196 
bulletin of the bureau oe fisheries. 
The large Belfast lobster (no. 6, table i), which came into my possession in 1893 
was captured in Penobscot Bay, near Belfast, Me., in 1891. (For full account with photo- 
graphs see 14.9.) Its total length, had the rostrum been perfect, would have been 21 
inches. The body seems surprisingly short for so powerful an animal, and it is indeed 
in the large claws that the greater part of the weight and strength resides. This may 
possibly be explained by the fact that as age advances the increase in length at each 
molt becomes less, while there is a corresponding gain in the volume of the body and 
of the claws. Thus Ehrenbaum mentions a lobster 42.2 cm. long, which showed an 
increase in length of scarcely i mm. on molting. The length of the crushing claw of 
the Belfast giant is 13.75 inches, and its greatest girth 16.87 inches. 
GREATEST SIZE ATTAINED BY THE LOBSTER. 
It is difficult to obtain exact data regarding the true weights and measurements 
of all big animals, and the lobster seems to be particularly deceitful in this respect. 
Remembering the decision of the judge that “affidavits are not lobsters,” I endeavored 
to take a conservative position on this subject, when writing in 1895 (see 14.9, chap- 
ter v). Fortunately since that time two specimens of the mammoth class have been 
added to the collections of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. 
Through the kind offices of the museum I have been able to obtain data and to present 
a sketch of one of the biggest known lobsters in the world. The larger (no. 9, table 
i), when received in the fresh state, weighed, according to Whitfield (278), “about 34 
pounds;” the weight of the smaller (no. ii of table) is given as “about 31 pounds.” 
Both were taken alive by fishermen off the Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey in 
the spring of 1897. The larger animal was exhibited in one of the tanks at the Cas- 
tle Garden Aquarium, but neither lived more than a few days in captivity. Both 
specimens have been remounted at the museum, the smaller to show the upper (fig. i) 
and the larger the under side. 
The most important measurements upon which we can rely for exact comparisons 
are; (i) The length of the carapace from the tip of rostrum to hinder border, (2) the 
length of each of the big claws, taken with callipers from the short spur near the proximal 
end of the larger division of the claw to its apex,® and (3) the greatest girth of the 
propodus, measured in a line at right angles to the last. These values should be fairly 
constant by whomsoever made, and in whatever form the skeleton is mounted. 
Knowing the measurements in the American Museum specimens to be correct, 
and assuming that the weights as given by Whitfield are correct also, I have taken 
these data as a new basis for estimating the weights of other large lobsters recorded 
in table i , and believe them to be a closer approximation to the facts in each case than 
I was able to make in 1895. The former estimates were founded on the measurements 
and supposed weight of the Belfast lobster (no. 6, table i), the largest specimen known 
at the time. I was assured that this animal weighed 23 pounds after it had been boiled, 
and allowing a shrinkage of 40 per cent in the process, its living weight was estimated 
at 28 pounds. Notwithstanding the doubts cast upon this statement at the time, com- 
® Or from the spur near the proximal articulation to apex of propodus, the last measurement being somewhat less. Where 
big claws are chopped off for preservation, the joint is apt to be defective. 
