A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



an interesting member of the burrowing family Callianassidas, Upogebia deltaura 

 (Leach), on the faith of Mr. Andrew Scott's account that 'An almost perfect 

 specimen of this curious lobster-like crustacean, measuring two inches in 

 length, was found in the stomach of a haddock caught on the off-shore station 

 between Lancashire and the Isle of Man, 13 March, 1901. The Upogebia 

 had evidently just been swallowed by the fish, as it was perfectly fresh, and 

 the gastric juices had not had time to act upon the carapace.' 1 Another 

 crustacean, which must be rather credited to the district than to any particular 

 spot of tenancy, is the common sea crawfish, Palinurus vu/garis (Latreille). 

 This has a kind of antiquarian interest; for when Dr. Leigh, as already 

 quoted, in discussing the inhabitants of these waters, remarks that ' the Oyster 

 and Lobster are very common,' and goes on to speak of prawns and shrimps, 

 the oyster seems to be unaccountably introduced into very inappropriate 

 company. It happens, however, that Borlase, in his Natural History of 

 Cornwall, has supplied the same combination, but in a more intelligible and 

 explanatory fashion. He compares the 'Long Oyster (the Locusta marina 

 Aldrovandi de Crustat. chap. 2, tab. 2) ' with the lobster, 2 and, to make the 

 explanation still more satisfactory, we find Conrad Gesner at a much earlier 

 date writing ' Ostreorum nomen, ut abunde explicavimus, non raro com- 

 muniter genus totum testatorum complectitur.' 8 Hence we may safely infer 

 that the oyster, or long oyster, when compared by old writers with the 

 lobster, signifies not the well-known mollusc, but the marine crawfish, which 

 is distinguished from the lobster by much brighter colouring, much less 

 powerful front feet, larger mandibles, and the spiny peduncles of its long and 

 strong second antennas. As for Astacus gammarus (Linn.), the common 

 lobster, so often erroneously called Homarus vu/garis, it is interesting to note 

 once more that Dr. Leigh speaks of it as ' very common,' whereas Byerley 

 makes the rather surprising statement, ' Many years since one of this species 

 was caught at Hilbre by Mr. C. Robin. Some of the oldest fishermen 

 remember that they were formerly caught there, but very rarely, as well as 

 many other creatures now no longer found, the ledges between the rocks 

 being silted up with sand and affording less harbour.'* The implication is 

 that in 1854 the lobster had ceased to belong to the known fauna of Liver- 

 pool. That this loss has since been repaired may be judged from Mr. Andrew 

 Scott's chapter 'On the Spawning of the Common Lobster,' in which he says, 

 ' The usual process by which the eggs of the common lobster of the British 

 coasts are shed and conveyed to the swimmerets appears to have been hitherto 

 unknown. The following notes based on observation made at the Piel 

 Hatchery may therefore be of interest.' As to the interest there can indeed 

 be no question, but the whole account is too long for quotation ; only one or 

 two points may here be mentioned. ' As the eggs leave the oviducts they 

 become coated with an adhesive substance which causes them to stick together 

 and to the swimmerets. The period of oviposition in the lobster under 

 observation was just over four hours.' The eggs when extruded are quite 

 soft, of an opaque dark green colour, with a thin transparent shell. They 

 were i'8 millimetres, or a fourteenth of an inch, in diameter. 6 



1 Trans. Liverpool Biol. Soc. xv. 345 (1901). s Op. cit. p. 274 (1758). 



3 De jiyuatilibus, p. 653 (1558, Edition 1604). * Fauna of Liverpool, 52. 



6 Trans, Liverp. Biol. Soc. xvii. 106 (1903). 

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