REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1901 rl31 



Is almost opposite Fire Island inlet, no crabs are taken for the 

 market during the summer, though they are reasonably abun- 

 dant. During November and the early part of December 1901 

 much larger numbers were observed going toward the inlet and 

 many were taken and shipped to market. This migration of the 

 crabs depends entirely on the degree of cold. In the southern 

 states they may remain in the shallow water throughout the 

 entire winter. Even in the northern states, specially during 

 a mild winter they may remain near shore in the mud and may 

 be taken at times with clam tongs or rakes. A cold snap, how- 

 ever, frequently kills considerable numbers of those in the shal- 

 low water. During the winter of 1900, according to the fisher- 

 men, a large number of these yvere thus " winter-killed " and 

 were brought up in clam tongs. 



Life history of Callinectes 



But very little is accurately known of the life history and de- 

 velopment of the common crab. Many isolated observations 

 have been made and published both on this and various other 

 species of the Brachyura, and by putting these together it is 

 possible to get some general idea of its life history. The eco- 

 nomic side of the question has been well treated by R. Rathbun, 1 

 but no similar studies have been made since. The present 

 paper being only a preliminary one, a discussion of the literature 

 will be reserved to a future time. 



The eggs of the crab are carried by the female attached to 

 the hairs of the swimmerets on the underside of the abdomen, 

 or " apron " as the fishermen call it. The questions of the time 

 of egg-laying and the length of time the eggs are carried by 

 the female are matters of great importance from the economic 

 point of view, as the destruction of such females with their 

 eggs is always one of the most potent factors in causing the 

 reduction in numbers of an economic or food form. 



This fact has been well illustrated in the case of the lobster. 

 In former years, when the lobsters were abundant, it was the 



1 Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States. 1880. 



