304 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1105 



Dr. Albert Kuntz, of the St. Louis Uni- 

 versity School of Medicine, during the summer 

 of 1914 continued for the third season his in- 

 vestigation of the breeding habits, embryology 

 and larval development of the fishes of the 

 vicinity. His observations for the season were 

 based exclusively on living material on the 

 eggs and larvae of five species of teleosts, viz. ; 

 Cyprinodon variegatus, Lucania parva, Kirt- 

 landia vagrans, Gobiosoma hosci and Cteno- 

 gohius siigniaticus. The eggs of each species 

 were fertilized and hatched in the laboratory. 



Drawings illustrating different stages of de- 

 velopment were prepared by Mrs. Decker, an 

 artist, employed for the station. The chief 

 purpose of this work was to give descriptions, 

 along with the illustrations, that would afford 

 ready means of identifying the eggs and 

 larvae of the species studied. 



Mr. H. F. Taylor, then of the Tarboro High 

 School, Tarboro, N. C, now an assistant in the 

 Bureau of Fisheries, devoted the season of 

 1914 almost exclusively to the study of the 

 scales of the menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus). 

 The results of Mr. Taylor's work indicate that 

 this fish lives to be five or sis, or rarely seven 

 years old, and that it spawns about the fifth 

 year. The year groups have approximately the 

 following lengths ; first year, 9 cm. ; second 

 year, 15 cm. ; third year, 18.5 cm. ; fourth year, 

 20 em. ; fifth year, 22 cm. ; sixth year, 24 cm. ; 

 seventh year, 26.5 cm. The indications also 

 are that the spawning time is very protracted 

 or that there is a secondary spawning time in 

 addition to the regular November spawning. 



Prof. W. P. Hay, of the Washington, D. C, 

 high schools, continued his experiments of pre- 

 vious seasons in diamond-back terrapin cul- 

 ture, the study of the life history of the blue 

 crab, and the report on the decapod crusta- 

 ceans of the Beaufort region. 



The present series of experiments in dia- 

 mond-back terrapin culture were first under- 

 taken at this station in 1909. Since that time 

 nearly 6,000 young terrapins have been hatched 

 in the ponds at the laboratory. The brood of 

 1914 numbered 1,631 on November 10, an in- 

 crease of 207 over the total number of the 1913 

 brood. The 1915 brood numbered 2,035 on the 



same date of the present year. Nearly 2,000 

 young terrapins, representing the various 

 broods, are retained at the station for experi- 

 mental purposes. A marked improvement in 

 the size and vigor of the broods from year 

 to year is apparent, indicating that the adult 

 breeding stock is adapting itself more and 

 more to life in captivity. The various broods 

 are divided into two or more lots each of which 

 is handled differently in order to determine the 

 best treatment of the animal in captivity. 

 Some of the individuals of the broods of 1909, 

 1910 and 1911 have reached a marketable size, 

 e. g., six inches or more in length, measuring 

 the lower shell. The broods of 1909 and 1910 

 both produced eggs for the first time during 

 the sum m er of 1915. The young hatched from 

 these eggs, while they are vigorous and healthy, 

 are notably smaller than the average size of 

 those hatched from eggs produced by the adult 

 breeding stock. During the winter of 1914 

 and 1915, nearly the entire brood of 1914 and 

 83 of the brood of 1911 were kept in the hot 

 house. Contrary to the custom of previous 

 winters, some of them were fed on fresh in- 

 stead of salted food in order to determine the 

 advantage or disadvantage of either. Those 

 fed on fresh food had attained greater growth 

 by spring when all were placed outside in con- 

 crete inclosures, after which, as usual, all were 

 fed on fresh fish. When measured in Sep- 

 tember, 1915, the difference in size between 

 the two lots was not so apparent. The brood 

 of 1915 is being kept in the hot house and the 

 experiment of the previous winter with refer- 

 ence to fresh and salted food is being con- 

 tinued. 



On the study of the life history and be- 

 havior of the blue crab, Mr. Hay reports that 

 the data collected indicate that the intervals 

 between moults and the amount of growth at 

 moulting time is quite variable and is deter- 

 mined by the amount of the food supply. The 

 crab probably attains sexual maturity at three 

 years of age, when also it has usually attained 

 its maximum normal growth and then ceases 

 to moult. 



The report on the decapod crustaceans of 

 the Beaufort region, which was originally be- 



