[17] FISHERIES OF TITE UNITED STATES. 123 



American than foreign Leeches were used in Philadelphia, the market 

 price at that time having been ;ibcmt $10 per thousand. Now, scarcely 

 more than 1,000 are used there annually. The quantities sold in other 

 cities are so small that we have been unable to obtain figures regarding 

 them. The use of Leeches is again being revived in Philadelphia. Sev- 

 eral unsuccessful attempts at breeding both the American and Euro- 

 pean Leeches have been tried in this country. 



ECHINODEEMS. 



Holothurians. — At least three species of edible Holothurians or Sea- 

 cucumbers occur upon the Eastern coast of the United States. They are : 

 Pentacta frondosa, ranging northward from New York; and Holothuria 

 floridana and princeps, belonging to the Southern States. Although 

 the Pentacta frondosa, according to the late Dr. William Stimpsou, is 

 of good flavor, it has never been used as food. One or both of the South- 

 ern species, however, gave rise, in 1871, to a limited industry, which 

 was abandoned after two years' time. The Holothurians were col- 

 lected from the shallow waters of the reefs about Key West, Florida, 

 boiled, cleaned and dried, after the manner of trepan g, and shipped to 

 China. Material was abundant and easily obtained at low prices, boys 

 principally being employed to collect it at a certain price by the piece. 

 This industry was confined to the winter season. 



Sea urchins. — Two species of edible Sea Urchin, related to the 

 edible Sea Urchin of Southern Europe, live upon our coasts. Strongy- 

 locentrotus drobachiensis, also European, ranges northward from New 

 Jersey on' the east coast, and also occurs in Alaska. 8. franciscanus 

 inhabits the west coast, from Southern Alaska to San Diego, California. 

 8. drobachiensis was formerly eaten by the native east coast Indians, 

 and is now extensively used as food by some of the Alaskan tribes. 8. 

 franciscanus is also said to be eaten to some extent; it attains a much 

 larger size than the former species. A third species of Sea Urchin, the 

 so-called ' Sand Dollar,' (Uchinarachnius parma), inhabits the east coast, 

 and is frequently utilized by the fishermen for making an indelible ink. 



Star-fish. — The two commoner species of Star-fLsh of the east coast 

 {Asterias vulgaris and Forbesii), infest the oyster beds and occasion much 

 destruction, frequently rendering certain sections entirely unfit for oyster 

 culture. A. vulgaris ranges northward from New York, and A. Forbesii 

 southward from Massachusetts, so that they overlap in their distribu- 

 tion and form a continuous line. The two species are closely related 

 and are not distinguished apart by the fishermen. Their manner of at- 

 tacking the oyster has never been satisfactorily made out, but Mr. 

 Ernest Ingersoll supposes that they first break off the thin and newly 

 formed edge of the shell, by means of the muscular ring at the entrance 

 to the stomach. Although sluggish in their movements, and while 

 occurring on the oyster beds at nearly all times, they frequently appear 



