58 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
It was not possible to make daily observations over the entire coast of Texas, 
and so the work was confined to certain portions of Galveston Bay, which is very 
similar to the other oyster-producing waters along the coast. The results are there- 
fore considered to be typical and may apply to most of the bays along the Gulf coast. 
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Figure 3. — Chart showing the major portion of Galveston Bay in which oysters are produced. Plankton collection station No. 
7 and shell-planting station No. IV are indicated at Hanna Reef, in East Bay. See Figures 4 and 5 for West Bay and Offatts 
Bayou stations. (From U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 1282) 
A field laboratory 2 was built on the shore of Offatts Bayou (fig. 1), a portion of 
West Bay, and equipped with running sea water. This served as headquarters in 
which most of the observations were made. 
METHODS 
The most complete records were made in Offatts Bayou, for it is a small body of 
water and relatively calm even when the bay proper is rough. A pier extended out 
from the laboratory about 200 feet to the edge of the channel and on this the thermo- 
graph was placed. (Fig. 2.) The bulb was fixed slightly above bottom under about 
2% feet of water at low tide so as to give a fairly accurate record of water temperature 
without being exposed even at extreme low water. Continuous thermograph records 
2 The bureau is indebted to William J. Tucker, game, fish, and oyster commissioner of Texas, for furnishing the laboratory and 
equipment and a boat and boatman; also to W. A. Kelso for permitting the location of the laboratory on his property; and to Dolph 
Rogers for giving oysters as well as his time to assist in the investigation. 
