150 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 



bundles of brood come out of the pits, the oysters are 

 taken off the large shells, and separated from each other 

 with a knife known as a " culltack." These separate 

 oysters now go on to the beds, to come up in the autumn 

 as " half ware." During the fourth year the half ware 

 of March become the " ware " of October, and in the 

 fifth year the ware taken from the pits and put on the 

 beds, come up in the autumn as " oysters," and are now 

 ready for the market. 



But work as he may, the oyster farmer is liable to 

 meet with disaster at any time, and lose the whole of 

 his harvest. 



We have already seen that the spat may die or may 

 not settle on the beds at all, and even if the spat settles, 

 a few days cold may kill the lot ; later, shifting sands 

 may smother the young shell-fish, and lastly there are 

 many inhabitants of the sea who appreciate the luscious 

 oyster as much as man, and devour it greedily. Skates, 

 rays, cod-fish, and the octopus take their share, but the 

 worst enemy of the oyster is the " five finger." This 

 star-fish grows to a considerable size, a large specimen 

 being as much as from sixteen to seventeen inches in 

 length from finger tip to finger tip, and a crowd of 

 these ravenous creatures will sometimes swarm over a 

 bed, and destroy it in a single night. 



A star-fish extracts an oyster from its shell in a 

 variety of ways. Sometimes he will get directly over 

 the oyster and encircle it in his fingers, then protruding 

 his stomach through his mouth, he engulfs his victim; 



