290 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



from Hemlock Lake, the white bass, the fall fish or silver club, the red-throat or 

 black-spotted trout, the steelhead or salmon trout, the golden shiner, the alewife or 

 branch herring, and the common or lake whitefish, male and female, from two of the 

 interior lakes of the State. The whitefishes were presented in consequence of the 

 fact that it had been discovered by Dr. Bean that the so-called Labrador whitefish was 

 the common whitefish. 



In the present volume, the report for the year ending September 30, 1898, it was 

 found necessary to reproduce the shad because of the demand for it by those who had 

 been unable to secure copies of the earlier report containing it. 



With the figures of the dogfish is an exhaustive article by Dr. Bashford Dean, and 

 the eel is mentioned in a separate article. It was the intention of the Commission to 

 have the artist prepare a figure of the " silver eel," so-called, which is simply the name 

 of the common eel of the illustration when it puts on nuptial coloring and descends to. 

 the sea, where it is called salt-water eel ; but specimens could not be obtained at the 

 time from which to make the drawing. 



The Lobster. 



The State hatches annually a number of millions of lobsters at the Cold Spring 

 Harbor hatchery on Long Island. The eggs are obtained from the lobsters in the 

 lobster pots of the professional lobster fishermen and would be lost if not rescued by 

 the hatchery employees and hatched in the jars at the hatchery. The figures presented 

 are those of a male lobster, upper side, and the under side of a female or " berried" 

 lobster, showing the manner of carrying the eggs. Authorities differ as to the spawn- 

 ing habits of the American lobster. It was announced a few years ago that the same 

 lobster spawned once in two years, and facts and figures were given to prove the state- 

 ment. More recently, Professor Prince, of Canada, declared that the lobster spawned 

 annually, and when scientists disagree it is unwise for the layman to say anything on 

 the subject. The folLowing, taken from "A Manual of Fish Culture," published by 

 the United States Fish Commission, treats of the reproduction of the lobster : 



"The principal spawning season for lobsters on the United States coast is summer, 

 especially July and August, when probably three fourths of the lobsters deposit their 

 eggs. The remaining egg-producing lobsters lay during the fall and winter. A given 

 lobster does not spawn oftener than every second year, as has been shown by recent 

 studies conducted by the Commission. 



"The eggs are fertilized outside the body of the female. The spermatic fluid is 

 deposited in a receptacle at the base of the third pair of walking legs, and retains its 

 vitality for a long time. When the eggs are being extruded the female lobster lies on 



