198 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [492] 
ance, and some of them have not been found farther westward, and others 
but rarely. Among these were Ptilota elegans and Delesseria sinuosa, both 
of which were abundant on the reef in four or five fathoms, associated 
with large quantities of Phyllophora Brodici, and P. membranifolia ; 
Euthora cristata and Lithothamnion polymorphum also occurred. The 
“dulse,” Rhodymenia patmata, Laminaria digitata, L. saccharina, and 
L. longicrura, all of which are decidedly northern species, were large and 
abundant. 
A similar assemblage of alge was also found on the rocks, in shallow 
water, off Gay Head, though some of the species just named were not 
found there. : 
Among the Crustacea of these localities, the most important is the 
lobster, Homarus Americanus, (p. 395,) which finds its proper habitat in 
such places. It is very abundant off Gay Head, and among the reefs 
and rocks off Watch Hill and Stonington, Connecticut. It also occurs 
plentifully in similar localities off New London, Connecticut, and sfill 
farther west in Long Island Sound. Atall these and many other locali- 
ties large quantities are caught for the markets. They are nearly all 
taken in “lobster pots” baited with refuse fish, &c. 
The lobster fishing begins in this region in the latter part of March or 
early in April, according to the season. By the middle of April they 
are usually taken in large quantities and shipped alive to New York, 
New Haven, and other cities. The extent of this trade is enormous 
even in this region, while north of Cape Cod, along the whole northern 
coast of New England, and on the shores of Nova Scotia, the lobster is 
taken jn still larger quantities. At present we have no reliable data for 
estimating the number annually caught, but it probably amounts to 
several millions. 
In winter the supply comes from the northern coasts of Massachusetts 
and Maine, where they may be taken in moderately deep water at all 
seasons. According to Captain N. E. Atwood* they do not come into 
shallow water at Provincetown until June and remain there until Oc- 
tober, when they disappear again. He also states that those that visit 
that locality are nearly all females ; “‘they appear to come near the shore 
for the purpose of depositing their young, after which they pass away 
and others in turn take their places, as is indicated by the change that 
is constantly taking place, for when the fishermen are catching great 
quantities of large, good hard-shell lobsters, and they are unusually 
abundant, perhaps the next day there will be a new kind, smaller and 
not of so good quality, the former ones having passed away and others 
come to take their places.” “In Boston the number of lobsters sold 
annually cannot be much short of a million. The male lobster is pre- 
ferred and is the most salable, as this city has always been supplied 
from the northern shore of Massachusetts and coast of Maine, where the 
* Proceedings Boston Society of Natural History, vol. x, p. 11, 1866. 
