34 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
markings and shape so different that all experienced fishermen can 
easily distinguish them, the two runs being known as ‘*‘long rock” 
and ‘‘short rock,” respectively. . 
On the Ist of April, 2,770,000 eges were taken from a flat-fish 
caught in Woods Hole Harbor. The fish was 18 inches long, 10 inches 
wide, and weighed. 33 pounds after being stripped. The greatest 
number previously recorded as having been taken from one fish is 
1,462,000, from an individual of about the same size. 
The impounding of lobsters throughout the winter was not only a 
success in the increased product of young lobsters, but it was noticed 
that the eges from the impounded lobsters were more fully developed 
when taken from the pound than were the eggs of lobsters collected 
elsewhere at about the same time. The eggs began hatching May 21, 
fully a week earlier than in any previous season, and three weeks earlier 
than the other lobster eggs on hand at the same time. The eggs from 
the impounded lobsters also revealed a more uniform development 
than the others, quite 75 per cent of these hatching before the others 
had begun to hatch in any quantity. There were also remarkably few 
bad eggs, the loss being estimated at not over 2 per cent, while the 
loss in the eggs from other sources ran from 6 to 10 per cent. The 
greater maturity of the impounded product, as well as the more uni- 
form development, can be accounted for by the fact that these lobsters 
were in a shallow pound where the water would naturally be of a 
higher temperature than the deeper waters of the ocean, from which 
the other lobsters were obtained. The same course of reasoning holds 
good only indirectly in accounting for the superior quality of the 
eges. 
OPERATIONS OF THE STATIONS. 
The stations and substations at which fish-cultural operations were 
conducted in 1904, with the persons in charge, are shown in the 
appended statement. The subsidiary stations mentioned have regu- 
larly established plants for the conduct of fish-cultural operations, and 
in some instances are more productive than the permanent stations 
with which they are connected; none is provided with a personnel, all 
being operated under the direction of the superintendents of the 
stations with which they are respectively connected. It is customary 
to detail some one from the personnel of the regular station to assume 
direct charge while operations are being conducted at the substation. 
Several temporary field stations are annually operated from some 
stations, but these are not given in the following list. In such cases 
the work is of short duration, with few, if any, permanent fixtures. 
For illustration, collections of landlocked salmon and brook trout 
egos are annually made at several field stations connected with the 
Green Lake station in Maine; for the St. Johnsbury station large 
