i86 
bulletin of the bureau of fisheries. 
where the fluid or finely divided and digestible parts of the food only can pass to the 
delicate intestine. The hard parts of fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, however, appear to 
be retained until they have given up a good deal of their lime, thus contributing to the 
calcareous supply of the exoskeleton. 
An analysis of the stomach contents of lobsters captured at Woods Hole from 
December to June revealed the following organisms, which are named in the order of 
their relative abundance : Fish (procured independently of the traps) ; crustaceans, 
embracing chiefly isopods and decapods; mollusks, consisting largely of small uni- 
valves; algae, echinoderms, and hydroids. The bones of the fish eaten belonged as a 
rule to small individuals or species. Among the crustacean remains parts of small 
mud-crabs, Panopceus ( P . sayi and P. depressus, the common species in Vineyard 
Sound), were almost invariably recognized, and it was not unusual to find parts of the 
skeletons of small lobsters. The isopod Civolana concharum is frequently eaten by 
the lobster, and often in large numbers. It is a scavenger, and devours the bait used 
in the traps, a fact which explains its common occurrence in the stomachs of lobsters 
newly caught. In the case of a female, captured in January, the stomach was filled 
with fresh lobster eggs in an advanced stage of development. These eggs were not 
stolen from any lobsters in the trap, but under what circumstances they were obtained 
one can easily conjecture. The egg-lobster is undoubtedly a shining mark, not only 
for predaceous fishes but even for members of its own species. The larger mollusks 
are eaten by crushing the shells and picking out the soft parts, while many of the 
smaller kinds are swallowed entire, and presumably pulverized in the gastric mill. 
Echinoderms probably enter largely into the diet of the lobster wherever they abound. 
Parts of the common starfish ( Asterias forbesn) and rarely a few spines of the sea 
urchin ( Arbacia punctidata) were detected, but it might be that the latter were swal- 
lowed together with other calcareous fragments. Very little change in the food was 
noticed during the winter and spring months, and there was little evidence that the 
appetites of these animals sensibly abated during cold weather, yet it is probable that 
food if not less abundant is less necessary in winter. 
That lobsters catch fish alive there is no doubt, but few observers have ever seen 
the feat performed. Fish that inhabit the bottom, like the flounder, would naturally 
fall an easy prey to the powerful claws of the lobster, which is said to catch the sculpin; 
and I have known a lobster when confined in an aquarium to seize and devour a sea 
robin ( Prionotus evolans). 
While lobsters are great scavengers, it is probable that they always prefer fresh 
food to stale. Some fishermen maintain that there is no better bait than fresh 
herring. Fresh codfish heads, flatfish, sculpins, sea robins, menhaden, and haddock 
are also used, as well as salted fish. The flesh of sharks was occasionally used by the 
Gay Head fishermen on account of its firmness and lasting qualities. Nothing could 
be more offensive to the human nostril than the netted balls of slack-salted, semi- 
decomposed herring, which are commonly used as bait on the coast and islands of 
Maine, but by the wonderful chemical processes which are continually going on in the 
