Tulian. — Louisiana Shrimp Industry, 115 



hand, observations had to be made entirely in the field; 

 little by little, bits of information regarding its life history, 

 habits and sexual development being gathered, often under 

 adverse conditions, and now, after putting these together 

 we consider that we have at least a substantial foundation 

 for further inquiry. Furthermore, the advent of the 

 otter trawl, which was to revolutionize the industry, made it 

 imperative to accumulate all the grosser facts possible re- 

 garding shrimp, especially those most readily and rapidly 

 available, so that they could be applied in a practical way 

 for the preservation of the species and the industry if that 

 was found to be necessary. 



"Although, we have gained some headway with our 

 study of the early life of the shrimp, we must still look to 

 the researches of Fritz Muller and W. K. Brooks for the 

 larval stages in the development of Penaeus. We have 

 really only a fairly complete knowledge of the development 

 and migrations from the time they enter shallow waters 

 when they abandon their plankton life at the size of li^ 

 inches, until they return to the sea as fully matured adults 

 for spawning. 



"Ecologically, Penaeus setiferus is associated with the 

 sharky clay deposits precipitated by southern rivers upon 

 bay and gulf bottoms, and as a consequence of Louisiana 

 having much the largest river, we have much the largest 

 shrimp territory along the coast of this State. The species 

 is not associated with larger living vegetation of any kind, 

 the schools moving over soft mud bottoms where they feed 

 as scavengers upon organic material picked up in the ooze. 

 They avoid sandy bottoms, especially those composed of 

 coarse or compact sand. The breeding season, a rather 

 extended one, includes at least the period from April to 

 October, and is confined to the waters of the gulf, although 

 ripe adults may come at times rather close to the gulf beach, 

 especially during calm weather. 



"By May, reasonable numbers of baby shrimp appear in 

 the shallow waters near the coast line and a large propor- 

 tion gradually migrate into brackish waters, all growing 

 rapidly throughout the summer. New schools of young 

 shrimp are continually coming in from the sea in greater 

 and greater numbers as summer advances. As they grow 

 older, they generally seek the deep water zones of the bays 

 or lakes in which they happen to be, and the schools are 

 usually of uniform sized individuals. Only a negligble 

 percent remain in the sea throughout this growing period of 

 their lives, and it is very evident that conditions there are not 

 suited to their development. The maximum sized indi- 



