour from 

 the male, being generally somewhat darker. 



(3) There is a difference in the relative breadth of the 

 carapace, this being decidedly greater in the male. 



(4) The tail shows marked differences, connected with the 

 important function of carrying the eggs. Thus, in the female 

 it is broader throughout its length than in the male, as will be 

 shown by the following measurements (in millimeters) of the 

 length and breadth of the carapace and the breadth of the several 

 tail segments of three male and three female specimens : — 



