492 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



aiice, and some of them have not been found farther westward, and others 

 but rarely. Among these were Ptilota eler/ans and Belesseria smuosa, both 

 of which were abundant ou the regf in four or five fathoms, associated 

 w^ith kxrge quantities of Phyllophora Brodicvi, and P. memhranifoUa ; 

 Eutliora eristata and Lithotliamnion polymorplmm also occurred. The 

 " dulse," Rhodijmema palmata, Laminaria digitata, L. saccharina, and 

 L. longicrura, all of which are decidedly northern species, were large and 

 abundant. 



A similar assemblage of alg;ie was also found on the rocks, in shallow 

 water, off Gay Head, though some of the species just named were not 

 found there. 



Among the Crustacea of these localities, the most important is the 

 lobster, Homarus Americfmus, (p. 395,) which finds its proper habitat in 

 such places. It is very abundant off Gay Head, and among the reefs 

 and rocks off Watch Hill and Stonington, Connecticut, It also occurs 

 plentifully in similar localities off' New London, Connecticut, and still 

 farther west in Long Island Sound. At all these and many other locali- 

 ties large quantities are caught for the markets. They are nearly all 

 taken in " lobster pots" baited with refuse fish, &c. 



The lobster fishing begins in this region in the latter part of March or 

 early in April, according to the season. By the middle of April they 

 are usually taken in large quantities and shipped alive to New York, 

 New Haven, and other cities. TLe extent of this trade is enormous 

 even in this region, while north of Cape Cod, along the whole northern 

 coast of New England, and on the shores of Nova Scotia, the lobster is 

 taken in still larger quantities. At present we hf^ve no reliable data for 

 estimating the number annually caught, but it probably amounts to 

 several millions. 



In winter the supply comes from the northern coasts of Massachusetts 

 and Maine, where thej' may be taken in moderately deep water at all 

 seasons. According to Captain N. E. Atwood* they do not come into 

 shallow water at Provincetown until June and remain there until Oc- 

 tober, when they disappear again. He also states that those that visit 

 that locality are nearly all females ; " they appear to come near the shore 

 for the purpose of depositing their young, after which they pass away 



and others in turn take their i^laces, as is indicated by the change that 

 is constantly taking place, for when the fishermen are catching great 

 quantities of large, good hard-shell lobsters, and they are unusually 

 abundant, perhaps the next day there will be a new kind, smaller and 

 not of so good quality, the former ones having passed away and others 

 come to take their places." " In Boston the number of lobsters sold 

 annually cannot be much short of a million. The male lobster is pre- 

 ferred and is the most salable, as this city has always been supplied 

 from the northern shore of Massachusetts and coast of Maine, where the 



* Px'oceediugs Boston Society of Natural History, vol. s, p. 11, 1866. 



