342 CRUSTACEA AND ARACHNIDA 



sea. This plan has been followed in succeeding years, as it has been 

 found impossible with the other work to be done at the station, to con- 

 trol the rearing of young lobsters. On ist March, 1913 , Mr Anderton, 

 curator of the Station, arrived from Britain in the 'Waimana' with 

 14 male and 28 female lobsters (out of 43 shipped). 



In the following year, to relieve the congestion in the ponds, 12 of 

 the old stock of lobsters (four males and eight females) were liberated 

 at the end of the spawning season, in what was considered to be the 

 most suitable locality in the neighbourhood of Otago Harbour. 



In 1914 and succeeding years the female lobsters, numbering 

 about 20, have borne full crops of eggs. It is considered therefore 

 on a moderate estimate, that during the 15 years since lobsters 

 were first introduced at Portobello, more than 1,000,000 fry have 

 been liberated from Otago Harbour. As the young lobsters are 

 free-swimming for the first few weeks of their existence, and as a 

 southerly current averaging a knot and a half per hour flows past 

 the entrance of Otago Harbour, the probabilities are that numbers 

 of them have been carried northwards before they reached the stage 

 at which they sink to the bottom of the sea. 



No young lobsters have yet been taken on the coast, but as they 

 take probably seven years or more to reach sexual maturity, and during 

 that time live mostly concealed among rocks and seaweed, the chances 

 of their being captured are few. Any day therefore specimens may 

 be met with. 



Family 



Penceus canaliculatus , W. A. Haswell. Australian Prawn 



In 1892 the Wellington Society received some prawns from Captain 

 Wheeler, which he had brought over from Sydney. They probably 

 belonged to this species, which is commonly caught and marketed 

 in Sydney. They were liberated at Nelson, and were never heard 

 of again. 



In 1894 Mr Clifford brought over a number (which I identified 

 as belonging to this species) from Sydney for the Otago Society. They 

 were liberated from the mole at the entrance to Otago Harbour, and 

 were not heard of again. The water of the southerly current which 

 washes the south-east coast of Otago is too cold for this species 



In July, 1921, the Otago Acclimatisation Society obtained from 

 the Fisheries Department, Melbourne, a number of fresh-water 

 shrimps from some inland waters in Victoria. All were dead on 

 arrival. I do not know what species this was. 



