﻿110 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OP 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  THE 
  LOBSTER. 
  

  

  lu 
  1890, 
  at 
  the 
  invitation 
  of 
  the 
  Commissioner, 
  Prof. 
  Francis 
  H. 
  Her- 
  

   rick, 
  of 
  xVdelbert 
  ('onc«;(', 
  Cleveland, 
  Oliio, 
  began 
  the 
  preparation 
  of 
  a 
  

   comprehensive 
  Avork 
  upon 
  the 
  habits 
  and 
  development 
  or 
  general 
  biol- 
  

   ogy 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  lobster, 
  the 
  most 
  important, 
  by 
  far, 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  

   crustaceans 
  of 
  this 
  country. 
  As 
  very 
  little 
  attention 
  had 
  been 
  paid 
  by 
  

   anyone 
  to 
  the 
  natural 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  species, 
  it 
  became 
  necessary 
  for 
  

   Professor 
  Herrick 
  to 
  take 
  up 
  the 
  subject 
  as 
  a 
  practically 
  novel 
  one 
  and 
  

   to 
  conduct 
  a 
  protracted 
  series 
  of 
  observations 
  which 
  extended 
  through 
  

   five 
  yeai's. 
  

  

  The 
  material 
  re(juired 
  for 
  this 
  purpose 
  was 
  obtained 
  and 
  the 
  study 
  

   of 
  living 
  material 
  carried 
  on 
  chiefly 
  at 
  the 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  station 
  of 
  the 
  

   Commission, 
  where 
  exceptionally 
  favorable 
  advantages 
  are 
  presented 
  

   for 
  researches 
  of 
  this 
  character. 
  Brief 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  

   Professor 
  Herrick's 
  work 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  from 
  year 
  to 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  

   annual 
  reports. 
  His 
  task 
  was 
  completed 
  during 
  1895, 
  and 
  his 
  mono- 
  

   graj^h 
  was 
  i)ublished 
  before 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  fiscal 
  year.* 
  

  

  Professor 
  Herrick's 
  training 
  and 
  his 
  previous 
  elaborate 
  studies 
  of 
  the 
  

   Alpheus 
  group 
  of 
  crustaceans 
  especially 
  qualified 
  him 
  to 
  undertake 
  

   this 
  important 
  work, 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  conducted 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  conscientious 
  

   and 
  painstaking 
  manner. 
  The 
  result 
  has 
  been 
  exceedingly 
  gratifying. 
  

   From 
  a 
  purely 
  scientific 
  standpoint 
  the 
  report 
  submitted 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  

   highest 
  merit, 
  and 
  in 
  that 
  respect 
  will 
  justly 
  attract 
  widespread 
  atten- 
  

   tion; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  scientific; 
  memoir, 
  as, 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  

   his 
  j)ractical 
  surroundings, 
  the 
  author 
  has 
  carried 
  his 
  researches 
  to 
  a 
  

   point 
  where 
  their 
  utility 
  will 
  readily 
  be 
  perceived 
  by 
  the 
  fish-culturist 
  

   and 
  the 
  legislator. 
  No 
  other 
  object 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  has 
  received 
  more 
  

   thorough 
  and 
  systematic 
  treatment 
  by 
  a 
  single 
  writer. 
  

  

  It 
  would 
  be 
  impossible 
  to 
  review 
  even 
  the 
  more 
  essential 
  features 
  of 
  

   Professor 
  Herrick's 
  work 
  within 
  tke 
  limits 
  of 
  this 
  report. 
  Its 
  scope 
  is 
  

   indicated 
  by 
  the 
  principal 
  chapter 
  headings, 
  as 
  follows: 
  Habits 
  and 
  

   environment; 
  reproduction; 
  molting 
  and 
  growth; 
  defensive 
  mutilation 
  

   and 
  regeneration 
  of 
  lost 
  parts 
  ; 
  large 
  lobsters; 
  enemies; 
  the 
  tegumen- 
  

   tal 
  glands 
  and 
  their 
  relations 
  to 
  sense 
  organs; 
  variations 
  in 
  color 
  and 
  

   structure; 
  structure 
  and 
  develoi^ment 
  of 
  the 
  reproductive 
  organs; 
  

   habits 
  from 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  molting 
  until 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  maturity 
  ; 
  history 
  

   o*f 
  the 
  larval 
  and 
  early 
  adolescent 
  periods; 
  embryology. 
  Aside 
  from 
  a 
  

   few 
  photographic 
  reproductions, 
  the 
  illustrations, 
  which 
  number 
  nearly 
  

   300 
  figures 
  in 
  all, 
  are 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  from 
  drawings 
  and 
  paintings 
  

   by 
  the 
  author. 
  They 
  relate 
  to 
  practically 
  all 
  the 
  subjects 
  discussed 
  

   which 
  are 
  capable 
  of 
  being 
  graphically 
  presented. 
  

  

  *Tlie 
  American 
  Lobster: 
  A 
  study 
  of 
  its 
  habits 
  and 
  development. 
  By 
  Francis 
  

   Hobart 
  Herrick, 
  Ph. 
  D., 
  professor 
  of 
  biolojiy 
  in 
  Adelbert 
  College 
  of 
  Western 
  Reserve 
  

   University. 
  Bull. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Fish 
  Com., 
  xv, 
  for 
  1895, 
  pages 
  1-252, 
  plates 
  A-J 
  and 
  1-54. 
  

  

  