AMERICAN FISHERIES SUCIETY. 19» 



Mr. Biiinpus: There is a little ditferenee iu the color of all 

 the younj; lobsters; they are red and jireen. The dead lob- 

 sters jieiicrallv turn red, but very freiiuently you will have 

 lobsters that live for a lon^- time and ai-e red. 



President Peabody: Any further (|uestions? 



Mr. Stranahan: If these younj;- lobsters are fed with an 

 abundance of food, you think they undoubtedly get through 

 these various stages much (juieker? 



Mr. Bumpus: I do; yes, sir. 



Mr. Ptranahan: The fresh water lobster can be forced to- 

 shed in about a week by giving it an abundance of food. 



Mr. P»unipus: I am glad to know that. 



Mr. Stranahan: I should presume that would likely be true 

 also with these young salt water lobsters. 



Mr. Bumpus: We have kept the young star fish to show 

 how rapidly marine animals will grow; we have ke])t them 

 so that they were less than the size of a head of a pin for some 

 weeks, showing absolutely no increase, although they belonged 

 to the same brood as others which reached a greater length; 

 brother and sister, but one had been well fed and the other had 

 not. 



Mr. Bower: How does the hatching percentage compare 

 with the hatching percentage under a strictly natural environ- 

 ment ? 



Mr. Bumpus: I think it is absolutely impossible to answer 

 that question. Row can one tell the number of eggs that 

 hatch from the forty thousand that the female may start out 

 with in July this year and which she carries around with her 

 until next spring under natural conditions? You can not fol- 

 low the lobster all that time and I do not know what the loss 

 is. They can not be counted. I do not want to avoid your 

 question, but I do not see how you can get data to determine. 



Mr. Bower: I did not know but 3 on could tell approximately. 



Mr. Bumpus: I think if you could brood the lobsters in the 

 hatchery until they reach this stage when they really are old 

 enough to look out for themselves, I think you would be im- 

 proving on nature very materially. I think if we get ten per 

 cent of the young and raise them to this stage and put them 

 in the waters along in the east, that in a very few years you 

 would notice a striking difference in the number of lobsters 

 captured. 



Mr. Bowers: Did you determine how long the star fish is in 

 a free swimming condition? 



Mr. Bumpus: Yes, I think about two weeks — more or less. 



Mr. P>owers: Does the lobster ever naturally propagate in 

 ponds or inlets from the sea, or has it altogether to be done in 

 the deep sea? 



