1 88 BULIvETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



ently. The two small chelate legs are also drawn up rapidly to the mouth, as if to 

 hand up pieces of food. 



When stimulated in this way, the plates of the first pair of maxillae come together 

 over the lower posterior half of the mandibles. The movements of the masticatory 

 parts of the second maxillae are synchronous with the beating of the scaphognathite. 

 These leaf-like plates project somewhat obliquely over the convex surfaces of the jaws, 

 and are directed inward and slightly upward. The large plates of the first maxillipeds 

 work up and down and at the same time inward toward the middle Une, describing an 

 ellipse. The second pair of maxillipeds move alternately or together, inward and out- 

 ward, with slight up-and-down movement. The large maxillipeds move together, the 

 toothed margins meeting Uke the jaws of a nutcracker, while the three terminal joints 

 are bent inward and somewhat downward, as in the case of the second maxillipeds, 

 so as to meet on the middle line below and hold the food up to the mouth. (For full 

 analysis of the mouth parts, see ch. vi, p. 227.) 



CANNIBALISM. 



Lobsters are cannibals from birth , owing, primarily, to their strong instinct of 

 pugnacity. The small, as well as the lars^e. are ever ready to prev upo n fhn'ig °^il' 

 smaller or weaker than themselves. This is certainly true of all the lobsters which have 

 been kept under observation in the restricted space of hatching jars or aquaria and 

 where suitable food in suspension was either lacking or insufficient. In their natu ral 

 enviromnent in the sea, however, where the young are quickly and widely disperse d. 

 opportunities f or the displ ay of this tendency could seldom arise. In the early stages, 

 at -least, it is questionable whether caimibaUsm would occur tmder any conditions, 

 provided the larvae were properly fed. 



When crowded in cars or pounds, lobsters play the r61e of cannibals at a great rate. 

 As Mr. F. W. ColUns remarked to me in 1902, persons not understanding this will lose 

 20 per cent of their stock in a very few days. He usually counted on a loss in crowded 

 cars of 5 per cent in the course of three days, the larger feasting on the smaller, even 

 when the precautions of supplying them with food and separating the "soft shells" 

 had been duly taken. 



EBVIEW OF THE INSTINCTS AND INTELLIGENCE OP THE ADULT LOBSTER. 



JThe instincts of fear and of concealment bv hnrrnwing or hiding in seaweed or 

 under stones: t he restless activity of the lobster in exploring the bottom for food, feel- 

 ing its course by whipping the water with its long antennae, and testing all objects 

 with both these and its sensitive feet, or smelUng its way to food by beating its ^nten^ - 

 nules. even seeming at times to stalk and approach its prey by stealth ; storing up food 

 or, at least, dragging dead prey into its burrows or sometimes burying it, to be after- 

 wards exhumed, thus recalling a well-known trait of the dog; the fighting instinct so 

 often displayed between members of its own race and not confined to captives, which 

 brings into play all its caution and characteristic attitudes in attack and defense; its 



