Early Stages of the Spiny Lobster taken by the ^oat "*lb«cere.** 
by baldo L» Sohnitt, United States -^atienel Musuen* Prous 
California Pish and Gaae, ?ol . 5, Ho. 1. Sacrajnento, January, 
1919- Pages 24-25. 
*Mr • b'aldo L. oehnitt of the United States National Musuen, has 
made a speoial study of marine orustaoea, and the opportunity to 
provide him with material for the study of the early stages of 
the spiny lobster was a very weloome one to the Fish and Ctua« 
Con^alsslon. Bis visit to this ooast eame at a time when the 
aolentifio work of the •Albaoore* was but fairly under way, and 
the faet that It was able to provide him with material which seems 
to be of very eonsiderable value should be of happy portent for 
the future. The superlntondoneo of tho hauls and of the handling 
of the nets was very eoapetently dene by Mr. Slmer HiggAns, 
attaehed to tho •Albsoere* as a seientiflo e8si.'.'tant during her 
work on larval fish. 
It will be well to call attention to the signlfieanoo 
of tho wide distribution of the larval lobsters. These flat 
transparent organisms are found floating froely in tho water, 
and are distributed by tho ourronts. Although wo do not know, 
of fiourao, what proportion of the larvae are oarried along tho 
ooast by tho ourronts* nor what numbers of them finally suooeed 
In obtaining a suitable footing on the eemplotion of their de- 
volopmentm yet it should bo fairly clear that there Is an In- 
terdependenoe between widely separated regions inhabited by the 
spiny lobster. - Will F. Thompson. 
The Investigetions of the Fish end Qfjm# Commission bost^ the 
^Albecoret* have recently yielded some valnabl© returns^ during her 
soientlfio investigations of the oomeroial fishes and fisheries ©f south- 
ern California, in tho shape of hitherto unknown larval stages of tho 
California spiny lobster C Panullrua interruptus) . 
Under tiie auspices of the United States Bureau of Fisheries and 
through the oeurtesy of the Soripps Institution the writer reoently spent 
some months in California primarily for the purpose of making a study of 
tho Soripps Institution's oxtensive aeries of plankton Si^mples in the hopes 
of shedding seme light on the life history of tho spiny lobster. Though 
in oonaidorablo number, only tho earlier larval stages were represented 
in their solleations.1 
1 Subsequent te the taking ef the large phyllosomes referred to below» one 
of like else was feund in the Scrlpps Tnstltution ©ollectlonso It is 
interesting to note in this oonneetlon that In one of their large aquarium 
tanks they suooeeded in hatohlng out the first phyllosom© stage this 
summer from the egrs earrled by a single berried female. 
