288 



CIVIC BIOLOGY 



ball, it is quite possible that the Entomostraca would be the 

 heavier of the two. 1 They form the main food of the young 

 of fishes and many other aquatic animals, and also of the 

 adult fishes that are provided with gill rakers the herrings, 

 smelts, shad, and others. They are thus the connecting link 

 between the vast store of floating, microscopical plants and 

 animals (the primitive food supply) and all higher life in the 

 water.- Daphnia and Cyclops are examples that may be found 

 in almost any fresh-water aquarium or in streams, ponds, 

 and pools everywhere. The fairy shrimp (Branchipus) is 

 also found in the icy pools of early spring. 



The Lobster (Homarus americanus). Of the invertebrates 

 used for food the lobster ranks next in importance to the 

 oyster, and of all marine animals, for the past thirty years, it 

 has been in the greatest danger from overfishing. The reason 

 for this is seen in the following table, the supply having been 

 drained to the utmost on account of soaring prices. 



NEW ENGLAND LOBSTER FISHERY 



1 The writer has thought, as he steamed through a veritable slush of 

 copepods that colored the ocean for hundreds if not thousands of miles, 

 that here must be the greatest of all untapped and unthought-of sources of 

 .supply of animal matter. If the ship's engines could be geared to some effi- 

 cient filtering machine, a cargo could be secured as fast as hoisting and stor- 

 ing machinery could handle it. The material might prove as good, or better, 

 than lobster for salads (but the microscopic spines and bristles would be 

 likely to interfere with human edibility). It might prove of value for poultry 

 and swine, for oil production, and, at any rate, for fertilizer. Perhaps it 

 would solve the problem of food in fish hatcheries, especially for marine 

 -species, and make possible the rearing of young lobsters in any quantity. 



