44 



BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Table 9. — Time of spawning of the lobster at different points on the coast of Maine. 



No. 



Locality. 



1-2 



3 



4-7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12-13 



14-n 



18 

 19-20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25-26 



1893. 



Vinal Haven Aug. 26 



do Aug. 28 



.do Aug. 31 



North Haven Aug. 28 



Vinal Haven Aug. 26 



do Aug. 31 



do do 



do do 



do Sept. 2 



do Aug. 26 



do Aug. 6 



do Aug. 31 



do Sept. 1 



Millbridge Aug. 26 



Vinal Haven | Sept. 2 



.do | Aug. 31 



Date of 



exami- 

 nation of 

 eggs. 



Stage of development. 



Eye-spot, small crescent . . . 

 Late segmentation of yolk. 



Eye-spot a small crescent . 



..'..do 



.... do 



do 



do 



do 



Post-nauplius stage 



Eye-spot linear 



Post-nauplius stage 



do 



Egg nauplius 



do 



Segmentation of the yolk. 



Age 



i 



Date of 



of em- 



extrusion 



bryo. 



of eggs. 



Days. 





29 



July 28 



3 



Aug. 25 



33 



July 30 



29 



July 31 



29 



July 29 



29 



Aug. 2 



28 



Aug. 3 



29 



Aug. 2 



29 



Aug. 4 



21 



Aug. 5 



27 



July 10 



21 



Aug. 10 



21 



Aug. 11 



15 



Do. 



15 



Aug. 18 



li 



Aug. 29 



The results given in tables 8 and 9 are combined in table 10, which may be 

 compared with table 7. in the first column, taken from table 8 (in which some of 

 the lobsters were brought from Nova Scotia to South/port, Maine), all but three 

 individuals extruded eggs during the first half of August. In the second column 

 46 per cent laid eggs during the same period. Combining the results of the obser- 

 vations at Woods Hole for five years, 1889-1893 (table 7), we find that 52 per cent of 

 egg-bearing lobsters, in all cases observed, laid in the latter half of July, while about 

 21 per cent spawned during the first half of July and an equal number in the first half 

 of August. We find that 06 per cent of the individuals recorded in table 10 laid eggs 

 during the first half of August. These results tend to show that the summer spawning 

 season in the middle and eastern districts of Maine is about two weeks later than in 

 Vineyard Sound. 



Table 10. — Time of spawning of the lobster on the coast of Maine for the summer of 1893. 



Spawning period. 



July 1-15 



July 16-31 



August 1-15 



August 16-31 



Number examined 



Data from 

 table 8. 



Data from 

 table 9. 



Totals. 



1 



2 



3 







8 



8 



22 



12 



34 



2 



4 



C 



2S 



26 



51 



FALL AND WINTER EGGS AT WOODS HOLE. 



The catch of egg-bearing lobsters in the harbor of Woods Hole for seven consecu- 

 tive months is given in table 11. Out of a total of 168 captured, 21 per cent were 

 taken in January, 6 per cent in February, and 20 per cent in April. Of the entire 

 number, 25.5 per cent bore eggs which had been laid during the fall and winter months. 

 This fact was determined in the following way. Some of the eggs of every lobster 

 captured were preserved and carefully examined. Where no eye pigment was present 

 it was at once evident that the eggs had been laid at a comparatively recent date. In 

 all other cases the pigmented areas of the eyes were drawn to scale and compared with 



'For the collection of eggs at various points on the coast and islands north of Massachusetts I 

 am particularly indebted to Messrs. F. W. Collins of Rockland, M. B. Spinney of Cliffstone, J. W. Fisher 

 of Eastport, and also to Mr. Greenleaf of Vinal Haven, Maine. 



