File:Annual report of the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries made to the General Assembly (1906) (14803216203).jpg

Identifier: annualreportofco36rhod (find matches)
Title: Annual report of the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries made to the General Assembly
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Rhode Island. Commissioners of Inland Fisheries
Subjects: Fisheries -- Rhode Island Fishery law and legislation -- Rhode Island
Publisher: Providence, The Commissioners
Contributing Library: MBLWHOI Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MBLWHOI Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
red (autotomy). 7. Sexual Maturity. Since it is impossible to tell how old a lobster is, we can not tell atwhat age it reaches sexual maturity. Observation on over onethousand egg lobsters received at the Experiment Station duringseveral years seems to indicate that, in Narragansett Bay, lobstersmay become sexually mature when from 8; to 9 inches long. In thepast five years only about a dozen egg lobsters under 9 inches in lengthhave been received, though a considerable number have been just 9inches. This would indicate that in Narragansett Bay very fewlobsters under 9 inches have become sexually mature, although 9inches is a good average. Herrick places the range in length of theMassachusetts lobster at the time of sexual maturity at from 8 to *For a more complete account of the matter of regeneration in lobsters see article, Regen-eration of Lost Parts in the Lobster, by V. E. Emmel in the Report of Rhode Island Com-missioners of Inland Fisheries, made to the General Assembly, 1905.
Text Appearing After Image:
126 will 1of th( Ifgrowicerta:regulihowemolt,limb,comemoltall exto re\poweioff a • Sinwhatthoussever:may Ipast fjhaveincheslobsteinche.Massa *For;eration ■missioiw REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 127 12 inches, and thinks that 10^ inches is the average length at sexualmaturity. 8. Spawning Habits. The female lobster spawns once in two years. (Plate XIII.) Theeggs as a rule are laid during July and August, but some few lobsterslay them later in the fall or winter. Hatching occurs the followingsummer, at a time determined by the temperature of the water. InNarragansett Bay it takes place from the first of May to the middleof July. The lobster therefore carries its eggs for a period of 10 or 11 monthsbefore they hatch. The number of eggs carried by a lobster variesaccording to the size of the lobster; thus, according to Herrick,assuming that an 8-inch lobster has on the average 5,000 eggs,a 10-inch lobster would have 10,000, a 12-inch lobster 20,000, etc.A lobster about

Note About Images