348 Our Food Mollusks 



the pleasures of life after its responsibilities had passed. 

 The convenience of an older method of interpreting 

 natural phenomena is sometimes wistfully recalled. 



If laws protecting " seed " scallops, or those less than 

 a year old, and allowing the capture of those above that 

 age, should be passed and enforced in the scallop ter- 

 ritory, how would it be possible for the dredger to deter- 

 mine the age of individuals in his catch? For it fre- 

 quently happens that seed scallops that have had abun- 

 dant food are larger than the older ones. 



There is a very interesting way in which this may be 

 done in the majority of cases. When the growth of the 

 shell is resumed in May, a line is made around its margin 

 where the new shell is added (Figure 66) . This is usually 

 distinct and remains unaltered, so that when dredging be- 

 gins in the fall, the fisherman may know that all scallops 

 so marked have passed through a spawning season. In the 

 few that live through a second May, another line is added. 

 In some individuals, it is true, the line is indistinct, and in 

 a few others additional lines are formed from some tem- 

 porary check in the growth at various seasons, but usu- 

 ally the line clearly records the resumption of growth in 

 May. Probably the declining scallop fishery would be 

 much improved if laws protecting the young, which have 

 not spawned, were strictly enforced. 



The enemies of Pecten irradians are not numerous or 

 very destructive. Scallops are occasionally eaten by 

 ducks and geese, and some are destroyed by bottom- 

 feeding fishes. They are attacked by the oyster drill, a 

 spiral-shelled mollusk that files a hole through the shell 

 and consumes the pulpy mass of the body. These drills, 

 however, appear readily to be shaken off by the vigorous 

 movements of the scallop, for partially drilled shells are 



