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Part III. — Fifteenth Annual Report 



turbot could be protected in captivity throughout the time of the early 

 development while the enormous destruction takes place in the sea. 



Judging from what has already been done on this subject, there are good 

 prospects of the success of such an enterprise, and I think therefore it 

 would be very desirable and important if such an experiment was 

 made. 



And not only fish, but lobsters ought also to be dealt with in this way. 

 The desirability of hatching lobsters is often talked about, and to 

 put out larvse in certain selected localities soon after hatching. This is 

 certainly a very good idea, when the berries are taken from such lobsters 

 that have already been captured for the market. The idea is good so 

 far as these berries are saved from destruction. But there is little ad- 

 vantage in catching the lobster for the sake of the hatching of its berries, 

 as the latter are developed quite as well, or better, when attached to the 

 mother in the sea, than if they had been kept in confinement. The 

 destruction, in the case of the lobster does not take place till the larvae 

 have been hatched, and is swimming as a more or less pelagic crustacean ; 

 .so it is in this stage of development that artificial protection can be of 

 the greatest benefit, and assist in keeping up the mature stock of 

 lobsters in any locality. With reference to artificial rearing of young 

 lobsters in ponds, I must say it is a thing which often has been tried in 

 Norway and in England, but which, at the same time, in my opinion, 

 never got a fair chance. It may here be put forward that the lobster 

 larvae are cannibal, and that the destruction from this cause will form a 

 barrier to successful operations with this crustacean. It must certainly 

 be admitted that these young larvse do destroy one another ; but, at the 

 same time, I do not think that this feature has been sufficiently studied ; 

 it may be found that the cannibalism only takes place under certain cir- 

 cumstances. In any case I should never consider artificial lobster 

 culture in the way mentioned at all impossible ; no one, I think, at 

 the present time is able to give definite proofs for or against, but that is 

 just the reason why we ought to be careful in criticism of this important 

 question. 



That the lobster larvae can be reared in captivity has been proved first 

 in Norway by Capt. Dannevig, and later in America by Prof. Herrick ; 

 but it is yet left to utilise these important observations for practical 

 purposes that may lead to an increase in the supply of this valuable 

 crustacean. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV. 



Pigs. 1 to 10, which represent the various stages of the post-larval 

 plaice, were drawn by Mr F. G. Binnie, from my preserved 

 specimens, the intention being to give a general view of the 

 gradual advance in development; the figures have been arranged 

 accordingly. 



Fig. 1. Post-larval plaice, 17 days after hatching, 7*40 mm. long and 1*44 

 mm. broad. 



Fig. 2. Post-larval plaice, 16 days old. This specimen does not belong 

 to the present series, but was taken from an earlier batch of 



