ACCLIMATIZATION OP FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
461 
ring north of Point Conception, California, and is probably inferior in quality to the 
true lobster. The long stretch of coast line north of Point Conception is destitute of 
Crustacea which now have economic value, with the exception of the large crab ( Cancer 
magister). Mr. Rathbun, in the paper already cited, says: 
The omission of the true lobster from the aquatic fauna of the Pacific Coast has been considered 
by the inhabitants of that region a great misfortune, and while its absence causes neither suffering 
nor affliction, it is much desired both as an article of commerce and as an added variety to the food 
supply. The scheme [to attempt its colonization] has received the approval of high authorities, and 
the benefits to be derived from the introduction of so useful a species are generally admitted. 
SUITABILITY OP PACIFIC COAST WATERS TO THE EASTERN LOBSTER. 
In the paper by Mr. Rathbun before referred to, that writer considers in detail 
the question of the suitability of the west-coast waters to the existence of the lobster. 
His remarks on this subject are so opportune that they may be appropriately quoted: 
The North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans have much in common with respect both to their 
physical and biological characteristics. Identical species of fishes and marine invertebrates inhabit 
the northern jiarts of both oceans, and the number of related forms in the two regions is very great. 
The natural resorts of lobsters on the eastern coast — rocky, gravelly, and sandy bottoms, covered in 
places with kelp and rockweed, and with an abundance of aquatic life suitable for food — occur 
throughout the North Pacific region from California to Alaska. Temperature, however, is probably 
to be regarded as the most important factor determining the fitness of the region for this new food 
product, and it is the only one which we can now pretend to measure, although we have little data 
respecting it for the western coast. 
On the Atlantic Coast the lobster ranges from Delaware to Labrador, being most abundant 
between the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts and the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland. Its 
bathymetrical distribution is from the littoral zone (in some localities) to depths of probably 50 to 60 
fathoms, but the fishery is chiefly carried on inside of a depth of 30 fathoms. It apparently does not 
migrate up and down the coast to an appreciable extent, but moves off into deeper water with the 
approach of winter in order to escape the severe cold. 
This writer next enters into a discussion of the water temperatures of the two sides 
of the continent, comparing the mean temperature of a number of localities on the 
Atlantic Coast with that of San Francisco and Cape Disappointment. A chart is intro- 
duced which shows for the entire season the water temperature at San Francisco and 
Vineyard Sound light-ship. Mr. Rathbun’s statements on the adaptability as regards 
temperature of the places in which plants were made are as follows : 
The water temperature at Monterey is probably not very different from that at San Francisco, 
while Trinidad Light-house is intermediate in position between San Francisco and Cape Disappointment. 
At both of these observing stations the records indicate ranges of temperature falling within those of the 
New England coast, and therefore presumably favorable to the existence of lobsters. * * * By refer- 
ence to the chart it will be seen that the temperature is far more equable at San Francisco than in 
Vineyard Sound, having a range of only about 10° in the one case and of over 30° in the other. The 
yearly range at San Francisco corresponds to that in Vineyard Sound from May 20 to the last of June and 
from the first piart of October to the middle of November, seasons during which the lobsters are on the 
inshore grounds, the former being also the regular hatching season. In case lobsters become colonized 
on the coast of northern California it will therefore be interesting to observe if the more equable tem- 
perature of that region has any influence in bringing about a change in their customary habits. Will 
their offshore migrations be less pronounced and their breeding season prolonged? Another matter 
which the temperature comparison suggests is as to whether the more severe cold of the eastern winters 
is essential to their welfare or not. There is nothing to prove the case one way or the other, but the 
fact that lobsters seek shelter from the extreme cold would rather indicate that they might not suffer 
from its absence. An additional question of interest to the biologist concerns the effect upon the 
existing fauna of the introduction of the eastern lobster on a large scale. Will it to any extent disturb 
