280 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE SPINY LOBSTER OR CRAWFISH (Panulirus interruptus). 
Tins valuable crustacean is regularly exposed for sale iu the markets of San 
Francisco and oilier cities of tbe Pacific coast. Its distribution, however, is restricted, 
as it is not abundant and not taken in noticeable quantities north of Santa Barbara 
County. South of that limit it is extremely numerous and exists in sufficient abun- 
dance to supply all present demands. 
AVith commendable foresight tlie California fish commissioners have thought the 
time miglit come when unrestricted capture of the ‘‘crawfish” would greatly reduce 
the production, and have taken measures to avert, as long as may be, a diminution in 
the supply. AVhile no laws applicable to the entire State have thus far been enacted, 
several counties have, at the solicitation of the fish commissioners, passed local ordi- 
nances. The following action by Los Angeles County has also been taken by San Diego 
and AAntura counties; other counties interested will soon adopt similar regulations: 
Every person Avho, iii the county of Los Angeles, State of California, shall take, catch, or kill, or 
sells, exposes or offers for sale, or has in his possession, any lobster or crawfish between the 15th day 
of May and the 15th d.ly of .Inp^ of each year, shall he guilty of a misdemeanor. 
Every person who, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, shall at any time buy, sell, 
barter, exchange, offer or expose for sale, or have in his possession, any lobster or crawfish of less 
than 1 pound in weight, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
Tlie purport of the first of these provisions is to secure the protection of the spiny 
lobster during tlie period when the eggs carried by the female reach maturity and 
liatch. All the female lobsters examined by the writer iu May and June had eggs 
attached, and it is evident that the close season stipulated in the ordinance quoted is 
the proper one. The eggs are of a brilliant brick- dnst red color, and are much smaller 
than the eggs of the true lobster {Astacus americanus) of the east coast, their diameter 
being between one-third and one-half that of the latter. 
The spiny lobster is caught in a kind of dip net, or drop net, similar to the 
apparatus employed for taking crabs. It is baited with fish or meat, lowered into tlie 
water from a boat, and raised at intervals. Eegular lobster pots are also employed 
at various idaces. 
Spiny lobsters are shipped to market alive in sacks holding from 50 to, 75 jiounds, 
and are displayed on the counters of the dealers, like lobsters on the east coast. 
Considerable numbers are also at times boiled by the dealers and sold in that 
condition. AVhen cooked, the spiny lobster acquires the intense red color which iu 
the true lobster is so familiar. 
Some of the spiny lobsters exposed for sale are very large, and others are 
relatively quite small. Examples observed by the writer on June 1, in San Francisco, 
weighed as much as pounds, and those weighing 10 pounds can not be rare. 
Six-pound and 7-pound individuals are common. The average weight of those sold 
in San Francisco is between 3 and 1 pounds. 
The spiny lobster appears to be a more active, if not a more intelligent, animal 
than the true lobster. It easily moves through the water with greater speed than the 
eastern lobster, and it also seems endowed with a faculty for escaping capture that 
the Atlantic representative does not possess. Experiments made with the typical pot, 
which is so efficacious in the taking of the lobster, have demonstrated that the spiny 
lobster is often able to escape from that form of trap. The California Fish Company, 
of Los Angeles and San Pedro, had a large number of lobster pots made with vertical 
and oblique entrances for tlie capture of s^iiny lobsters to be used for canning purposes 
at its factory in San Pedro, but, according to the reports of the company, little success 
