62 THE SCALLOP FISHERY 



succession, but more often many hours elapse between them. As the 

 scallop is incapable of making continued flights for any distance its 

 migratory movements, if such it has, are limited to certain definite 

 areas, and never extend over a large territory. 



A swimming habit of the scallop, which undoubtedly gave rise to 

 the mistaken idea that they swam in schools on the surface of the 

 water, can be observed particularly toward evening, when the scallops 

 in the shallow water rise to the surface, shoot a jet of water in the air, 

 and then, closing their shells, sink to the bottom. This fact has given 

 rise to another popular fallacy, that the scallop has to come to the sur- 

 face to breathe. The real explanation of this peculiar habit lies in the 

 swimming of the scallop. In swimming water is taken in by opening 

 the valves, and is then ejected on either side of the hinge line. The 

 scallop, in traveling through the water, is forced to take an upward 

 slant to keep moving, and in shallow water the animal soon rises to 

 the surface. Not being able to take in any more water by opening its 

 valves, the animal gives one final squirt, and sinks to the bottom with 

 closed shell. This strange habit of the scallop is readily explained as 

 the natural result of the sudden ending of its swimming. 



The idea that the scallop makes a definite migration from shallow 

 to deep water during the warm months of the summer, and returns to 

 the shallow water in the fall, has spread widely. Where this idea 

 could have arisen is impossible to state, but it has always been con- 

 sidered as an established fact. As far as could be discovered by the 

 experiments and observations, the idea is wholly erroneous. Scallops 

 have never been seen to make any such definite migration during the 

 summer, and monthly records have been kept of scallops in the shallow 

 water in as many as fifteen localities in the State, with the result that 

 no movement of any kind was observed during the whole season. Not 

 only were observations made for one year, but for a period of three 

 consecutive years, which seems to conclusively indicate that no such 

 migration ever takes place. 



There are several possibilities for the irregular movements of the 

 scallop, and the element of chance has a great deal to do with its travel- 

 ing. If a bed of scallops happens to be in a swift current the scallops 

 may be carried along by the strength of the current, whenever the 

 animals rise in the water. As this is usually a tidal current the dis- 

 tance traveled is not far, and the opposite tide washes them back to 

 the starting place. The scallops in a heavy wind are rolled along the 

 bottom and in this manner are carried some distance. This method 

 of migration likewise depends on chance, and is only applicable to 

 scallops in shallow water, where they are unprotected by eel grass. 

 Many scallops are yearly washed ashore, which is sure indication of 

 the force of the waves and helplessness of this bivalve. Undoubtedly 

 this is the most extensive means of traveling, and is probably the only 



