1 86 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



where the fluid or finely divided and digestible parts of the food only can pass to the 

 delicate intestine. The hard parts of fish, moUusks, and crustaceans, however, appear to 

 be retained until they have given up a good deal of their lime, thus contributing to the 

 calcareous supply of the exoskeleton. 



_An anal ysis of the stomach contents of lobsters captured at Woods Hole from 

 December to June r evealed the following organisms, which are named in the order n f 

 their relative abundance: Fish (procured independently of the traps); crustaceans, 

 embracing chiefly isopods and decapods; mollusks, consisting largely of small um- 

 valves; algx, echinoderms. and hvdroids. The bones of the fish eaten belonged as a 

 rule to small individuals or species. Among the crustacean remains parts of small 

 mud-crabs, Panopmus {P. sayi and P. depressus, the common species in Vineyard 

 Sound), were almost invariably recognized, and it was not unusual to find parts of the 

 skeletons of small lobsters. The isopod Civolana concharum is frequently eaten by 

 the lobster, and often in large numbers. It is a scavenger, and devours the bait used 

 in the traps, a fact which explains its common occurrence in the stomachs of lobsters 

 newly caught. In the case of a female, captured in January, the stomach was filled 

 with fresh lobster eggs in an advanced stage of development. These eggs were not 

 stolen from any lobsters in the trap, but under what circumstances they were obtained 

 one can easily conjecture. The egg-lobster is undoubtedly a shining mark, not only 

 for predaceous fishes but even for members of its own species. The larger mollusk s 

 are eaten by crushing the shells and picking out the soft parts, whilp Tnany nf tha 

 smaller kinds are swallow ed pntire, and presumably pulverized, in th e gastric mill. 

 Echinoderms probably enter largely into the diet of the lobster wherever thpy ahrnr n£ 

 Parts of the common starfish {Asterias forhesii) and rarely a few spines of the sea 

 urchin {Arbacia punctulata) were detected, but it might be that the latter were swal- 

 lowed together with other calcareous fragments. Very little change in the food was 

 noticed during the winter and spring months, and there was little evidence that the 

 appetites of these animals sensibly abated during cold weather, yet it is probable that 

 food if not less abundant is less necessary in winter. 



That lobsters catch fish alive there is no doubt, but few observers have ever seen 

 the feat performed. Fish that inhabit the bottom, like the flounder, would naturally 

 fall an easy prey to the powerful claws of the lobster, which is said to catch the sculpin; 

 and I have known a lobster when confined in an aquarium to seize and devour a sea 

 robin {Prionotus evolans). 



While lobsters are great scavengers, it is probable that they always prefer fresh 

 food to stale. Some fishermen maintain that there is no better bait than fresh 

 herring. Fresh codfish heads, flatfish, sculpins, sea robins, menhaden, and haddock 

 are also used, as well as salted fish. The flesh of sharks was occasionally used by the 

 Gay Head fishermen on account of its firmness and lasting qualities. Nothing could 

 be more offensive to the human nostril than the netted balls of slack-salted, semi- 

 decomposed herring, which are commonly used as bait on the coast and islands of 

 Maine, but by the wonderful chemical processes which are continually going on in the 



