308 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



sively cultivated for the market. On our coast it is seldom used as 

 food, altliougli quite as good as on the European shores ; but it is col- 

 lected on some parts of our coast in vast quantities to be used for fer- 

 tilizing the soil. It is most abundant in the shallow waters of bays and 

 estuaries, where the water is a little brackish, but flourishes wellin almost 

 all kinds of situations where there is some mud, together with solid ob- 

 jects to which it can attach itself. Along the coasts of Long Island and 

 l^ew Jersey it is taken in almost incredible quantities from the shallow 

 sheltered bays and lagoons that skirt those shores. It grows very rapidly 

 and under favorable conditions becomes full grown in one season. Like all 

 other kinds of true muscles, it has the power of spinning strong threads by 

 means of the groove in its long, slender foot, and, by extending the foot, 

 glues them firmly by one end to rocks, shells, or any other solid sub- 

 stances, while the other end is firmly attached to its body. When they 

 attach their threads to their neighbors they form large clusters. Thus 

 a very firm and secure anchorage is effected, and they are generally 

 able to ride out the most violent storms, though, by the giving Avay of 

 the rocks or shells to which they are attached, many are always stranded 

 on the beaches after severe storms. They are not confined to the shal- 

 low waters, for very large specimens were dredged by me, several years 

 ago, in 40 to 50 fathoms in the deep channels between Eastport, Maine, 

 and Deer Island, where the tide runs with great force ; and it has since 

 been dredged by our parties in still deeper water in the same region, 

 showing that it can live and i)rosi)er equally well under the most di- 

 verse conditions. The specimens from sheltered localities and sandy 

 bottoms are, however, much more delicate in texture and more brilliant 

 in color than those from more exposed situations. Some of the thinner 

 and more delicate specimens, from quiet and pure waters, are translu- 

 cent and very beautifully colored with brown, olive, green, yellow, and 

 indigoblue, alternating in radiating bands of different widths ; while 

 others are nearly uniform pale yellow, or translucent horn-color. Those 

 from the exposed shores are generally thicker, opaque, and plain dull 

 brown, or bluish black, and not unfrequently they are very much dis- 

 torted. This species breeds earlj^ in the spring. I have found immense 

 numbers of the young, about as large as the head of a pin, which had just 

 attached themselves to algje, hydroids, &c., on the 12th of April. These 

 shells are not destined to remain forever fixed, however, for they not 

 only swim free when first hatched, but even in after life they can, at 

 will, let go their anchor-threads, or " byssus," and creep about by 

 means of their slender "foot," until they find another anchorage that 

 suits them better, and they can even climb up the perpendicular 

 sides of rocks or piles by means of the threads of the " byssus," which 

 they then stretchout and attach, one after another, in the direction 

 they wish to climb, each one being fasteiunl a little higher up than 

 the last. Thus, little by little, the heavy shell is drawn up, much in 

 the manner employed by some spiders when moving or suspending an 



