178 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES [472] 



Lamellibranclis. 



Page, i Page. 



Pholas truncata 470 I Callista convexa 470 



P. costata 433 j Mulinia lateralis 470 



Mya arenaria 469 j Solenomya velum 470 



Macoma fusca 469 ! Xucula proxima 432 



Tellina tenta 470 ! Argina pexata 309 



Angulustener 358 i Modiola plicatula 469 



Tagelus gibba 470 ! M. hamatus 374 



Petricola plioladiformis 470 j Mytilus edulis 470 



Venus merceuaria 469 Ostrsea Virginiana 310 



III. 3. ANIMALS INHABITING OYSTER-BEDS IN BRACKISH WATERS. 



Although the oyster-beds are generally planted on bottoms that were 

 originally muddy, when Covered wholly or partially with living oysters or 

 with dead oyster-shells, such bottoms may properly be regarded as &quot;shelly 

 bottoms 7 analogous to the natural shelly bottoms of the outer waters. 

 The shells of the oysters afford suitable attachment for various shells, 

 bryozoa, ascidians, hydroids, sponges, &c., which could not otherwise 

 maintain their existence on muddy bottoms, while other kinds of ani 

 mals, such as crabs, annelids, &c., find shelter beneath the shells or in 

 their interstices. Some species have apparently been introduced from 

 farther south with the oysters ; among these are Modiola Jiamatus and 

 Panopeus Herbstii, neither of which is positively known to be fully nat 

 uralized on our shores. 



In planting the oysters they are more or less uniformly scattered over 

 the bottom, from somewhat above low-water mark to the depth of ten 

 or twelve feet. The oysters thus planted are brought mostly from the 

 waters of Virginia and Maryland in spring. During the summer they 

 usually increase greatly in size, and often become very fat and improve in 

 flavor. They are taken up in the fall, for if left exposed to the freezing 

 weather of our winters, at least all those in very shallow water would be 

 killed. They often double in bulk during the summer. Besides the im 

 mense quantities of oysters til us brought from farther south to be &quot; plant 

 ed&quot; in our waters, large quantities of young &quot; natives&quot; are also collected 

 from the localities where they naturally breed, and are planted on muddy 

 bottoms in the brackish waters, where they grow very rapidly, usually 

 attaining a size suitable for the market in two or three years. 



These u native oysters,&quot; although of the same species as those brought 

 from the south, are more hardy, and will live through the winter if cov 

 ered by a depth of water sufficient to prevent them from freezing. The 

 young oysters that attach themselves to stones, ledges, &c., between 

 tides, often in great abundance, nearly all perish by freezing during the 

 winter. They mostly become an inch to an inch and a half in diame ter 

 during the first summer. The period of spawning lasts for some time, 



