of the Fishery Hoard for Scotland. 



87 



Berried Lobsters of Summer 1902. 



The parent lobsters from which the supply of larvae was obtained in 

 1902 were kept alive in the Laboratory after the hatching finished. Two 

 survived till the spring of 1905. The history of these and of other 

 lobsters which were kept in confinement will now be detailed. 



One lobster was found clean hatched on August 2nd 1902, and by 

 September 10th all but one had hatched out their eggs. The exception was a 

 lobster upon which a quantity of dead eggs remained attached to the swim- 

 merets. On September 22nd one lobster cast its shell ; when examined 

 on October 14th the shell of this individual was not hardening quickly. 

 None of the others cast, and none spawned. If spawning actually 

 occurred none of the eggs became attached to the adult. The lobsters 

 were ten in number on January 16th 1903. None, so far as could be 

 made out, had spawned ; one had still a quantity of empty egg-capsules, 

 visible to the naked eye, attached to the swimmerets. The soft lobster 

 died on June 6th 1903. 



On July 6th 1903 eight of the 1902 hatchers survived. During that 

 month six cast their shells ; one cast in August, and the eighth died in 

 July. Of the six which cast in July, three died in the process of casting. 



The four soft lobsters had not spawned in October, in which month a 

 male lobster was introduced into the tank with them. On January 13th, 

 1904 the male lobster was still with them ; none had become berried. 



One of the females was found cast on July 19th 1904, and it died 

 the following day. A second cast on July 29th. The third was 

 found dead on August 30th 1904. There were left at that date two 

 lobsters ; one of these had cast its shell in 1903, and also in 1904 ; the 

 other had cast in 1903. The male lobster remained with the latter. 

 Both females were still unberried on 21st October. Neither had spawned 

 by January 12th 1905. The lobster that cast in 1904 was found dead on 

 February 16th 1905, and the remaining specimen had died by April 6th 

 1905. 



During the two years and nine months the majority cast their shells, 

 but none became berried. 



A Female that Spawned. 



A marketable* female lobster arrived from Dunbar in December 1902. 

 It had a clean shell, and did not appear to have been berried. It cast 

 its shell on September 2nd 1903. When examined on the 12th 

 October following it measured 10| inches in length. It was not 

 berried on January 13th 1904, but on July 14th it was found to have a 

 small quantity of eggs attached to the swimmerets. The eggs were early, 

 just spawned. No male lobster was present when the eggs were spawned. 

 These appeared to be healthy, dark green in colour, with a clear dotted area 

 to one side. The lobster had lost all its eggs but two by October 21st 



1904, and when examined on November 19th of the same year it was 

 clean. On the subsequent examinations, viz. January 12th, May 6th, 

 and June 19th 1905, the lobster was still clean. It moulted on July 2nd, 



1905, and was killed then. This cast has not been entered in the table 

 on p. 90. 



Berried Lobsters of 1903. 



Some berried lobsters, eight in number, were obtained from Dunbar in 

 September 1903. Two had well-developed eggs, and the eggs hatched 

 soon after arrival. By September 24th two more had hatched their eggs ; 

 a few eggs remained attached to one lobster. The four others had black 



* A lobster is marketable when it is eight inches, and over in total length of body. 



