etic or) Bi fiah F ya tse pra Tr gece ein linda en siloni lami seg tinignd RR
Gin Patel ote does By fey nt ete

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phate an easier xm fips nena . od tteton alent OF $e ee Me gesin THE
eat al See Oe ee aggre

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SPAR Dre lOO AE A
‘ oo

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

IR
i TAs)

LIBRARY

OF THE

Museum of Comparative Zoology

ae
—

‘State of Abode Island and Providence Plantations.

TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

| COMMISSIONS WF INLAND FISHERIES

MADE TO THE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

AT ITS

JANUARY SESSION, 1899.

}
“+ PROVIDENCE, R. I.
E. L. FREEMAN & SONS, PRINTERS TO THE STATE.
: 1899.

State of Abode Island and Providence Plantations.

TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT

COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES

Cot NER ian Als > Evi ae

JANUARY SESSION, 1899.

PROVIDENCE, R. I.:
E. L, FREEMAN & SONS, STATE PRINTERS.
1899.

COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES OF RHODE ISLAND.

ME Ke SOUTELWICK President. nec atest sen scores e Newport, R. I.
EGE NERY ROOM: 2reasureiia. sas sate cece a ee. Ser sien Providence, R. I.
Wiese MORTON Secretary: 1 sseee eee P. O. Box 966, Providence, R. I.
CHAS T We WLUEARD tends. Dunseth ero h a ass se Geen Westerly, R. I.
ADEEBERE D; ROBERTS: ¢.sccists coe. P. O. Box 264, Woonsocket, R. I.

HERMGN: GC, BUMPUS, CPR: Toyo iees one Gees exces eae Brown University.

alah ded Osa i

To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations, its January Session, 1899:

The Commissioners of Inland Fisheries herewith present their
annual report for the year 1898:

The appropriation, which was made by your honorable body, has
enabled the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries to arrange their
affairs ina much more satisfactory manner than heretofore, and
to accomplish far more for the fishery industries of the State than
during any previous year.

The problems undertaken by the Commission have been as fol-
lows:

First. The stocking of our ponds and streams with suitable
fresh-water fish, through the distribution of eges and fry.

Second. The collection of definite data respecting the times of
arrival and departure of various food fish, and the preparation of
statistics of exportation.

Third. The determination of the breeding periods of native
marine animals.

Fourth. The location of fish traps and other appliances for the
capture of fish.

Fifth. The physical and biological examination of the waters
of the bay, and the preparation of a record of the present physical
and biological conditions.

Sixth. The investigation of the plague which destroyed multi-
tudes of fish and crustacea during the fall of 1898.

Seventh. The continuation of the observations begun in 1897
on the life-habits of the starfish.

4 INLAND FISHERIES.

Eighth. A survey of the waters of the bay and of the waters
immediately off shore, for the purpose of determining the distri-
bution of the starfish.

Ninth. A study of the life-habits of the clam, and an investiga-
tion of the present depleted conditions of the clam beds.

Tenth. The preparation of a relief map of Narragansett Bay.

Eleventh. An examination into the feasibility and practicability
of artificial lobster culture.

Twelfth. The extension of the commercial fisheries of the State,
through the discovery of new localities for food fish.

Thirteenth. Tmprovements in the methods of preparing fish for
shipment.

How successful the Commission have been in the prosecution
of their work will appear in the sequel under appropriate cap-
tions.

The receipts and disbursements of the Commission have been
as follows:

State of Rhode Island in Account with Commissioners of Inland Fisheries.

1897. Dr.
Dec. 31. To balance due Commissioners..... coe Medeor dnoieooe oc $322 85
1898.
Sept. 26, To paid for 20,000 yearling trout. ............0.e0eecee eee 678 80
Decal * ‘« investigating star-fish, flat-fish, clam,and lobster 1,583 11
s “Co expensesiaf Commissioners; 2 terse meen ae 635 35
g Bt.) RAED, Coie 1k Paes aiokre Selle © wale t's. Oe ae 20 00
- ‘¢ printing, advertising, postage ...... ... ...-. 34 7
$3,274 83
1898. Cr.
Jan», 6:\ By cash of State Treasurer. i510 cede of. flak Bere ee,” $322 85
April 2. eee EN SA ian oi franc Peete ScHIC Orta: 613 58
July 14. OO By Shay acee in Pupecuahetdis ahetevens Rests eyeie acing beset sieterere 15 55
3l. SP delle oc nak lucia ish Setting & Serclaaie wa hs paced 26 33
al. 7 San EM ye Wane rr merece iii ey 100 00
Aug. 31. BENT talk |. 2. Tartan ie Riera ite Ato ites ts ata ca eh ea 164 89

dl. OO VN 0 Batahataiaye wrenade epee yeu as aie etere set ae 72 55

INLAND FISHERIES. s)

1898.
AM Ou ls ea VeCASl OL OLate, DPEASTILEN: «5 1s.6%ts ss alec cara! smite a s.0 Sete 22 34
31. Bee rte Bcc sos as letra ary Shaiaresmealy Lage aac 464 94
Sept. 26. MM MAP BD aay ya sits ec tae eons aetactaae 600. 00
Oct. 31. 8 Pr Sos cae are Ray 212 22
Dec. 28. Bed ENR 6 P82, tine sinaiga eae Boman ae 69 92
31. oe 0 UPR. gs atacse ha Gace err enee rs 123 65
31. Rye tie, eee ee ee 50 00
31. Sw, WEE rc rtaetiaa: Se eR ee 47 99
31. Se Oe rem e eafe ea maknd [aecen ea 28 62
31, Coo Vad WEEN. UY Peteas Sh iia a eae a eH ll Sete 24 00
31. UN nN “C2ete.t crkactin-c hey rtatentty ara sua ek oP hance 266 10
31. il pet Eeeaise Hin he gamra oatage tet, as eae tie 11 80
Balancetdie Commissioners] s.c02 2s..2 0) we sale cane sss 37 50

J. M. K. SOUTHWICK,
HENRY T. ROOT,

CHAS. W. WILLARD,
WM. P. MORTON,
ADELBERT 8S. ROBERTS,
HERMON C. BUMPUS,

Commissioners of Inland Fisheries.

6 INLAND FISHERIES.

I. The Stocking of our Ponds and Streams with Suitable Fresh-
Water Fish, Through the Distribution of Eqgs and Fry.

During the past year the Commissioners have purchased twenty
thousand yearling trout, and with the generous assistance of many
fishermen have distributed them in various portions of the
State.

BLACK BASS.

Large- and small-mouthed black bass have been placed in vari-
ous ponds and rivers during the past season. Some very good
catches of large fish have been reported. The United States
Commission has kindly contributed five hundred large-mouthed
black bass, which have been placed in the preserve set apart for
the purpose of propagating this species, near Westerly.

LAND-LOCKED SALMON.

Three thousand fry were liberated in Mill Brook, May 9, 1898.

Il. Zhe Collection of Definite Data Respecting the Times of
Arrival and Departure of Various Food Fish, and the
Preparation of Statistics of Exportation.

i

For this purpose blank forms were distributed to the shore fish-
ermen early in the summer, and the data thus obtained will be of
practical assistance in the future work of the Commission.

An examination of the following table will show a most gratify- -
ing increase in the shipments by freight and express from New-
port. Large quantities of fish are carried directly to the New
York markets by those owning the larger “ off-shore” traps, and
many fish are also sent to New York and other market centres
from Wickford and East Greenwich.

INLAND FISHERIES.

=

Shipment of Fish and Lobsters by Regular Lines of Freight Transportation from

Newport, for the Years 1897 and 1898.

1897. 1898. 1897. 1898. 1897. 1898.
Fish. Lobsters. Swordfish.
Bbls. Bbls. Number.
JDO AT oeaht Miy ec MReCgee ON Creat ee Se 270 518 17 11
HMC DRU ARVs a t0kso. we nh eet e see ene 489 509 ne
Weare hearers. tat Wes nae ah ee ake ce 46 112 1 il
PASE nays che ss vents TE oe 204 AT5 62 38
INN aa eet Aes EM eee 7,670 11,588 225° 219
ARUN G Pacey erage oe cys ache fsa cewe eo bas 6,154 8,668 452 212 aa ies
Thiet ORR oe Oo | ea 1,610 3,144 638 432 44 14
PACUENTS tipsta hays ah eieleis avis Ae levetenchoret 1,664 3,378 880 §=6218 nh aor
DEPUCMBELs seule seewadskpes eee queue 3,112 2,351 170 25 1
WCLOWETE a ectacs Soe ote ol eshel se aecte tian 2,557 2,441 15 4 te
INOVETMDET ss haste e see ae AFTES genre 1,135 648 19 5 52
Wecemberperckericin. hed see bose 147 285 60 13
ALO baer a Sax te seyers oot oe) 5a on siete 25,058 34,065 2,039 1,163 45 74

Total of fish and lobsters, 1897 ; 27,097 barrels.

Total of fish and lobsters, 1898 ; 35,228 barrels.

To the above shipments by freight may be added the following:

Fish. Lobsters.
Shipments from Newport by express. ....... 4,22 2,560
sofaltshipimentssscee aecs ee eee ek eee 38,294 3,723 = 42,017 bbls.

The following is a tabulated statement of the relative quantities
of fish shipped by freight from Newport over the Old Colony lines
for the past thirteen years. It will be noticed that the shipment
for 1898 is considerably greater than for any previous year, and
is more than 50 per cent. greater than for 1897.

(92)

INLAND FISHERIES.

Table of Shipments by Old Colony Lines.

Fish Lobsters

Bbls. Bbls.
sieyetis ewan 16{6b% 7, ‘8al eee
sty 151038 sero n,. 1 Clee
eee TOP 306 savers ace O20 coe
Saree 8,935 sem 512, 000 meee
See a 185082. .0.5..c,c04-eeee

Mies eras 26,882......2,123
See we avec BESAO2: sic) Lo adorn
ANH ee 17 G69 aer =. Coogee

BePacieia\e & 24,622......2,119
UTS wicks 20,425... .... 16728) saan
Bae Fences 20,900 . 1 959 e eee
Ie ah am 34.065 .....4, 188 Se

22,859
35,228

Fresh fish have been shipped direct from Newport to the fol-

lowing cities:

Albany, N. Y.,
Amsterdam, N. Y.,
Boston, Mass.,
Brockton, Mass.,
Buftalo; Nt ¥..
Chicago, IIL,
Dayton, Ohio,
Detroit, Mich.,
Dighton, Mass.,
Fall River, Mass.,
Ft. Edward, N. Y.,
Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Ithaca, N. Y.,
Jamestown, N. Y.,
Kansas City, Mo.,
Middletown, N. Y.,

New York, N. Y.,
Newburg, N. Y.,
New Bedford, Mass.,
Olean, N. Y.,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
Providence, R. L.,
Riverside, R. I.,
Rome, N. Y.,

St. Louis, Mo.,
Saratoga, N. Y.,
Schenectady, N. Y.,
Tiverton, R. I.,
roy, aN.
Taunton, Mass.,

Warren, R. I.

INLAND FISHERIES. {)

Ill. Zhe Determination of the Breeding Periods of Native Marine

Animals.

Inasmuch as the movements of fish are largely controlled by
the food supply, and the food supply is the direct consequent of
the reproductive activity of the lower animals, it is essential that
the Commission should have data relative to the breeding habits
of both fish and the lower marine animals. The data collected
during the past year has been published in “ Science,” where it is
available for reference, and hence it seems unnecessary to publish

it again in this report.

IV. The Location of Fish Traps and Other Instruments for the
Capture of Fish.

The statutes of Rhode Island provide that the Commission “ shall
from time to time examine all the weirs, traps, and other contri-
vances, with the view of carrying out such regulations as are most
beneficial to the people of the State.” At the beginning of the
present year the State had no information as to the number, loca-
tion, or ownership of fish traps, and was consequently unadvised
respecting the extent to which market fishing was carried on
within its borders. Assisted by the boats of the United States
Fish Commission and of the Marine Biological Laboratory, the
Commissioners have visited all the fish traps, and while they have
found the number to be large (115), they have found them con-
trolled by an exceptionally intelligent class of men, well informed
respecting the movements of marketable fish. The equipment
and maintenance of these appliances represents the investment of
considerable capital and the employment of a large number of
men. A large proportion of the fish captured are consumed be-
yond the limits of the State, and the list of cities (section IT) to
which shipments are directly made indicates very clearly the repu-

tation which the State must enjoy as a fisheries centre. It is un-
3

10 INLAND FISHERIES.

necessary to argue that large sums of money are brought into the
State through the activities of those immediately interested in
this industry.

Although the Commission is not in possession of facts respect-
ing the influence which the great sea traps, temporarily located
in the deeper water off the mouth of the bay, may have upon the
fishes within the limits of the bay, it is almost the universal
opinion among those who are handling large quantities of fish that
the capture during the past year has been of much more than aver-
age value. This is the more interesting since serious complaints of
damage wrought to the industry by wholesale methods of capture
have been infrequent. Although the “twine” destroys thousands
of barrels of fish which never even reach the market, and exten-
sive “pounding” leads to the destruction of enormous numbers
of enclosed fish, there is, at the present time, no other adequate
way of capturing and of retaining certain fish until the market is
in such a condition as to make their sale profitable. There is no
question but that the sea traps are so efficient as instruments of
capture that they frequently defeat their own purposes through
capturing such enormous quantities of fish that the market be-
comes overstocked. During the past season, as heretofore, fish
from these outside traps have not only been shipped from New-
port over the regular lines of transportation, but some of the
larger concerns have combined and carried their own fish to New
York.

Secup are the principal fish captured off shore, and often the
nets contain practically nothing else. Inasmuch as scup is one of
the most popular food fish, and since it appears quite impossible
for it to find a market when most abundant, it would seem that
some plan of canning the scup would develop an industry, in the
southern portion of the State, which might yield considerable
revenue. It will be the purpose of the Commission the coming
year to examine into the practicability and feasibility of presery-
ing these fish.

The traps within the bay are often set as early as March, when

INLAND FISHERIES. li

alewives, or buckies, are captured. Mr. Lewis, on the 17th of last
March, caught seventeen hundred. During the early spring’ flat-
fish are abundantly taken. The spring squeteague arrive about
the first of June, when they are small but are said to bear spawn.
The regular run of squeteague extends over about four weeks,
from early in June to early in July. The fish have been very
abundant during the past season, fifty barrels often being taken
from a single trap at one haul. Sometimes the squeteague are so
eager in their pursuit for young herring that they swarm into the
Shallow water in almost countless numbers, when they may be
picked up with the hand and thrown upon the beach. Mr. Lewis
tells me that he saw such a school last summer near Sanderstown,
and that he waded into the water and captured sixty-three fish.
The squeteague of late years has become a very popular food and
game fish, and, although it does not endure protracted icing, an
increasing number are finding their way to the larger centres of
consumption. It appears on the bills of fare of many resorts as
“Dblue-fish,” and, although inferior in keeping qualities and in
flavor, its abundance has given it a place among the marketable
food-fish which the more or less uncertain blue-fish does not
enjoy. The fishermen, moreover, look with increasing favor upon
the arrival of the squeteague, for when it comes it comes to stay,
and it does not drive away other fish. Scup may be taken in the
traps, even at the head of the bay, Bristol, and East Greenwich.
On the 3d of July seventy-five barrels were turned out of traps,
near Wickford, as valueless. The tautog is taken in the traps in
the spring and fall, although during the summer it is generally
caught with hook and line.

A year ago the cod was so abundant in the traps around Sa-
konnet, Newport, and Point Judith that the nets became seriously
damaged, and the market became overstocked. Some idea of their
abundance may be gathered from the statement that on one day
four men in a catboat caught eleven hundred and seventy. During
the past fall the cod has not been sufficiently abundant to ruin
its market.

Ve INLAND FISHERIES.

In the spring of 1898 (April and May) ‘many small cod,
weighing about three pounds, were caught in the traps near
Wickford. The appearance of these young cod, in consider-
able numbers and in localities where they have been hereto-
fore unknown, is generally explained by the fishermen as an
immediate result of the methods of artificial propagation which
have been carried on at the Woods Hole Station. The millions
of cod fry that have been liberated near our shore must have
materially affected the fish fauna. Mr. F. H. Hoar caught near

‘

Bristol a large “racer cod” weighing about five pounds. Old
fishermen in this portion of the bay consider this capture note-
worthy, since they do not remember of ever having caught cod in
this locality. It would seem possible that with increased facilities
for artificial propagation even the upper waters of the bay may
yield an abundance of what are ordinarily considered to be deep-
water food-fish.

A list of the principal owners of fish traps is herewith given, to-
gether with the localities in which the traps are set:

Adgnnes (i rankaKes ? tree Mie nage ee ee Sakonnet River.
Brownell ,Gilbextishd: 20a s.. aos eee $ is
Gatilhe, cWaik.w ww) este? cused. Mae Cee eee Tiverton.
Wattle, Wim ti Be aclwatas kara oce. Koa ae %
@hiureh,; Jd Ewe week sees Ake abe Sakonnet Point.
Church ‘Daniels: cect labs A Sansa es ¥ ff
Ghunch= Danielle ier eajezevule handle. ‘i s ;
Cory. & Martine 9, ats ee ae oe ie River.
Wonged:, Martin: 2.i 2. war diet es Oa sf
Gonyen Eidive hk ¢hut Habe dodo Me tae i "
Cony: Hiwyds i vtsae bows see ae S =
Cottrell, ‘'Samuélio.g ai. te Zeek ears eee eee. Popasquash.
Cottrell Samuel uctiasiscsng cea de ctirnaaes E56 Popasquash.
Cotigell Samael! feats sss vt ecdetaly eee i ake Mt. Hope.

Cotivell, Samuel \.c4 dccect cis oeteen ee Bristol.

INLAND FISHERIES.

AD oan Soe tae Sete A eere Ai Sele em ee) ve Rumstick.
PSs, MOIS were wie hh itn % mote ev ead bela» Tiverton.
Wimtee Linonmiasioe Ghar stan ie 2 0iad sme! iene ebsites i
Wurtes,; UhOmas asst corer eed alee Liens Hog Island.
Rees Tie Ce la eae a aca eet ne esta rer Stas a ees Gale took ee Tiverton.
Gilaiy ere Onlin a < ate uate eden teins wae 3.0 Sakonnet River
GRAV CON Mas keke eae Jory’s Wharf, Sakonnet River.
Grime lrstaaln gt cerca sneha steele ale dn oes, dois Sakonnet River.
SCM Pet ET) ee tween ectorsn sakes ¥, Soce.c a .
AT VOW) Wallis? osc ais eoleds ah a einiers. oe, 5 e
Jabelvsg 2 atta Gk 2) ch a) eae Re ee on ieee ear ae Prudence.
Rte rons EVOMNy, sac, 1. syeeG nee ee dled eis, Sete suet
Ptah eG meld c/a eta ae vale Gas N fete Sl acdrcedd 5s Bristol.
UNE aU OR gr fs neat dunione iced een ren ers ances, he Tiverton.
ice EL OROOrl Mia saa.cecuh a Werte ieee Be Potowomut.
HuICe PHO Gert: m5 dacs Meeker eases is
TTC ONO ae actuation th re ae aaa a ie aye nie Tiverton.
Deg OUby Olsen cna e: Meee ov dee oe eae es Sakonnet River.
Sltenands Wohnen. tn. asain rdes cases lure Ge. Bristol.
SMEMAPG SONI sok teats sae ae 2k Line Popasquash.
Sinise coe. Vie Pavers tees aos Beccen oe ahd an ate 0 ... Tiverton.
inroads With.) Se arate ine tien sce ae Sakonnet River.
MMe ee WW ate ay ace ae eae cece. et ele ae Prudence.
MAO AOI ZO es merece? ox ay wareige, meclaees's Meni vas. 8 Tiverton.
Wilcox. Elemis ame eran hie eden: ci at Sakonnet River.
Wall c@ xayelasy eet teeter Veh eh ey thie ee CU a Tiverton.
Wilcox Bros. (Ralph and Holder)....... Sakonnet River.
Wilcox Bros. ‘ cH OA Wee er Pie : :
Wilcox Bros. i Go piece -
Rails oni AteAG peavey ects ses ate ap cote ct a ee Prudenee.
Walon ccaMaichelle eres ore ve sce ee Potowomut.
Calvert, Geo... 3.2... Rey ei See oeet: Coggeshall’s Ledge.
Carpenterppros...% 1). Js...) . South Ferry, Watson’s Pier.
Warnenterm Ge Oe eri aes cies vet: cicte a etal Beaver Head.

14

INLAND FISHERIES.

Easterbrooks, Comer...... RikeEs ee wae ... Price’s Neck.
Gladaing, As iBe e252) 0 ae ee ee kas Bae Castle Hill.
Gladding Al EVs yey ree ee .. .... Coddington Cove.
Gladding; A. Bix. &. CRRA! CBN 6 TE Late Coddington Cove.
Gro dards (A Vida, Societe ence hai ee eae Brenton’s Point.
Harvey ¢ Charles? 2 ats aes tee is eee West Shore.
Hivelkks Oi Gre te ye eae Ee coe Lora Brenton’s Point.
ake, sae Wise le Ses eens 3 Aleit: eae ae Conanicut.
hawton, Ned aimee eur es eee Brenton’s Cove.
Maw ton: Nediayesin6 3.5 Sees eee Mackerel Cove.
Haerwtem'y WWW. Ee ciyn eho ce oer Mackerel Cove.
Ihewiss JQ. &iGs Awe sie ieee ee ei ees (Juonset Point.
| casa te heel Wag © Barc ay! @ parte cara 6 Peet ei cts Quonset Point.
be wissd iO. GiGsA code sie eee, Hee Wild Goose Point.
hewis: Bross, W Acai Aco GW oe eee Plum Beach.
Ae wis ross Cl ei kes: eee ORR Casey’s Point.
Tae: Pe Ws BG GE Gs Aes sega eee Conanicut.
esas BROS Leis earls soe ko ee Conanicut.
WiGwis BYOS:, \. cia j ies) ak ets iene tae Conanicut.
Manchester: Daniel: » 2 4. so54n-8e" .... Quonset Point.
Manchester, Daniel........ noes ee ase, Quonset Pomp
Mitchell, Gordon...... RPA CHE DTA OER Pray - Conanicut.
Nerthtup Bios soon) ce eee eee ERIE Beaver Tail.
Reckliam Bros) Ge Succ inedy an ae eee Sachuest Point.
ase;) Waa eho ve eo ay eee, Coggeshall’s Ledge.
Rose, Wiihiedscrse? RINT: ak a ee Conrad’s Cove.
Spink, dowels. Weciv ded CARLO OL puke aes ee Conanicut.
Sportal, ely WV Rohe es ats ne tates sas eee ae Conanicut.
SOLE WOON. cet 2 whee taker een eta Beaver Head.
NeurjeeStaphen: i. casei tata see . Beaver Tail.
Teurjee,; Stephens =: 7). «= sce pete eee Beaver Head.
Ronrjes; Stephen, ..5/5.4.).0 endear Sanderstown.
(Derosve) ahs i wtetiad 3s thon's cere Lee era Sachuest Point.

Wadsworth) duemate), seo ao eens Roane’s Point. :

NARRAGANSETT BAY

SHOWING THE LOCATION OF FISH TRAPS FOR 1898
AND POINTS AT WHICH DREDGINGS HAVE BEEN MADE.

STATUTE MILES

Nauricat MILES

” ’ c) .

PREPARED BY THE RHODE ISLAND COMMISSION OF INLAND FISHERIES
TO ACCOMPANY REPORT FOR 18¥6

Tubes
Gate
C Fish
5B ev cactle
Simons
Faleyy,
VWegus
Ded
duchee
JS Vyléon
‘oancheste!
Manchester
Browneit
s2
30 vee
iis See) Cray
Gray
- 6 Mawwery exw:
3 Genel 5!
20 CA LENS
oO
Ks 8 "4 Wilcow
Woasmerttt RHODE /SLAND sea
ah 36 busy
3o-Cn Les
Lema Broy 50
Ju Calewis Ain
19
Conanicut be Corona Wont
Lewis Bros Claadig Simons
LevasBros Gladding,
2g \vorsBees
26 87 Wilcox Bros
Tourjce
Corey ae
Carpenter 8. 7 RSSSSoE Beck
a8 HI Coven 69
70
68
3
13
Tomton Roe fg 73 gy hee mL
Teo
72 67
Gj} (| 89
Glaaac.s we
TE Mies bb 63
< tsverbrooes Ora, * Coktwen
S36 £ Goddard ao oe “2 @fhucen
SS 0
Thompson @ Ot Greddy, IB. Church Chuceiy
Cesar u7 }
Chosen
Coben
V mate

hae ee ae
= ose @ Brightman >

Rose

1o4 16

44

dd

INLAND FISHERIES. 5)

Sea TRAPS.

WSIS MUA, QV) oa toleat..c a/a4hebaiei eon oe Coggeshall’s Ledge.
BST a, Win tl wet ahha hehe o. Naarockas Salas OA . Seal Rock.
dbs Kea NTs) d0%2 0 Pa a) eee eae Off Cormorant Rock.
HeTGiwstio lychee ean hh cnscakragsd Sn Oak .... Seal Rock.
lamrelys Wie Pict sma fata eros es: Coggeshall’s Ledge.
Corel reo sce aes ca tha a ens Off Cormorant Rock.
(lei biiel oy Rel eat ae ee a Off Cormorant Rock.
Cottrell; Geowl 2x. Six... Dee a mr anecutupanied Off Seal Rock.
laddine: AMBiSs. 42 eye t0. e Coggeshall’s Ledge.
Mewisel rank: A Shak. fe Bs 2 cies hake os ob Seal Rock.
Macomber: Pranks. 3. inca. oes Off Cormorant Rock.
OSE LCs ©) « Wepre ee tla re ie 2 os Coggeshall’s Ledge.
WO See VA oi Fis op eeatereeheche seston iw Seal Rock.
EGOBEe Wad lage eR re Og .... Off Cormorant Rock.
Ona SOM, aN Oa be wn Rae e nuke cele eee Base Off Seal Rock.

In the above list the sea traps are located as off Seal Rock,
Coggeshall’s Ledge, Cormorant Rock. They are arranged in
three Jong series, extending as will be seen by reference to the
chart accompanying this report.

V. The Physical and Biological Hxamination of the Waters of
the Bay.

A physical examination of the shore waters of the State has
been made for the purpose of establishing a standard, variations
from which, from time to time, will be recorded. The Commission
regrets that such physical examination as it thus far has been en-
abled to make covers only a portion of the year, for the measure-
ments of the salinity of water, to be of permanent value, should
include the entire twelve months. When observations of density
are taken for only a limited time it is quite possible that, as a
result of prevailing wind or excessive rain-fall, the data secured is
extreme, and consequently not representative of the average con-

16 INLAND FISHERIES.

ditions. The limited resources of the Commission, however, have
prevented them from giving the attention to this subject which it
really deserves.

Four hundred and eighty-four specific gravity and temperature
observations have been taken.

In perfectly pure fresh water the salinometer reading is 1.000;
but as the water becomes hard, through the addition of salts, the
readings of the salinometer increase, and in the open ocean, near
Block Island, the heaviest water taken had a specific weight of
1.025; and at no locality south of the line drawn from Beaver
Tail to Sakonnet was it of less density than 1.023. As we ascend
the Bay the water becomes less and less salt, and readings as low
as 1.020 were taken near Allen’s Harbor, to the westward of Pru-
dence Island, and near Bristol Ferry. The salinity of the water
in the Providence river was considerably less, being 1.017 near
Sassafras Point; although the surface water was only 1.008. As
has already been stated, the record of a single series of specific
eravity observations, in itself, is of no moment; but inasmuch as
it is the purpose of the Commission to add extensively to the data
during the coming year, this permanent record will prove of con-
siderable value inasmuch as the salinity of the water bears upon
the question of successful oyster culture.

Although, as is well known, fresh water is fatal to the oyster,
and prolonged immersion in the water, even as fresh as 1.007, will
very materially affect the marketable qualities of the animal, suc-
cessful oyster culture cannot be carried on in water that is, for
any considerable period, lighter than 1.011 or heavier than 1.022.
Between these limits there are still large tracts of available ground
in the upper portion of the bay which are still unoccupied by
oyster culturists, and there are also a great many localities far-
ther down the bay, near the openings of fresh water streams,
where, with proper protection and freedom from the invasion of
the starfish, oysters of fine quality may be raised.

The following section on biological conditions prevailing in the

waters of the Bay and on the bottom, although technical, is of im-

INLAND FISHERIES. Medi

~

portance, since the life in the water is the expression of the water's
purity, average salinity, and average temperature. If the water
in any portion of the bay becomes contaminated the life upon the
bottom is immediately affected, and this is shown either by the
migration of animals from the infected locality, or, in a case of
animals unable to move about rapidly, by their death. Many of
the animals found on or immediately below the surface of the
mud bear shells which exist for many years after their soft parts
have perished. It is possible, then, for one acquainted with the
facies of the shore fauna, to state what the probable biological
conditions have been. The animals which are found in colder
water off shore are strikingly different from those found in the
warm waters of the bay, as is beautifully illustrated by the distri-
bution of the several species of starfish. Your Commission,
therefore, has felt justified in recording, at considerable length,
-the physical and faunistic conditions in the different portions of
the bay, and feels confident, in so doing, that they will materially
assist in the work of future years.

Even in such a filthy portion of the Providence River as lies
north of Field’s Point, there is still a remarkably rich assemblage
of life. This is in direct contradiction of what might have been
predicted, and is sufficient ground for the belief that, with the ex-
penditure of a little care in the disposal of sewerage and manufac-
turers’ waste, important food fish might actually be caught from
our wharves in sufficient numbers to be of economic importance.
In this tract of the river two species of shrimp (Crangon Pale-
monetes) abound; Sguilla, or mantis shrimp, are repeatedly taken.
Platyonichus, Panopeus, Callinectes, and Libinia represent the
more common species of crabs, while a small hermit (/’upagurus)
is taken at nearly every cast of the dredge. The following mol-
luses and vertebrates were taken: J/lyanassa, Venus, Mulinea,
Sycotypus, Mytilus, Tritia, Mya, skate (/eia), flat-fish (2sewdopleu-
ronectes), and a pipe-fish (Siphostoma). Starfish of small size also
grow in this locality. Farther down the river, between Rocky

Point and Rumstick, the water becomes relatively clean, and sey-
3

18 INLAND FISHERIES.

eral additional forms are found. Stars have become large and
very abundant. All of the crustacea and molluscs above mentioned
are found in increased numbers, and to these may be added Pelia,
Cancer, Yoldia, Clidiophora, and Hupleura. The further distribu-
tion of animals can be more readily understood by confining our
attention to the stations at which observations were made by the

“Fish Hawk.”

19

INLAND FISHERIES.

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INLAND FISHERIES. 31

Mi. Phe Investigation of the Plague which Destroyed Multitudes
of Fish and Crustacea During the Fall of 1898,

BY A. D. MEAD.

During the last two months the inhabitants of Rhode Island
witnessed the following remarkable phenomenon. The water of a
considerable portion of the bay became thick and red, emitting an
odor almost intolerable to those living near by. The situation
became alarming when, on the 9th and 10th of September, thou-
sands of dead fish, crabs, and shrimps were found strewn along
the shores or even piled up in windrows.

At the request of the Rhode Island Commission of Inland Fish-
erles, an investigation was made to determine the cause and ex-
tent of the unusual color of the water, and of the great mortality
of the fish. The results of this investigation are briefly as follows:

During the last of August, throughout September and a part of
October, streaks of red or “ chocolate” water were observed from
near Quonset Point and Prudence Island, north to Providence,
and, on the flood tide, up the Seekonk river, nearly to Pawtucket,
a range of about fifteen miles. In other parts of the bay, as far
as could be learned, the phenomenon had not been observed.

On the 8th and 9th of September the water became extremely
red and thick in various localities from East Greenwich to Provi-
dence, and the peculiar behavior of the marine animals attracted
much attention. Myriads of shrimps and blue crabs, and vast
numbers of eels, menhaden, tautog, and flat-fish came up to the
surface and to the edge of the shore as though struggling to get
out of the noxious water. Indeed, the shrimp and crabs were ob-
served actually to climb out of the water upon stakes and buoys,
and even upon the iron cylinders which support one of the bridges
and which must have been very hot in the bright sun. In several
instances, on these two days, hundreds of blue crabs were caught
by a single individual in a few minutes’ time, at the mouth of the
Seekonk.

On the following day, September 10th, and for several days

32 INLAND FISHERIES.

afterwards, hardly a live crab or shrimp could be found. Along
the shores, however, in the same vicinity, cartloads of dead shrimp
were piled up in windrows, and among them were strewn great
numbers of crabs and fish of various kinds, especially menhaden
and eels. This singular behavior and alarming mortality of ma-
rine animals was reported from nearly every station at which the
red water occurred, and from no other station, which indicates
that the two phenomena are related as cause and effect.

It was commonly believed that dye-stuffs or other refuse emptied
into the rivers at the upper part of the bay gave to the water its
color and unpleasant odor, but microscopic examination showed
that the water was swarming with minute organisms, species of
Peridinium. The Peridinium is reddish brown in color and oc-
curred in such excessive abundance that it gave to the water its
peculiar color and odor, besides making it so opaque that one
could hardly see a white shell six inches below the surface.

With regard to the systematic position of this organism there is
a difference of opinion. It is, in fact, ranked with the animals by
some authors, and with the plants by others. I have not yet been
able to determine the species of our Peridinium. It resembles in
many respects Carter’s Peridinium sanguineum ; it is much flat-
tened, and the anterior end is distinctly bilobed, like Peridinium
tabulatum, though the lobes are more rounded. Besides a flagel-
lum extending forward from the ventral groove, a very large
flagellum lies in the equatorial sulcus and entirely encircles the
body. No cilia could be demonstrated.

After September 9th and 10th, when the great mortality of fish
occurred, the Peridinium became, for a few days, less abundant,
and then increased again until the 23d. There was a heavy rain
on the 23d, and on the following day the water was comparatively
clear. Since this date it has been more or less in evidence up to
the day of writing (October 7th). On September 21st the number
of Peridinium per cubic centimeter in the Seekonk river was esti-
mated at 5,880. This was enough to give the water a very notice-
able red color. Nevertheless, the marine animals appear not to

Ne

INLAND FISHERIES. Be

have been seriously affected since September 10th or 11th, though
the approach of a streak of red water has, in some instances,
interrupted good fishing.

In the Seekonk River the shrimp and crabs gradually returned,
and in about three weeks after the sudden mortality were nearly
as numerous as before, though the water was at times distinctly
colored. On the 23d some shrimp, oysters, and small fish (/undu-
lus) were kept in the water where the Peridinium were the thick-
est, and suffered no apparent injury. In consideration of these
facts, it has been doubted whether the Peridiniwm was the imme-
diate cause of the peculiar behavior and death of the fish which
occurred on the 9th and 10th of September, especially as the
weather had been phenomenally hot for several weeks previous to
those dates. I believe, however, that the Peridinium was the
cause of the trouble, and not the hot weather or manufacturers’
waste, for the following reasons :

Oxi the two or three days in which the mortality took place the
water was extremely red.

The hot weather was followed by a cold wave a day or two
before the mortality commenced.

The phenomena occurred in Greenwich Bay and off Nayatt,

many miles from any considerable source of contamination.

_ Finally, the phenomena in question were noticed by very many
persons throughout the whole range of the red water, while in
neighboring portions of the bay, for example, in the Warren
River and in Bristol harbor, where the temperature of the water is
quite as high as in the red-water districts, no Peridiniwm and no
mortality or unusual behavior of the marine animals was reported,
though the regions were carefully canvassed.

There are many recorded instances of salt and of fresh water
colored red probably by Peridiniuim of this or a similar species.
H. J. Carter, in his account of “The Red Coloring Matter of the
Sea round the Shores of the Island of Bombay,” described the new
species P. sanguineum, which produces this effect. He points out,
also, that Darwin’s description of the animalcule which he found

oO

54 INLAND FISHERIES.

to color the sea red, a degree south of Valparaiso, accords exactly
with that of Peridiniwn. The animalcules which, according to
Salt, produce the red color in the Red Sea, may be this form,
and the same cause may perhaps be ascribed to the red color of
the sea off Iceland in 1649. Carter quotes the following passage
from an eye witness of a similar occurrence at Porebunder, on the
coast of Khattywar, India, where the red water is extremely com-
mon: “The color of the sea water on Saturday evening last, the
27th of October, 1849, was changed from its usual tint to a deep
red, emitting a most foul smell ; the fish speedily were all destroyed
and washed upon the beach in large quantities, etc.” Though the
narrator believed that this might be due to a submarine eruption
of mud, Mr. Carter is inclined to ascribe it to some “animalcule,”
most probably Peridinium. He also directs attention to the Mosaic
account of the plague of Egypt given in the following verses:
“And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.”
“ And the fish that was in the river died ; and the river stank; and
the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river ; and there
was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”

VIL. The continuation of the observations begun in 1897 on the life
habits of the starfish

and

VIIL. A survey of the waters of the Bay and of the waters imme- -
diately off shore, for the purpose of determining the distri-
hution of the starfish.

Early in the investigation of the starfish problem it became ey-
ident that the starfish are not evenly distributed throughout the
Bay, but that there were certain centres of distribution from
which they migrated, often in great numbers, to adjoining mussel
and oyster beds, and where during the breeding season they ear-
ried on the process of reproduction with great activity. The
question naturally arose :—If the starfish in these areas of distribu-
tion and centres of reproduction could be exterminated, would
they be eliminated permanently, or only temporarily owing to
constantly recurring invasion from the outside waters through the

INLAND FISHERIES. 30
channels of the Sakonnet River and the East and West Passages ?
In other words, is the present excessive abundance of the starfish
due to propagation within the waters of the Bay, or is it the result
of migration from extra-territorial areas? If the former, efforts
toward the annihilation of the pest would probably prove success-
ful ; if the latter, such efforts, except on a grand scale, would prove
futile.

The Commission was materially aided in prospecting this line
of work by the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries,
who generously detailed the steamer “ Fish Hawk’, amply equip-
ped with scientific apparatus, and manned by an able body of men
specially trained for this line of work.

The results of this investigation are most satisfactory, since they
prove that the stars, so immediately damaging to the oyster, clam,
and scallop industries, and, through the rapidity with which they
devour the mussels, indirectly damaging to the general fisheries
of the State, are actually the result of home breeding, and are
probably never materially re-inforced through migration of the
adults from outlying waters. Indeed, it is probable that even the
larvee are not brought into the Bay by the currents in such numbers
as to materially affect the local biological conditions.

There are, besides the “red star” (Cribrella) and the “snake
star” (Ophiopholis), three different varieties of starfish common
to our coast. Of these, the first, or common star, is known to the
fishermen as the “five-finger.”. The second is of more delicate
texture, soft, and of a rich orange or maroon color. The third is
of a purplish color. Of these varieties the first is the only one of
economic interest at the present'time, and the investigations have
shown that, while it occurs in vast swarms within the waters of
the Bay, it is only occasionally found in the heavier waters of the
ocean. On the other hand, the “maroon stars” are frequently
found off Brenton’s Reef, along the shore line near Point Judith,
and around Block Island. With the “maroon stars” are the still
less abundant purple stars. The area of distribution of the com-
mon stars is thus seen to be practically limited by a line drawn

36 INLAND FISHERIES.

across the narrow portion of the mouth of the East and West
Passages and the Sakonnet River. Above this line neither
“purple” nor “ maroon stars” occur, and below this line common
“five-fingers” are very infrequent, and even when found are
generally of small size. Whether the latter owe their distribution
to the direct influence of the salinity of the water, temperature,
nature of ocean bottom, depth, or food, we are unable to say,
although it seems probable, from such observations as we have
made, that the animals flourish in warmer and brackish water of
moderate depth; this, however, may result from the fact that the
stars find in this environment their most abundant food supply.

In certain localities, and particularly over mussel beds, the star-
fish are so tiumerous that they actually form a covering over the
sea bottom. Mr. Gardiner has informed us that near the old
Nayatt Light he has taken twelve hundred bushels of stars from
four acres of sea bottom, an average of three hundred bushels to
the acre. The average potato crop is 91.8 bushels per acre.*
There is a long mussel bed lying in the west channel, and since, as
Dr.Mead has shown,. the reproductive energy of the star is di-
rectly dependent upon the food supply, there are places over this
mussel bed where the starfish become gigantic in size, and where
there are enough eggs extruded during the breeding period to
keep the entire Bay stocked with the pest.

The Commission has located the enemy, tested its strength, is
acquainted with its habits, and purposes to begin a war of exter-
mination. Its first method will be to hire the necessary boats and
go directly to the localities where the enemy is intrenched, dredge
the stars from the bottom, and thus destroy the breeders. The
Commission has consulted many of the leading oystermen, and
is convinced that this method of procedure is practicable, and that
the money expended will be many times returned in the increased
receipts from the rental of land suitable for oyster culture.

The following is the special report of the investigations of Dr.
A. D. Mead, made under the direction of the Commission.

* In Rhode Island, 1880-1889.

SPECIAL REPORT ON THE STARFISH.
BY A. D. MEAD.

The investigation of the habits and life-history of the starfish
has been continued during the past year, along the lines originally
laid down by the Commission, and published in the last /eport.
The observations were made principally at the Kickemuit river,
where the house-boat, moored over one of the oyster beds, served
as a floating laboratory. Through the courtesy of the United
States Fish Commission, in extending to me the privilege of the
Woods Holl Station, and in giving me the use of one of the steam
launches, I was able to make some observations upon the starfish
of Buzzards Bay, and of other portions of Narragansett Bay.
From the oystermen I have received valuable information and as-
sistance, and on every occasion the kindest treatment.

The problems with regard to the starfish, which were originally
suggested to me for solution, and which formed the basis of my
report for 1897, are given below in full, together with the additional
information which I have been able to obtain since writing the last
report. Occasionally, when the context requires it, a brief ab-
stract is given from the former report.

IDENTIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION.

I. Does the animal, known to our jishermen as the starfish, or
Jive-finger, belong to one or to several species? (It is evident that, if
there are two or more species, artificial or natural agents destructive
to one may prove quite harmless to the others.)

wo
CO

INLAND FISHERIES.

We have in Narragansett Bay four species of starfishes, out of
the eight hundred or more which are known to occur the world
over. They are:

The common starfish (Asterias Forbesii).
The purple starfish (Asterias vulgaris).

The blood starfish (Cribrella sanguinolenta).
The snake starfish (Ophiopholis aculeata).

The last two species are so distinctly different from each other,
and from the first two, that there is no difficulty in identifying
them. Neither species is harmful to the shell fisheries.

The common starfish and the related purple star vary so much
with regard to color, shape of arms, size, number of species, etc., ”
that the French naturalist, Perrier, has made five distinct species
of Asterias to include those starfish along our coast, which, accord-
ing to the American naturalists L. Agassiz, Stimpson, and Ver-
rill, belong to two species only.

IT have endeavored during the last year to ascertain whether
some of these varieties were to be explained as a difference in
sex, but I have been unable to discover any such relation, and am
not able to distinguish males from females except by the sexual
products.

Il. What is the geographical and bathymetrical distribution ?
(The reply to these questions will indicate the area subject or most

liable to invasion.)

Geographical distribution. (Only the first two species are con-
sidered in this report.) The purple star ranges from Labrador
(probably further north) to Cape Hatteras, and is most common
north of Cape Cod. The common star ranges from Maine to the
Gulf of Mexico, and is the species most common south of Cape Cod.

Bathymetrical distribution. Purple star; high water to 208
fathoms. Common star; high water to 20 fathoms.

From the numerous dredging expeditions of the U.S. Fish Com-
mission launches and the steamer ‘“ Fish Hawk’, carried on last
summer, it appears that in Narragansett Bay the purple starfish

INLAND FISHERIES. 39

(Asterias vulgaris) is practically restricted to the lower portion of
the Bay, below Gould Island. Occasionally, of course, a speci-
men may be taken farther north. One specimen, for instance, was
taken near Dyer’s Island, among a thousand or more of the com-
mon species. I have never known a single specimen among the
thousands of bushels of starfish captured on the oyster beds which
are located in the upper half of the Bay. The common starfish,
on the other hand, occurs in greater or less abundance everywhere
from Fox Point to the mouth of the Bay, and is the only species
that commits depredations upon our oyster beds. (The purple
star would doubtless be destructive if it were present.) The star-
fish taken from the vicinity of the oyster grounds are, moreover,
very similar to one another in appearance, as compared with those
which may be collected in one locality at Woods Holl. At this
station one haul of the mops may bring up stars which apparently
belong to half a dozen quite different varieties.

There are other varieties differing from those found on our oys-
ter beds, and from the purple starfish, which seem to be charac-
teristic of certain localities. Thus, at the head of Buzzards Bay,
at Ney’s Neck, a large number of specimens of common star were
collected, which were very similar to one another, but quite differ-
ent from those found on our oyster grounds. They had very
large coarse spines, and were of a bronze color. The specimens
taken by the “ Fish Hawk” in the waters south of Narragansett
Bay (see other part of this report, p. 35) seem to constitute a va-
riety (“maroon star”) which occupies this area to the exclusion
of other kinds of stars.

It is not known certainly whether each of these so-called varie-
ties is an actual variety in the sense that the individuals breed
true, or whether the peculiar appearance is due merely to the fact
that the individual stars are bred and reared in a particular lo-
eality.

If it should prove to be true that the young of a certain variety,
e. g., the maroon star, are always like the parent stars, no matter

where they grow, we might be able to determine to what extent

40 INLAND FISHERIES.

the starfish are dispersed while in the free-swimming larval condi-
tion. We will refer to this question again in Chapter X.

MODE OF LIFE.

Til. What ts the method of locomotion? (It is possible that
some barrier might be arranged that would limit, if not prevent, in-

VUSION. )

The starfish crawls or glides over submerged surfaces by means
of the very numerous “suckers,” or feet, which protrude from the
furrows on the under side of the arms.

Small stars, one-half inch or less from tip to tip, are frequently
seen, ventral side uppermost, moving along with ‘their suckers
reaching to the surface of the water. This performance can be
carried on only when the water is very quiet, and is not often ob-
served outside the aquarium. The buoyancy of the water and
the great number of sucking feet enable the animal to crawl over
the softest silt and the smoothest hard surfaces with ease, while
the remarkable suppleness of the body enables it to get through
incredibly small crevices. Beside this ordinary mode of locomo-
tion, another peculiar method has been accredited to the starfish
by many: namely, that of clinging together in great clusters and
rolling along the bottom with the tide.

For the purpose of testing the ability of starfish to creep over
soft surfaces, vaseline was smeared thickly on a vertical glass
plate and on the under side of a horizontal glass plate. These
plates were submerged in the aquarium with the starfish which
measured two or three inches from tip to tip. The animals were
observed to crawl over both these surfaces with no apparent diffi- -
culty. Paraftine was used in the same way and with the same ie-
sult. It would appear, therefore, that submerged surfaces, though
ever so soft or slippery, would not be effective barriers against
the invasion of starfishes.

As was stated in the last report, starfishes will not crawl out of
the water, nor even protrude an arm above the surface. They

INLAND FISHERIES. 41

will, however, move along over a surface covered with a very thin
layer of water, even if it is not deep enough to cover the whole
body. The animals are perfectly secure, therefore, in a disk of
water as shallow as a soup plate, so long as the water does not
flow over the edge. But if they are placed in an aquarium which
is constantly overflowing, they will frequently crawl over the edge
and down on the outside. No barrier, therefore, over which even

a thin layer of water is flowing, would be effective.

IV. Are the starfish which are reputed to appear in schools in
any way different from those known to occur naturally in a@ particu-
lar locality ?

T have thus far not had an opportunity to examine the starfish
reported to appear in schools.

V. Toor from what distance may starfish migrate ?

This is a problem which has a decidedly practical bearing, but
we have as yet very little accurate data for its solution. I have
been told by several oystermen that the starfishes sometimes sud-
denly appear in great numbers upon the oyster beds, and move
over them at the rate of a quarter of a mile per day, more or less.
It is generally understood, moreover, that there is some sort of a
seasonal migration especially noticeable at the spring and fall,
but the character and extent of this migration, if it really occurs,
is unknown.

If a starfish crawled constantly in one direction, at the rate of
six inches per minute, which is a fair rate for a medium sized spec-
imen, it would travel about four miles ina month. At this rate
starfish could go from one end of the Bay to the other in the
course of the summer. But there is no good evidence that they
do take such extended excursions. The fact that stars can be
found all the year round in the upper part of the Bay, and on the
oyster beds, shows that there is not a wholesale migration to any

great distances. There are some other facts which seem to indicate
6

42 INLAND FISHERIES.

that the wanderings of these animals are rather limited in extent.
Certain kinds of starfish which are common in one part of the Bay
are not found, or are rare, in other parts. The purple star and
“maroon star” do not migrate into the upper half of the Bay, al-
though the purple star, at least, might live in these waters, as I
have found by keeping them in confinement. The starfish in two
neighboring parts of the Bay, namely, Mt. Hope Bay and Kicke-
muit river, do not seem to migrate back and forth, for those caught
in Kickemuit river, during the past two years at least, were for
the most part small, rarely measuring more than three inches from
centre of dise to tip of arm, yet about a mile from the mouth of
this river there have been great quantities of very large stars with
arms four inches long or more. In Barrington river there seems
to be a great preponderance of small stars about two and a half
inches (arm) or less, which are of a reddish-brown color, and so
are distinguishable from the average starfish caught in the vicin-
ity of Nayatt. After the great freshet in the spring of 1888, the
starfish in Kickemuit river nearly all perished, Mr. Bourne tells
me, and did not become again troublesome for three or four years.

These facts, though they are not conclusive evidence, lead to
the conjecture that there are natural barriers to the migrations of
starfishes in our Bay. Some of these barriers may be: the depth
of water, density of water, or a strip of barren bottom.

If the conjecture is correct, that the migrations of the starfish
are confined to comparatively limited areas, the prospect of dimin-
ishing their numbers by a systematized effort is encouraging.

VI. What animals are devoured by the starfish for food ? (If the
young starfish feed habitually upon certain animals, it is possible
that the destruction of the latter will cause the former to perish.)

Abstract. The starfish, especially when young, are exceedingly
voracious feeders, prey upon oysters, clams, mussels, barnacles,
various kinds of sea-snails (including oyster drills), worms and
small crustacea, and, if slightly pressed by hunger, turn cannibal
and prey upon smaller starfish.

INLAND FISHERIES. 45

It was found during the past summer that the starfish in Mt.
Hope Bay and in the vicinity of Nayatt were feeding in great
numbers upon a little bivalve which closely resembles a young
quahog. This little animal, however, is not a young quahog, but
an adult molluse of another species—Mulinia lateralis. Fig. 1
represents a large specimen drawn natural size. The “ Fish
Hawk” found these animals to be exceedingly abundant during
the last season in certain parts of the Bay.

Mussels are a favorite food of the stars, and doubtless many
thousand bushels of mussels are devoured by them every season.

Indeed, some of the mussel beds have disappeared within the
last few years, having been destroyed, probably, by the starfish.
Unlike the oyster beds, the mussel beds are not protected from
the onslaughts of the stars, and we can appreciate the extent of
the damage to the mussels, if we imagine the condition of a bed
of small oysters unprotected from the starfish for a single season.

In rearing the young stars for the purpose of studying their
rate of growth, etc., I found them to be very fond of small clams
and barnacles, as well as of young oysters. I will speak in more
detail of the damage done to the young clams by the starfish in
another chapter.

I have caught starfish in the act of devouring oyster drills, and
believe it probable, therefore, that the drills, which are a serious
menace to the oysters in some localities where the starfish are
rare, are to some extent held in check by the stars.

VIL. What is the method of feeding ?

This question has been satisfactorily answered by Dr. Schiemenz,
a German, and a brief review of the results of his work, as well as
some of the current opinions on this topic, were given in the re-
port of last year. The point of Schiemenz’s results is as follows:
The starfish grasp both valves of the shell fish, and by persistently
exerting a constant, steady strain, finally fatigue the muscles hold-
ing the valves together so that they gap open slightly. Then the

44 INLAND FISHERIES.

stomach is protruded between the shells, and the soft body of the
molluse is digested. Frequently I have noticed that small ani-
mals are taken into the stomach through the mouth, which is able
to stretch to a surprising extent. On one occasion I found, on
cutting open a starfish, that it had swallowed a clam whose shell
was so large that I could not push it back through the ring of
bony plate which surrounds the mouth.

VILL. At what season of the year do the starfish spawn? (If
at a particular season, a special effort should be made to kill the ani-
mals before spawning, and thus destroy both stars and spawn.)

T have attempted by two methods to determine the spawning
season of the starfishes in the upper portion of our Bay and at
Woods Holl. The first method consisted in examining a large
number of adult starfish at intervals during the year, to see if
they contained ripe eggs and milt. The second method consisted
in dragging a fine silk “ tow net” at surface of the water, to catch
the free-swimming young.

Most of the adult starfishes examined were obtained through
the kindness of the oystermen in Kickemuit river, Mt. Hope Bay,
and the vicinity of Rocky Point. The observations on the condi-
tion of the eggs and sperm were begun in July, 1897. On the 19th
and 22d of this month 630 stars were carefully examined, and the
sizes of the specimens (taking always distance from mouth to tip
of arm), and of the sexual glands, were tabulated. The specimens
ranged from 14 to 34 inches (31 to 90 millimeters). Of these, fif-
teen specimens were found to contain eggs or sperm which was
apparently ripe. In some, only one arm contained ripe products.
None of these apparently ripe specimens were smaller than two
inches. In the great majority of the specimens the sexual glands
were small, less than one-half the length of the arm.

During the remainder of the summer, stars from these localities
were frequently examined, and occasionally a specimen was found

INLAND FISHERIES. 45

with ripe eggs, but there was no general increase in the size of
the glands.

On November 15 a lot of stars from Rocky Point were exam-
ined. They were nearly uniform in size, and measured about
three inches. In about one half of these specimens the glands
were half the length of the arm, but none were ripe. Among the
seventy-five specimens, measuring approximately three inches,
collected at the same place November 29, fourteen seemed to be
nearly mature; the glands in forty-four of the others were half
the length of the arm. The remainder had small and immature
glands.

January 6,1898, Rocky Point: About forty stars, 34 to 4 inches
in length, were examined. Of these only four had sexual products
which seemed to be nearly ripe, while the majority seemed less
mature than in November.

January 7, Kickemuit river: Fifty stars, ranging between 24
and 34 inches (four specimens measured 4 inches). In twenty
specimens the glands were considerably developed, but not nearly
ripe. In the remaining thirty they were quite small.

January 15, Kickemuit river: Fifty stars, measuring from 24 to
34 inches were examined. In general, there was, perhaps, a slight
increase in size of glands, though in over thirty they were very
small.

February 9, Rocky Point: 126 stars, measuring from 24 to 4
inches. In three specimens the sexual products were ripe; in
ten, nearly ripe ; in fifty-three, large and turning color, becoming
slightly pink ; in forty-seven, small, but showing signs of seasonal
development; in twelve, very small. :

February 12, Kickemuit river: Sixty-three specimens, meas-
uring from 2 to 34 inches. In six the glands were large and
beginning to show a pink color ; thirty-nine showed seasonal de-
velopment, while eighteen were very small.

March 4, Kickemuit river and Mt. Hope Bay: Thirty-nine
specimens, 25 to 34 inches in length. One specimen was appar-
ently quite ripe; twenty-six seemed nearly ripe; the glands in

46 INLAND FISHERIES.

seven were beginning to change color; in three, immature but
showing seasonal development; in only two specimens were the
glands very small.

March 7, Rocky Point: Ninety-nine specimens, measuring 2
to 34 inches. Five specimens were apparently fully ripe; seventy-
one specimens nearly ripe (very large glands); in twenty, the glands
showed the pink color slightly ; in two the glands were small, but
showed seasonal development ; only one specimen had very small
glands.

Tt is evident that, during the latter part of January and through-
out the month of February, there is a regular increase in the size
of the sexual glands in nearly all the starfishes from Rocky Point,
Mt. Hope Bay, and Kickemuit river. By the end of the first week
in March, the great majority of the stars have the appearance of
being nearly mature, while the remainder, except in a few speci-
mens, show a distinct seasonal growth in the sexual glands. The
stars are at this time beginning to look “fat,” because of the in-
creased size of these glands and of the digestive glands, usually
called the “ liver,’ which fill the arms.

April 5, Rocky Point: 197 specimens examined, varying in
length from 2 to 4 inches. Of these, 137 had the appearance of
being fully ripe; 32 were nearly ripe; in 20 the glands were be-
ginning to show the pink color ; in 9 they were smaller, but showed
seasonal development ; in one only were the glands very small.

April 13: Twenty-five specimens, out of a basketful from Mt.
Hope Bay, were examined. All seemed to be ripe, and so the ex-
amination was not carried further.

Although at this time, i. e., during the first two weeks of April,
the stars are all apparently ripe, they do not discharge the pro-
ducts for about two months. During this time they have the
appearance of being extremely “ fat.”

On May 17, the stars were examined again in Kickemuit river
and Mt. Hope Bay, and appeared very muchas in April. They
were, perhaps, more distended with spawn and milt, but had not
yet discharged.

INLAND FISHERIES. 47

During the first four days of June, starfish from many localities
in the upper portion of the Bay were examined on board the
launch “Sagitta,’ engaged by the United States Fish Commis-
sion. The stars were, almost without exception, full of very ripe
eges and sperm, which were easily shaken loose in the water.
Small specimens, measuring, in many instances, only an inch and
a quarter, were fully ripe.*

The height of the spawning season occurred between this date,
June 4, and June 16. From June 16 to June 28 the starfish ex-
amined in many localities, especially at Kickemuit and Rocky
Point, had extruded most of their eggs, or sperm, but in some
specimens the ripe spawn was found in one of the arms, or merely
in the base of the arms, as though not quite all had been extruded.
Specimens in which some ripe products were left were more fre-
quent on the 16th than on the 21st, 22d, and 28th of the month,
which indicates that the spawning season was rapidly drawing to
a close.

Starfish examined in July, and occasionally during the rest of
the summer, yielded the same results as those examined at the
same season in 1897; most of the specimens had very small sexual
glands, but some were found with products apparently ripe.

Young Stars. On the 22d of June, I searched carefully on the
sea-weed and ell-grass in Kickemuit river for very young stars ;
not a single young star (under $ inch or more) could be found.

A week later, on the 29th of June, another careful search was
made in the same locality, when I found countless numbers of
very minute starfish, most of them about the size of the head of a
pin. They were clinging by the dozen to every spear of ell-grass,
and scattered diffusely through the branches of fluffy sea-weed,
which is abundant in this locality. The larger of these little stars
was probably not more than a few days old (since time of setting)
as L afterward determined by watching the growth of those whose
exact time of setting was known. Doubtless, therefore, the small

* See Chapter on “‘ age and size at sexual maturity,”

48 INLAND FISHERIES.

stars were absent, and not overlooked, in the search on June 22.
I feel sure, therefore, that in this locality the starfish first began
to set, in considerable numbers, on June 28, or within a day or two
of that date.

Free-swimming larval stars. The first attempt to capture the
starfish in the free-swimming stage of their existence was made
in the evening of June 27, at Kickemuit. The tow-net was dragged
at the surface at intervals for two hours in the evening. The con-
ditions of the weather were unfavorable, as I afterward learned,
and for this reason no young starfish were caught. On the follow-
ing morning, June 28, a great number of fry were found swimming
at the surface of the water. From this date until July 16 they
could be captured at any time, unless the conditions were partic-
ularly unfavorable. The few larve caught on July 16, however,
were old, and all of them set in the aquarium during the next
twelve hours. After this no more larvee could be obtained, al-
though the next few days were exceptionally favorable.

It is evident, therefore, that in Kickemuit river the season dur-
ing which the starfish larvee set in considerable numbers began
about June 28 and ended about July 16,.a period of a little less
than three weeks. Allowing that the larve set three weeks after
the spawn is laid (which is the period given by Ingersoll), we
may conclude that the beginning of the spawning season was
about June 7, and the end June 28, while the height of the season
was the first, and possibly the second, week in June. From the
observations of the sexual glands of the adults, it appeared that
the greater part of the spawn was extruded during the 4th and
the 16th of June. The facts, therefore, obtained by both of these
methods agree very closely. Through the kindness of Dr. Seitaro
Goto, of Tokyo, Japan, who worked in Mr. Agassiz’s laboratory at
Newport in 1895, I have obtained the following interesting data.
For one or two days before the 15th of July, the larvee had been
very numerous. On the 15th they were decreasing in number
and after the 20th of July none were found. At Newport in 1895,

INLAND FISHERIES. 49

therefore, the breeding season was nearly the same as that at the
Kickemuit river in 1898.

At any time in the year a few starfishes may be found which
contain ripe eggs and spermatozoa, but it is not known that these
eggs are laid out of season. If they are, the chance of their be-
coming fertilized is small. Dr. Goto writes me that a similar phe-
nomenon is seen in a Japanese species of sea-urchin. He is able
to obtain ripe eggs and sperm, and to fertilize the eggs artificially,
even in the midst of winter, though the species probably does not
breed in these waters at that season.

Summary. ‘To answer briefly the question asked at the begin-
ning of this chapter, we may say: The starfish in the upper por-
tion of the Bay, and probably throughout the Bay, have a short
spawning season, which begins about the second week in June
and continues for two or three weeks. The young fry begin to
set during the last week in June, and continue to set until the
middle of July. The fact that ripe starfishes may be obtained in
very small numbers throughout the year is of no practical signifi-
cance, for if such specimens lay their eggs out of season, the
chances are comparatively slight of their being fertilized.

Observations were made at Woods Holl, from March.to the end
of the summer. It is rather difficult to interpret the results sat-
isfactorily, for at no one period were more than a small propor-
tion of the stars at Woods Holl ripe, or even approaching a ripe
condition, and, on the other hand, a few ripe specimens could be
found at any time. Asa rule the sexual glands were very small,
like those of the Narragansett Bay stars in mid-winter, and it was
noticeable also that in such specimens the digestive glands were
also unusually small. The latter condition I take to be an indica-
tion of poor nourishment, judging from the condition of poorly-
fed stars kept in confinement, as compared with well-nourished
specimens. I am inclined, therefore, to assign the failure to breed
to the same cause.

In this connection I may observe that in the specimens kept
over winter at Kickemuit, with very little to eat, the sexual glands

7

50 INLAND FISHERIES.

did not approach the ripe condition. An examination of the stars
taken in February and March from Narragansett Bay shows that
by this season of the year they are eating voraciously, shells, and
even fragments of starfish, being found in their stomachs.

In some previous years the stars have bred in abundance at
Woods Holl, but the notes on the time of breeding are somewhat
puzzling, as they indicate that the time varies considerably.

IX. What are the habits of the “fry” of free-swimming young ?
(The young of many marine animals, while far more abundant

than the adults, are far more delicate and easier of extermination.)

The ripe eggs of the starfish are minute spherical objects,
measuring about one-tenth the diameter of the head of a small
pin. They are discharged from the female through minute pores
near the base of each arm, free, into the water, where they may
become fertilized by the spermatozoa discharged from the male
in a similar manner. Each egg, soon after it is fertilized, com-
mences to undergo a long series of changes in form. During the
first stages of development there is little or no increase in size,
and the egg rests, like a minute grain of sand, upon the bottom.
In the course of a few hours, however, the internal changes which
have been taking place express themselves. Vibratile cilia appear
in certain areas on the surface of the egg, which now begins to
rotate, and soon rises from the bottom as a free-swimming larva.
Soon after this the mouth and stomach are developed, and the
creature takes in food and grows. The growth is rapid, and dur-
ing the next three weeks, more or less, the larva increases its
diameter about fifty times. Meanwhile various internal organs
and several long arms, and other external features, are developed.
The older fry are called brachiolaria, from the fact that they have
so many long arms. One of these brachiolaria of the largest size
is represented in Fig. 2, much magnified. The natural size is
shown in Fig. 4, where two specimens are figured, one on either
side of the bit of eel-grass, The animal swims by means of the

INLAND FISHERIES. Hay

motile cilia, which are arranged in bands, represented by the
heavy lines in the figure. They form a complicated pattern over
the surface of the body, and extend out upon the arms. The
body is quite transparent, and the tips of the arms, which are
shaded in the figure, are light red. The larva represented in
Fig. 2 is old, and would probably have set within twelve hours.
Already the rudiment of the resulting starfish, the disc-shaped
body at the bottom of the figure, can be seen within the brachio-
larian. The five crenate lobes on the margin of the disc are the
beginning of the five arms. The disc itself at this time is already
somewhat opaque.

When the larva is about to “set” it attaches itself to some
object, like a spear of eel-grass, by the suckers, shown at the top
of the figure, and then a rapid transformation occurs. The whole
superstructure above the disc collapses and becomes absorbed
like the tail of a tadpole. In a few hours the brachiolarian has
disappeared, and a starfish proper has taken its place.

Although the free-swimming larve have a considerable power
of locomotion, and can swim from one side of a dish to the other
in a few minutes, they can not, of course, make headway against
the tidal currents, and are carried hither and thither with their
ebb and flow.

Other extensive movements of the larvie are executed in re-
sponse to such changing conditions as those of light and temper-
ature; at a certain time myriads of them are swimming at the sur-
face of the water, and in twelve hours not one specimen can be
found. The brachiolarian, like more lowly organized forms of liv-
ing creatures, although it has no eyes, is exceedingly sensitive to
light, being attracted to it sometimes, and again being repelled
by it. According to my experience, they were found at the sur-
face in greatest abundance on cloudy or misty days and nights,
and were much more rare, or absent altogether, on bright clear
days and moonlight nights. On the evening of June 27th, for
instance, I skimmed the surface with the tow-net from nine until
eleven o'clock, and not a single larval star was found, though

52 INLAND FISHERIES.

there were millions of the larvee of the annelid worm Syllis, and
other organisms. The night was clear, with bright moon, and the
tide was rising. The next morning, June 28th, was cloudy, with
some rain, and large numbers of the larvee were taken in the nets,
between 8.30 and 10 o’clock. In the evening of this day, between
9 and 11 o'clock, they were even more abundant than during the
day. The evening was calm and cloudy, with a little rain. After-
ward I met with the same experience on several occasions.

Another question in respect to the movements of the free-swim-
ming larve is of practical importance, inasmuch as they are thou-
sands of times more numerous than the adult stars. To what dis-
tances may the larvee be carried by the tides and currents in our
Bay? I cannot answer this question directly, but there are cer-
tain facts which have an inportant bearing upon it.

Although the purple stars (Asterias vulgaris) are common in
the lower portion of the Bay in the vicinity of Newport and Sea-
connet, they seem to be totally absent from the upper parts,
although the adults, at least, can live in these waters. I have
kept them for a long time in Kickemuit river. This would seem
to indicate that the larvze of the purple stars are not transported
by the tides from the lower to the upper portion of the Bay. It
may be, of course, that the larve, unlike the adults, cannot abide
in the upper portion, or that the young stars, as soon as they can
crawl, return to the southward unnoticed ; this seems to me, how-
ever, to be improbable.

The distribution of some other marine animals whose habits
are similar to those of the brachiolaria is of interest in this
connection. At Waquoit, about ten miles northwest of Woods
Holl, on the Vineyard Sound side, the water was fairly alive with
the young of a certain species of jelly-fish, which could be taken
from this locality in immense numbers at any time for several
weeks during the spring. At Woods Holl, however, these speci-
mens were comparatively rare.

Again, later in the summer, at Menemsha Bight, near Gay Head,
another small jelly-fish was found in such great abundance that

“

INLAND FISHERIES. oO

every bucketful of water contained thousands of specimens, yet
they were exceedingly rare, if present at all, at Woods Holl.

In the upper part of Buzzard’s Bay, at Ney’s Neck, the starfish
probably bred in great numbers, judging from the appearance of
the adults earlier in the spring, yet the larve were rarely caught
at Woods Holl.

These facts, and others of the same nature, certainly suggest
that the larval starfish may not be transported to great distances
in the Bay by the tides.

X. What is the duration of the larval period? (If an effort is
to be made to destroy the larve, when must it be made?)

The reply to this question has been given in detail, in chapter
VIL, p. 48. Briefly stated, the larval period of an individual star
is probably about three weeks. (The precise leneth of time could
be ascertained only by keeping certain larve under observation
and in normal conditions from the time the egg is fertilized until
the larve set.) The period duripg which the larve may be found
in the water extends from about the second week in June to the
third week in July, according to the observations last year. There
may be a slight variation from year to year, as in the case of other
marine animals. The larve set in very great numbers about the
28th of June last year. An effort to destroy the larvee would be
more effective, therefore, during the last of June, when the spawn-

ing season is practically past and the setting has not begun.

XI. What are the habits of the young starfish? (It is possible
that the young starfish, like the young of many fish, tend to gather
in schools. If so, the young might be killed off in thousands.)

The data with reference to the habits of the young stars were
collected at Kickemuit, where I was able to have a certain area
along the shore under constant observation.

Up to the very time when the larvex are ready to set, they swim
freely in the water, and I have often caught larvie in the tow-net

54 INLAND FISHERIES.

which set in the dish of water before I returned to the house-
boat, @. e., within an hour of the time they were caught. In this
condition they attach themselves by their suckers (see Fig. 2)
to any object they happen to strike,and cling to it with great
tenacity, until the metamorphosis is completed. As the larvie are
borne along by the currents, the eel-grass, rock-weed, and espe-
cially the fluffy, branching sea-weed, naturally catch immense
numbers of them. I think it would not be an exaggeration to
say that on a single handful of sea-weed which I picked up about
the first of July there were more than a thousand young stars.
For the next three weeks they remain for the most part crawling
about over this vegetation, gradually working down among the
roots of the rock-weed, and on-to the large stones at the bottom.
They grow rapidly during this time, but decrease in numbers, for
they are bright and conspicuous objects for the small fishes. Nev-
theless, they are exceedingly numerous for a long time. In order
to obtain a definite expression of their abundance, I scooped up
a large handful of the fiuffy sea-weed, which, together with the
water, about two-thirds filled a’ paper pail, and my friend Neal
Bourne picked off from this 603 young stars. The average size
was about that in Fig. 9. A cart-load of sea-weed taken out at
this time would have destroyed millions of starfish.

By the first of August the fluffy, branching sea-weed, which bore
so many young stars, was nearly all dead, and though the stars
were still present in great numbers, upon the eel-grass, rock-weed,
and stones covered with sea-moss, they were also frequently seen
crawling along the muddy bottom.

By the 15th of August the eel-grass was overgrown and lodged
by a luxuriant growth of Botrylus, a compound ascidian, which
appears as dark gelatinous patches. The small stars were still
numerous upon it, but were rather thin and poor. The greater
portion of the stars had left the eel-grass, and were searching for
food upon the stones andalong the bottom; these were larger
and better nourished than those which remained upon the eel-

grass.

INLAND FISHERIES. ao

The small starfishes, such as live upon the eel-grass, are re-
markably hardy in some respects. They will live for weeks and
even months,in a small dish, without change of water, and with
the minimum amount of food. During the first week in July
T carried a number of free-swimming brachiolaria, like the one
figured, to Providence, for further examination. They were car-
ried in a glass one-quart butter jar, and, after one or two speci-
mens were taken out, the jar was closed and left on my desk un-
opened during the rest of the summer. In a few days the larvie
had all set, and when I examined the dish again, on September
5th, it contained still a few live starfishes, which were, however,
very small. Upon watching these specimens it was observed that
the more enterprising individuals were eating their companions,
and finally only one star remained. This one lived in the jar for
weeks, but, unfortunately, I am not able to record the exact date
of his death.

On the other hand, the same young starfishes, which can live so
long without food or change of water, perish quickly if left out
of the water, especially if the sun is shining. They cannot live,
therefore, above the low-water mark, unless sheltered by a dense
growth of vegetation. Large starfish can endure very much
longer exposure, since their bulk prevents their drying so quickly.

On July 16th I made a special search for young stars, on the
sea-weed, abovethe low-water mark. I found none, yet just below
low-water mark they were excessively abundant. At the same
time it was noticed that, above the line where the starfish were
abundant, there was a thick set of one-year-old oysters, while be-
low it the oysters were absent. The oysters set somewhat later
in the season than the starfish, and the latter, therefore, are ready
to prey upon the young oysters as soon as they appear. When,
in addition to these facts, we take into account the extraordinary
voracity of the young stars, their immense numbers, and their
special fondness for oysters, we are led to conclude that one rea-
son why a considerable set of oysters is so rarely obtained below
low water is that they fall prey to the starfish. The oysters which

56 INLAND FISHERIES.

set above high water are comparatively safe, for when the tide
leaves them uncovered they can endure for hours the direct heat
of the sun, which would kill the young starfish in a few minutes.

While the starfish are living upon the eel-grass and sea-weed
they are supplied with an abundance of food in the form of the
young of marine worms, snails, and other animals, which, like the
stars themselves, swim freely in the sea for a time, and then settle
down upon any object with which they happen to come in contact.
Throughout July the water at Kickemuit was teeming with minute
free-swimming creatures, and, in the aquarium, the growth of the
youngest stars could be greatly accelerated by feeding them the
contents of the tow-net. During the last four days of June in-
numerable larve of a marine worm, Syllis (2), were swarming at
the surface, and on July 11th millions of the young of one of the
sea-snails, Littorina (?), were caught in the tow-nets.

The clam, also, is one of those unfortunate animals whose larvee
set at about the same time as the starfish, and in the same places.
The starfish before they are three days old show a predilection
for young clams, which apparently does not diminish so long as
any clams remain. Fig. 3 was drawn from life last summer by Dr.
J. L. Kellogg, and represents a characteristic scene in the marine
tragedy.

In order to ascertain how fast the stars of the average size
found upon the eel-grass would devour the young clams of aver-
age size, I placed one such star in a dish with fifty-six clams taken
at random from the margin of a stone. The larger clams were
about the length of one arm of the star, and they ranged from
this length to one or two millimeters. The experiment was begun
at 1:22 P. M., on July 18; at 5:40, P. M., two clams had been de-
voured, each about the length of the arm of the star, and during
the evening a third was eaten. At eight o'clock the following
morning five had been eaten; at nine o'clock, six; and, at 9:05,
the seventh clam had been attacked. I was absent from the labo-
ratory for the next four days, and returning on the 22d found,
at 6, P. M., twenty-nine empty shells whose contents had been

INLAND FISHERIES. a7

eaten by the starfish. The starfish had grown considerably, and
was eating faster than formerly, for on the next day thirty-nine
empty shells were found, and on the day following this forty-six
were empty, while ten more had disappeared altogether, having
doubtless been devoured shell and all at some time during the
week. ‘T'o make sure that the clams were killed by the stars, and
did not die from some other cause, a control dish of clams was
kept, in which all the specimens lived. Jn six days the one starfish
devoured over fifty clams. Both starfish and clams represented
the average size at this season. I regret that I did not record
the exact dimensions of the starfish at the beginning of the exper-
iment. Fig. 11 shows about the size of the star at the end of the
experiment, on July 25th.

When we recall how exceeding numerous the starfish are, and
that they are found in the same localities with the young clams,
the result of this experiment becomes the more significant. At
this rate the six hundred specimens taken from the one netful of
sea-weed would devour thirty thousand clams in six days. The
starfish in a cart-load of sea-weed, if it contained two hundred
small fork-loads, would have the capacity for destroying over six
million clams in a week.

Summary: The starfish set for the most part during the last
few days in June, and the first week in July, some as late as the
16th of July. They remain upon the sea-weed in immense num-
bers until about the first of August, when many of them are found
upon the bottom. By the 15th of August the greater portion of
the stars have left the sea-weed and taken to the bottom. The
young stars do very great damage, not only to the young oysters,
but to the young clams.

The destruction of the starfish by the hundreds of thousands
could be effected by collecting and drying a few cart-loads of sea-
weed taken below low-water mark, in the month of July. After
the first week or two of July the collection of the seaweed would

not do any injury to the clams.
8

58 INLAND FISHERIES.

XI. What is the rate of growth up to sexual maturity ?

The observations and experiments bearing upon this question
were made at the Kickemuit river, and these methods were adopted :

A. <A large number of starfish were kept under constant obser-
vation and surrounded with natural conditions as far as possible.

B. Frequent observations were made upon the starfish in their
natural environment.

C. Individual starfish were reared under various conditions,
and their growth recorded from time to time.

D. Starfish which were regenerating lost parts were kept under
various conditions, to determine the rate of growth and the rate
of regeneration.

A and B. On June 29th a bunch of sea-weed, on which were
hundreds of small stars, was placed in a car at the house-boat.
All the stars were very small. The greater number were about
the size of that in Fig. 5, but they ranged from the size shown in
Fig. 4, just setting on the eel-grass, to that in Fig. 6.

On July 15th it was found that hundreds of stars had crawled
through the wire netting, and were thickly scattered about on the
under side of the car. Here they had found an abundance of
small barnacles, which to all appearances they very much relished.
After preserving a few specimens, to compare with those taken
from the sea-weed, the rest of the stars were left unmolested upon
the bottom of the car. The average size of the stars on the car
was greater than the average of the larger specimens on the sea-
weed. This was doubtless due to the fact that the former were
better fed. A difference in shape was also striking, those on the
car being more plump. Figures 7, 8, and 9 represent three speci-
mens taken from the sea-weed on this date, and Fig. 10, one of the
larger specimens (8 m. m. from mouth to tip of arm) from the
ear, all natural size. The measurements which follow are all
taken from mouth to tip of arm.

On July 18th the stars showed a very appreciable growth. One

INLAND FISHERIES. 59

of the larger specimens, measuring 5 m. m.,is represented natural
size in Fig. 11.

On July 24th one of the largest stars measured 8 m. m., and
was preserved. See Fig. 12.

On July 26th one could see an appreciable growth since the
24th, and the specimen shown in Fig. 13 measures 9 m. m. In
eleven days (since July 15th), therefore, there has been an increase
of three hundred per cent. in the length of the arm, which is
equivalent to a much larger increase in bulk.

The stars were taken from the bottom and put inside the car on
August Ist, and were fed with barnacles and small mussels. They
had by this time eaten nearly all the barnacles on the bottom of
the car, and were doubtless in want of food.

On August 2d the largest specimen measured 11 m. m., and is
represented in Fig. 14. Those on the bottom, however, which had
left the eel-grass, were larger, some of them approaching the size
of those on the car.

On August 13th a box thickly covered with barnacles was split
up and pieces put into the car. The starfish always preferred the
under side of the boards, and the latter were therefore placed
barnacle side down.

The stars on the eel-grass were examined on August 15th and
the larger ones averaged about 24 m. m., or about the size of that
ime Bio 9,

On August 18th the largest specimens measured slightly less
than18 m.m. (See Fig. 15.) This specimen was afterward kept
in a dish without food, and will be referred to again.

On September 5th one of the largest specimens was 26 m. 1m. in
length of arm. (Fig. 16.) Another specimen measured 27 m. m.,
and several measured 25 m. m. or more.

On September 26th the largest specimen measured 35 m. m., and
is represented in Fig. 17.

On October 12th the largest specimen found was 42 m. m.
(Fig. 18.)

On October 25th one specimen was found which measured 54

60 INLAND FISHERIES.

m. m., or about 24 inches (Fig. 19). This specimen was preserved.
(The next largest was 51 m.m.) It is shown in Fig. 19 and is the
largest star reared in captivity. It was almost exactly four months
old, having set about the 28th of June. The sexual glands were
more highly developed than usual even for larger stars at this
season.

From this date to November 11th there was no growth, but
apparently a slight decrease.

The following gives in brief the measurements of some of the
largest stars found upon the car during the summer and fall. The
asterisk * indicates that the specimen was not returned to the car,
so that a smaller specimen was recorded on the next date.

July 15. July 18. July 24. July 26. August 2. August 18.
3 5* 8* 9 i 18
September 5, September 26. October 12. October 25. November 5.
27 35 42 5a: |
26 35 40 51 45
26 34 40) 50 44
25 33 38 48 43
25 33 36 45 43
25 31 35 45 43
24 30 35 44 42
24 31) ee mM Araceae eas a 40
DA eb Ve cabe! sts dy ela bg yy midicuecsley LLL Oem Shia bt
DB BPW et ays on tue oe oR eherals i ly ip trersd aries ty

On September 5th a number of specimens (nineteen in all) were
picked out and placed by themselves in another car, so that I
might be sure to measure the same individuals on succeeding
days. These were measured on six occasions, with the following

results :
Sept. 5. Sept. 26. Oct. 12. Oct, 25. Nov. 5. Nov. 11.
24 35 40 47 46 41 (?)
24 dl 35 40 38 41

20 30 35 38 38 40

INLAND FISHERIES. 61

Sept. 6. Sept. 26. Océ. 12. Oct. 25. Nov. 8. Nov. 11.
18) 29 3b4 38 38 39
19 29 33 38 38 38
19 28 32 37 38 38
18 28 32 36 38 36
18 28 31 36 37 36
18 27 31 36 37 35
18 26 30 36 37 35
i hy 26 30 35 37 35
16 26 30 35 37 35
16 25 29 5 34 5)
16 25 29 35 35 35
15 24 28 34 33 3b4
15 23 28 32 Bt) 34
15 21 27 30 32 33
14 21 25 30 32 31
12 Die Caan 29 31 31

It will be noticed that among these specimens, as well as among
those in the original car, given in the first table, there is rarely
any evidence of growth after October 25th, but there is rather a
slight decrease in size. On each occasion the measurements were
made without referring to those of the preceding date, so that no
personal prejudice might enter the results. For the most part
the figures indicate a fairly uniform rate of growth among the
different stars. In interpreting these figures, there is one factor
which is to be taken into consideration, namely: that starfish
over 20 m. m. (sometimes less) are able to contract and expand,
so that two careful measurements, taken within afew minutes of
each other, may vary as much as one or two millimeters. The
measurements in the last three columns, therefore, indicate that
the starfish in the car were of about the same size on November
11th as on October 25th. The first measurement (41 m. m.) on the
bottom of the opposite page, under November 11th, is doubtless
an error.

It may be inferred, from what has already been said, that at

62 INLAND FISHERIES.

any time during the summer, after the stars are all set, there is a
great difference in size among them. ‘To illustrate this point,
T arranged on August 18th a series of specimens taken from the
car and from the sea-weed, and photographed them at natural
size, by laying them down on the sensitive paper (with a thin
transparent film between), and then exposing. The variation in
size is shown in Fig. 20, the first five specimens having been taken
from the car and the last five from the sea-weed. This variation
in size is without doubt due much more to the difference in the
amount of food than to the difference in age. The following
experiments on the rate of growth of individual starfish support
this view.

C. Rate of growth of individual starfishes kept under various
conditions. The starfish which was the largest of those in the
ear on August 18th (compare Fig. 15) was kept in a dish with only
a few very small barnacles for food. When taken from the car it
measured 18 m. m.; slightly more when fully expanded. On Sep-
tember 25th it measured 18 m. m., showing no growth. On Sep-
tember 26th, thirty-nine days after it was taken from the car, it
measured between fifteen and sixteen m.m. In the absence of
food, therefore, it had lived and apparently was in perfect health,
but had probably diminished somewhat in length, as well as in
bulk. (Some allowance must of course be made for the contrac-
tion and expansion, as mentioned before.) During this time sev-
eral of the stars, smaller than this one, remained in the car and
grew to the length of 35m. m. (Fig. 17.)

A small starfish which was caught in the tow, and set on June
28th, was kept in the dish with many others until June 23d. On
this date it was placed in a small dish by itself and fed with small
clams and barnacles. Fig. 21 shows the growth of this specimen :
A. 2 m. m., July 23d; B, 4 m. m., August 13th; C, 44 m.m., Au-
gust 18th; D, 5m. m., September 6th. On September 6th it was
transferred to a car where there was an abundance of small bar-
nacles. Fig. 21, E (12 m. m.), represents size on September 26th ;
F, 21 m. m., on October 12th; G, 30 m. m., on November 5.

INLAND FISHERIKS. 65

As a control to this experiment, several starfish, which also set
on June 28th, were kept with a minimum amount of food. One
of these, photographed at natural size on September 6th, is shown
in Fig. 22 A, while the largest star in the car (with plenty of food)
is represented in Fig. 22 B (27 m.m.). The specimen figured in
Ais thirty-nine days old, and that in B is within a day or two of
that age.

The next experiment (illustrated by Fig. 23) on the growth of
stars was as follows: On August 3d two stars of average size
were taken from the original car and placed in another car with a
bunch of mussels.

On August 3d (1) = 7m.m.: Fig. A.

On August 16th (2) = 10 m.m. Fig. A’.

During this time the stars had little or no food, since they could
not, or would not, eat the mussels. On August 15th a lot of bar-
nacles were placed in this car, and by September 5th the results
of the new food were evident enough :

Sept. 5: (1,)= 15m. m., Fig. C (one arm was torn off in meas-
vane). 4(2)o— 19am. Pie C%,

Sept. 26: (1) = 28 m.m., Fig. D (new arm 10 m. m. measured
from mouth, growth of 7m.m.) (2) = 29m.m., Fig. D’.

Oct. 12; (1) = 36 m.m., Fig. E (regenerating arm, 20 m. m.,
from mouth, growth of 17 m.m.) (2) = 41m. m., Fig. EB’.

From August 3d to August 16th, while these specimens were
not growing at all, those in the car grew about 6 m. m. These
two specimens afterward, however, having more food and no inter-
ference in eating it, made up this difference, and by September
26th had grown as much as those in the original car.

One interesting point which is brought out by the experiment
is that a star which is regenerating an arm may grow as fast as a
complete star. Compare next experiment.

C. Rate of growth and rate of regeneration. The starfish, like
the lobster and many crabs, has the habit of dropping off an arm
which has been mutilated, and of regenerating anew one. Unless
the arm is mutilated or some other shock administered, one may

64 INLAND FISHERIES.

sometimes tear a star in two by pulling on the arms, while the
latter still remain on the fragments of the disc. On the other
hand, if the suckers are cut off from one arm, or the arm is crushed
or cut several times, it will usually drop off, always at the same
point near the disc, taking the sexual glands with it.

On the 26th of September five of the larger stars in the origi-
nal car were deprived of the arm opposite the “ eye,’ or madre-
poric plate, and then placed in a car with barnacles for food. The
subsequent measurements show that they kept on eating and
growing at about the usual rate, ike the specimen similarly
treated in the last experiment described. The measurements are
given in tabulated form below, the first measurement indicating
the length of the longest arm.

Sept. 26. Oct. 12. Och 25: Nov. 5. Nov. 21.
New New New New New
Growth. Growth. Growth. Growth. Growth.

A 382 0 36 3 42 b= (ot 40 12

7
B30 0 35 3 38 7 zai be 40 At
C 28 0 30 3 35 tt a5. 10. ‘ms 12
De 2 0 29 3 30 6 35 9 38 11
EK 25 0 28 3 d4 7 35 9

A comparison of the table with that on page 61 shows that these
stars, which are regenerating an arm, grew at about the same rate
as the complete stars during the same period. The rate of regen-
eration was also about the same as the rate of growth in the origi-
nal arms, except that toward the last the new members grew in
some cases somewhat more rapidly.

Another experiment was made, similar to the above, except that
two arms were taken off instead of only one, and the stars were
younger at the beginning. The stars were at first all about 12 m.
m. The eight detached arms were put in the car also, and on
September 10th, twenty-six days after they were detached, five
were still alive and apparently in good health, but had neither
grown nor shown any sign of regeneration. One is figured nat-
ural size in Fig. 24 B.

INLAND FISHERIES. 65

The growth of these specimens is tabulated below. (Measure-
ments were made from mouth to tip of new arm, but figures in
table indicate merely new growth, and are derived by subtracting

3m. m. from original figures.)

||
Ave. 15.|| Sepr. 5. | SEPT. 26. Oct. 12 Oct. 26. Nov. 5
| |
F | be : % . : | |. | |
S/fi eligi fl eles lfldiallid| fi slellglfldie
5 He Sel SlSlENElSI 8/2) 8/3) 8/28) 8/8/8
x S| 45 : S| ys | & Si | RSS meen BS} 4s @ | Sf os | cg
2 So Elle Bl/ElSllelelElellelSelEHlellelelelis
e Teles siai2 si sisls/ ei sisi/ isi sis)s/s
2 le 2a Pl @lael ee ale|l P elalel Fla lales
fo} ° ot ro} < ° > | eo So iret? dings i) pre ree .
Sy Wee) eee | ae Sale | eS ee ea |e
| a | pe | | P| | fg
AR ails: 12 (%)! || 22 | 8 || 34 | 18 | 17 42 cle | SN ak es |
| |
Brcseoes) 12 (2) |] 20 | 7 || 80/17 | 17] .. || 86 | 26 | 26] . 43.31. 31
| (ioe
(Os areminon| 12 (2) || 18 5 || 25| 92] 98} .. || 87] 16] 15]. 40 | 24| 24
| | |
ID acoanmon | 12° (2) 16 |e. 5 |) 23 14/12) 84|| 32 22 | 20 | 18 || 85 | 23 | 23 A baad ld i lies
| | | 1 |

1 Tt was intended at first to keep account only of rate of regeneration, and so four stars
were picked out, of about the same size, and one only was measured. This was12mm. The
others may have been one or two millimeters larger or smaller, The growth of this specimen
and the size of the single arm alone, on September 26, are given in diagram Fig. 24, A and B
respectively.

2 One detached arm still alive—measures 7 mm.

3 Tips cut off and arm slit on September 15. The longest arm was then 22 mm., and the
regenerating arms 15 and 10 mm. respectively.

4 Arm broken off, probably by handling, on September 5.

This experiment shows conclusively that when even two arms
are lost the growth of the starfish is not necessarily arrested or the
rate of growth diminished. The rate of growth in the new arms
was greater than in the original arms, and there was a tendency,
therefore, for all to become ultimately of the same length (Table
D, October 12 to November 5).

Summary: The results show clearly that within very broad
limits it is impossible to tell the age of a starfish from its size.
Starfishes of all ages are able to live for months with very little or
no food. The rate of growth depends directly upon the amount

of food eaten. Starfishes which are regenerating one, or even
9

66 INLAND FISHERIES.

two arms, may, under ordinary circumstances, grow as rapidly as
complete stars. The growth of the new arms, in the starfish ex-
perimented upon, was slightly more rapid than that of the original
arms, showing a tendency in the organism to return to the original
length. In four months from time of setting, some of the larger
stars kept in the cars under favorable circumstances attained a
length of from 50 to 54 mm., or 2 to 2} inches, measured from
mouth to tip of arm. This is more than twice the length of many of
the stars which were found just before the beginning of the breed-
ing season, and which were therefore at least nearly a year old.

Allowing a moderate amount of growth during the winter and
spring months, of 10 to 15 mm. (the amount of increase attained in
one full month preceding October 12), the larger year-old starfish
in the early summer would be about 65 millimeters, or 24 inches,
in length, which is about the length of the greater number of stars
taken on the mops in the Kickemuit River during the summer.
(ire, 19.4: 19) 1.)

XIV. What is the size and age at serual maturity?

Among the starfish caught in various parts of the Bay on June
2, 3, and 4, several specimens only 1} inches, or 32 mm., were
found to be very full of sexual products. This size was attained
by many of the starfish reared in the car on September 26, about
three months from time of setting. See table on page 60. Great
numbers of stars, measuring about 2 inches, or 50 millimeters,
were found ripe the first week of June. This was the size of
several specimens in the car on October 25, which were not more
than four months old, and whose sexual glands were well de-
veloped. In other words, a large number of the starfish reared in
the car were by the end of October as large as a great many which
were sexually mature in June. Moreover, it was rare to find a
specimen of this size on the first of June which was not full of ripe
eges which were laid later, as the empty starfish caught in July
showed. It is an obvious conclusion, therefore, that, with fairly

ved

INLAND FISHERIES. 67

good opportunities to obtain food, the starfish becomes sexually
mature in less than one year, and that those hatched one season
breed the next.

In his monograph on North American starfishes, Alexander
Agassiz gives his views with reference to the rate of growth of the
starfish in the following words: (The figures referred to represent
specimens, all of them smaller than that in our Fig. 9, of a star
about two weeks old raised in the ear.)

“The young starfishes figured on this plate (Pl. VIII) were all found attached
to roots of Laminaria, thrown up on the beaches, in the neighborhood, after a
storm; and from their different stages of growth, as compared with the oldest
starfish raised from a Brachiolaria (Pl. VI. Fig. 11) specimens of which were also
found upon these roots, it is probable that the sizes here figured are one (Fig. 1),
two (Fig. 8), and three (Fig. 10) years old. A considerable number of specimens
were picked up in this way, and they could all be arranged into very distinct
groups, representing the starfishes of the present and two previous seasons.
There seemed to be no gradation from one group to another, such as we have
among the young sea urchins, which, in consequence of their manner of breeding
-during the whole year, form series, the relations of which it is impossible to
determine. In this connection I would say, that by arranging the starfishes
found upon our rocks into series according to their size, we are able to obtain a
rough estimate of the number of years required by them to attain their full
development ; this I presume to be somewhere about fourteen years.* They
begin to spawn before that time, as specimens have been successfully fecundated
which evidently were not more than six or seven years old. It is during the
fourth year that the rate of growth seems to be most rapid. A young starfish,
measuring one and a half inches across the arms, was kept, during five months,
alive in Mr. Glen’s tank at the museum, and during that space of time it grew

to three inches.”

It will readily be seen that my observations do not at all agree
with those of Agassiz. I found no difficulty in obtaining all possible
gradations in size among the stars in the late summer, and the
stars represented by Agassiz as one, two, and three years old
respectively, more nearly correspond with those raised in cars
when they were one, two, and three wee/'s old.

* For an account of the method adopted by Professor Agassiz for ascertaining the age of
many of our marine animals, see Proceed. Essex Inst., 1863, p. 252.

68 INLAND FISHERIES.
XV. What are the natural enemies of the starfish ?

The destructive agents and natural enemies referred to in the
last report were cold and fresh water, various fishes which feed
upon the larve, gulls and crows, and parasites.

Some of the specimens which were being attacked by the
parasite frequently found in the fall of 1897 were kept over winter,
and by spring the disease had disappeared. The effects of the
disease were visible, however, in some cases. In one starfish an
arm was entirely eaten through, about ? inch from the tip, but
was not thrown off. The stump healed over, and the star was
kept throughout the year and is probably still alive. It showed
almost no trace of regeneration, probably from the fact that food
was rarely taken by the specimen.

The enemy which is doubtless the most destructive to the star-
fish is the menhaden. In an article on the “ Food of the Men-
haden,” published in the United States Fish Commission Bulletin,
XIII, 1893, Dr. James I. Peck showed that this fish feeds ex-
clusively upon the minute organisms which swim or float free in
the water. The open mouth of the menhaden has an area of about
one square inch, and as the fish swims through the water with
open mouth and gill covers raised, a considerable column of water
is passed through the mouth every minute (estimated by Dr. Peck
at about seven gallons). The gillrakers strain the water, and the
organisms which are not too minute are caught in the mouth and
swallowed. The starfish larvee of even small sizes are far too
large to pass through the gillrakers. Numerous schools of men-
haden feed in our Bay during the season when the starfish larvee
are swimming at the surface, and undoubtedly destroy them by
thousands of millions.

After the stars are set they are no longer in danger of being
destroyed by the menhaden, but for several weeks are bright con-
spicuous objects upon the seaweed and eel-grass for eels and many
small fishes to feed upon.

INLAND FISHERIES. 69

XVI. Js the popular idea that the dismembered fraqments of a
PY Jag

starfish will regenerate new starfish founded on fact ?

This idea is commonly held, and is apparently founded on the
fact that in nearly every lot of stars brought up in the dredges or
on the mops a considerable percentage of stars may be found
which are regenerating lost parts. Frequently two, three, or even
four arms are being regenerated, and these are much smaller than
the original arms. Upon careful examination and inquiry into the
extent of this regeneration, | have never found a well authen-
ticated case among our species of stars in which part of the disc
was being regenerated, except those reared with great care in the
aquarium. With this point in view, | have examined a large
number of regenerating stars caught in their natural haunts, some
of them reported to be regenerating part of the disc, but invariably
the regeneration was limited to the arm. I have, however, made
a few experiments in the aquarium and in the cars, which have a
bearing upon this question of regeneration.

The fact that a mutilated arm is frequently loosened and dropped
off at a particular point near the base, and the rate of regeneration
of specimens which have thus lost one or two arms, are recorded in
a previous chapter, page 63.

All the arms may be pulled off, and, if the star is protected and
fed, all will generate. Such a specimen is sketched in Fig. 25.
This specimen was kept, after the operation, in a glass dish with
frequent changes of water, and was fed upon the soft parts of
crabs, etc. The regeneration was slow as compared with that
given in the previous tables, the new growth shown in the figure
(which is natural size) requiring about five or six weeks, probably
owing to the comparatively small amount of food taken.

Since a mutilated arm drops off from the dise so readily, the
latter nearly always remains intact, and in ordinary cases, there-
fore, if two stars were to result from one, one of them must re-
generate from a single arm. I have several times kept single arms
for a long time in the aquarium or cars, but have never seen any

70 INLAND FISHERIES.

trace of regeneration in them. On May 11 several arms were taken
off at the usual line of detachment, and kept alive in the aquarium
until June 9, when they showed no sign of regeneration. One of
these was still alive on June 25, and at that time was apparently
enjoying good health, and would turn over if put on its back. It
had lived, therefore, for over six weeks, but showed no sign of re-
generation. .

Another experiment was started on August 15; two arms were
taken off from each of four specimens. The rate of regeneration
of these specimens is given in the tables on page 65. On Sep-
tember 10, nearly three weeks afterward, five of the single arms
were found alive, but showed no regeneration. On September 5
the new growth in the arms regenerating from the disc was from
8to5mm. On September 26, six weeks after the operation, one
of the single arms was found alive (7 mm.) It had not shown any
traces of regenerating a new arm, although it had healed. This
arm is represented natural size in Fig. 24, B, and the new growth
which took place on one of the stars from which these arms were
detached is shown in Fig. 24, A. Similar experiments were tried
last year with the same result. In a recent article by Miss Helen
Dean King, in Roux’ Archiv, it is stated that single arms were
kept alive for two weeks, but never showed signs of regeneration.

Several experiments were carried on to determine what re-
generation would take place if the disc were cut through. On
May 11, nineteen specimens about 24 inches in length were treated
in the following manner: Two arms were pulled off, and at the base
of one of the arms a piece was cut out from the top of the dise in
the manner shown in Fig. 26. These specimens were placed in a
large car at Woods Hole without food (except what could be
carried in the water). On June 9 there was a trace of regenera-
tion in some of the arms. On June 25, a little more than six weeks
after the operation, all the arms were growing out anew, and
varied from a mere trace of a new arm with the terminal eye-spot
(which always shows first) to arms } inches (about 7 mm.) long.
This experiment shows two things: that the new arm will re-

INLAND FISHERIES. 71

generate if a portion of the dise is absent, and that the rate of
regeneration, like the rate of growth, in normal specimens, is
dependent upon the nourishment, for, while the new growth in
these cars was only 7 mm. in six weeks, those which were well fed
at Kickemuit gained a new growth of from 13 to 18 mm. in the
same time. See page 65.

Other experiments were tried, to determine what regeneration
would take place if the whole starfish were cut through in various
ways, while the arms were left in place. It will be seen that the
results were not always the same.

In the summer of 1897 several stars about 24 inches in length
were cut through so as to leave three arms and part of the dise on
one piece, and two arms and part of the dise on the other. The
smaller pieces perished, but the larger ones lived for several weeks
and showed no sign of regeneration. All but one were destroyed
by other starfishes, which got into their compartment of the car
by accident. The remaining fragment, consisting of three arms
and part of the disc, lived several months after the operation and
did not regenerate.

On May May 11, 1898, several stars about one inch long were
cut as in Fig, 27. One arm was pulled off and the dise then cut
in two, leaving two arms with a part of disc and madreporic plate
on one piece (=A), and two arms and part of disc on the other
piece (=B.) The fate of the single arm has been already con-
sidered, page 70. On June 9 all the pieces were alive. In the
piece marked A (7. ¢. having madreporic plate) a trace of a new arm
arm was visible on the side toward the lost arm, but in no other
place. The pieces marked B showed no regeneration at all. On
June 25, six and a half weeks after the operation, the condition
was as follows: All these parts of specimen 1 were alive. The
fate of the single arm is mentioned on the previous page. The
piece (A) with madreporic plate is sketched from the lower side
in Fig. 28. Two arms were well started, and one minute arm was
growing out between them. In the other piece (B) of this speci-
men, the wound was completely healed, but there was no visible

a |
bo

INLAND FISHERIES.

trace of any new arms. Of specimen 2 only one piece (A) was
alive. From the stump of the old arm a very small new arm
appeared-—no trace of any other. The two pieces A and B of
specimen 3 were alive and healthy. In A two very small arms
were visible (one could be seen only with the help of a hand lens)
near together, and on one side of the cut surface; on the other
side there was a trace of another arm, indicated by an eye spot.
B had healed up, but showed no trace whatever of regenerating
arms. Of the fourth specimen piece A was found alive with two
very minute regenerating arms. These specimens had very little
food, and it is hardly necessary to remark that they grew very
little or not at all. .

On September 5, 1898, another experiment, similar to the last
one, was commenced at Kickemuit River. Eight specimens were
taken from those reared in the car, and cut in two in the manner
shown in Fig. 29, leaving two arms and the madreporic plate on
one piece, and three arms and part of the plate on the other. The
pieces of the latter sort died in a short time, and the following
tabulated data refer to the pieces having two arms and the plate
(“eye”). At the beginning of the experiment the specimens
measured in millimeters, 23, 21, 21, 20, 19, 18, 18, 18.

September 26th. (Three weeks after the operation.)

A 20 mm., bore trace of two new arms.
B 18 mm., two new arms (preserved) unhealthy.
C 18 mm., one new arm, 2 mm.
D Crushed.
E 20 mm., healthy—no trace of another arm.
F Overlooked. See next, October 12.
October 12th.
A (?) 23 mm., two very small arms.
C 20 “ two arms, one smaller than the other.
E (?) 22 “ no trace of regeneration.
F 21 “ one arm.

(all healthy.)

~~
v9

INLAND FISHERIES.

October 25th.

20 (?) two arm 8-10 mm., no trace of other.

E 22 no trace of regeneration.
(21 9 : ; see, : f :
F 20 (2?) one arm, 6 mm.; no trace of another.
November 5th.
A 25 mm., two new arms, 2 mm. each.
C 21 “ two new arms, 9-10 mm., no trace of other.
E 22 “ one new arm directly in middle, 1 mm. long.
ras)
F 19 (?) one arm, 44 mm., no trace of rest.
ee, > “4 2
November 11th. (Fig. 30.)
A 23 min., two small arms, about 3 min.
> >
C 21 “ two small arms, 10 and 12.
d
E 21 “ one arm, 1§ mm., directly in middle.
F 20 “ one arm, 6 mm.

(no trace of other arms in any.)

Some other experiments of a similar kind performed upon young
stars about the first of August yielded essentially the same re-
sults, with this exception: that out of the seven pieces which lived
until September 5, four were those without madreporic plate, and
three of these were regenerating new arms. Miss King, whose
‘recent article has been already referred to, seems to have had
better success than I, and says that from each of the pieces of a
star cut in two a new star may be formed by regeneration.

That the madreporic plate is not essential to the life of the star-
fish, at least for a very long time, is shown by another experiment.
This organ was removed from five large stars on June 14, and on
November 5 one of them was alive and healthy, but had not re-
generated the lost structure. The madreporic plate was wanting
in one specimen caught at Woods Hole on April 4. Another
specimen was taken which had an accessory madreporic plate,
which was not, however, connected with the stone canal. In the
last report, I mentioned an experiment in which this body was

extirpated and regenerated before the end of the season.
10

74 INLAND FISHERIES,

Summary: Inevery known case of regenerating starfish caught
on the mops and in dredges, the new growth is limited to the
arms. Thearms are readily loosened and cast off when injured, but
almost certainly do not produce new stars, as is Shown by the experi-
ment in which single arms have been kept for six weeks without
trace of regenerating, and by the fact that single arms regenerating
the rest of the stars have never been found among this species of
star (they are common in some foreign species). Starfish which
have been eut in two behave differently in different cases. They
may live for a long time without regenerating the remaining arms
to the slightest degree; they may show no sign of regeneration for
several weeks, and then regenerate one or more arms; they may
soon regenerate only one or two of the arms when three are re-
quired to complete the original form of the body. The rate of
regeneration and perhaps the possibility of regeneration are
dependent on the food supply, like the rate of growth. It is
probably possible for two or more complete stars to result from
one, but in many experiments in which the stars were carefully
protected this result has not been obtained by me. The prob-
ability of this result occurring when stars are torn apart and
thrown overboard is doubtless very slight, for, as the experiments
show, such stars have difficulty in obtaining food, and are especially
liable to injury and to destruction by other stars or enemies of

various kinds.

XVII. What are the artificial methods of destruction now im

use in Rhode Island or elsewhere ?

These methods were given in the last report.

The starfish become easily entangled in the mops, not only
because they are rigid and covered with spines, but because the
little forceps (pedicellaria) thickly scattered over the surface of
the body catch hold of the threads of the mop. If one presses
the upper surface of a live starfish against the back of his hand,
he will find that these pedicellaria grasp the hairs on the hand
tightly, and will sustain the whole weight of the starfish.

~

Or

INLAND FISHERIES.

EXPLANATION OF FIGURES.

Fig. 1. Mulinia lateralis, gray, natural size.

Fig. 2. Larva of starfish, nearly ready to set, in side view ; dark
bands show the position of the vibratile cilia; intestine and
stomach shaded ; five lobes at the lower portion of figure are the
beginning of the five arms. From life, much magnified.

Fig. 3. Starfish about two days old, devouring clams. Out-
lines of the stomach of the starfish can be seen through the trans-
parent shell of the clam. Drawn from life by Dr. J. L. Kellogg.

Fig. 4. Piece of eel-grass with starfish larvie just undergoing
their transformation ; two specimens of larvee at thesides. Natural
size.

Figs. 5 to 8. Smali specimens of starfish from seaweed about
the first of July. Natural size.

Fig. 9. Shows size of average star found upon the eel-grass -
and seaweed on July 15. Natural size.

Fig. 10. Large specimen from car, July 15. Natural size, 3 mm.

Fig. 11. From car, July 18, large specimen, 5 mm. Natural size.

Fig. 12. From ear, July 24, large specimen, 8 mm. Natural size.

Fig. 13. From car, July 26, large specimen, 9 mm. Natural
size.

Fig. 14. From car, August 2, large specimen, 11 mm. Natural
size.

Fig. 15. From car, August 18, large specimen, 18mm. Natural

Fig. 16. From car, September 5, large specimen, 24 mm.
Natural size.

Fig. 17. From car, September 26, large specimen, 35 mm.
Natural size.

Fig.18. From car, October 12, large specimen, 42mm. Natural
size.

Fig. 19. From car, October 25, largest specimen, 54 mm.
Natural size.

Fig. 20. Series of starfish taken on August 18, showing varia-

76 INLAND FISHERIES.

tion in size; first 9 specimens from car, last 4 from eel-grass.
Natural size.

Fig. 21. Shows growth of single specimen collected as a larva
and set June 28. A, July 23, 2 mm.; B, August 13, 4 mm; C,
August 18, 44 mm.; D, September 5, 5 mm.; E, September 26,
12 mm.; F, October 12, 21 mm.; G. November 5,30 mm. Natural
size. See page 62.

Fig. 22. A, starfish set June 28. Kept alive in dish, and drawn
natural size. September 5 (54 weeks); B, from car, September 5,
within a day or two of the age of A (page 63). Both natural
size.

Fig. 23. Shows rate of growth in two stars, A, B, ete., and A’,
B’, etc.; A and A’, August 3, 7 and 104 mm.; B and B’, August
16,7 and 104 mm.; C and C’, September 5,15 and 19 mm. (one arm
pulled off from C); D and D’, September 26, 28 mm. (new arm 10
mm.), and 29 mm.; E and E’, October 12; E. 36 mm. (new arm 20
mm.); H’,40mm. Natural size. See page 63.

Fie. 24. A, rate of growth and of regeneration; I, August 15;
II, September 5; III, September 26; IV, October 12; B, single
arm alive, from August 15 to September 26. Natural size. See
pages 64 and 70.

Fig. 25. Star regenerating five arms from ventral side. Natural
size. See page 69.

Fig. 26. Showing manner of cutting the stars in the experiment
described on page 70.

Fig. 27. Showing manner of cutting the stars in the experiment
described on page 71.

Fig. 28. ‘Showing the regeneration of the arms in the experi-
ment described on page 71; a portion of the dise regenerating
three arms. Natural size.

Fig. 29. Showing the manner of cutting the stars in the ex-
periment described on page 72. Natural size.

Fig. 30. The result of one of the regeneration experiments de-
scribed on pages 72 and 73; one or two arms regenerating from a
part of the dise. Natural size.

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INLAND FISHERIES.

IX. A study of the life-habits of the clam.

This investigation has been undertaken for the purpose of de-
termining the reasons for the present depleted condition of the
clam beds, and to test the feasibility and practicability of restock-
ing the same through methods of artificial propagation. The in-
vestigation was entrusted to Prof. J. L. Kellogg, who has made
a special study of the lamellibranchs (the natural group to which
the oyster, clam, and scallop belong), and who is amply qualified
to write authoritatively respecting the various problems of marine

life.

SPECIAL REPORT

THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE COMMON CLAM,

MYA ARENARIA.
BY PROF. JAMES L. KELLOGG.

On several occasions in past summers I have noticed, in June
and July, on the eel-grass and U//va in the vicinity of Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, some very small bivalves which were attached by
a byssus. The outline of the shell was such as to suggest a
similarity to the long necked, or soft clam, J/ya arenaria, and yet
the differences were considerable so far as form was concerned.
The whole outline was rounded, and the umbones prominent and
widely separated, while in the adult clam the shell is elongated
from before backward, the inconspicuous umbones approaching
each other closely near the median line. The character of the
hinge might have determined the matter, but it was so small and
fragile in the few specimens which I had picked up in the search
for other material, that examination was difficult and uncertain.
T had always had a suspicion, however, that a study of these forms
would show them to be the young of our common clam.

Among the numerous notes and papers by the late Professor
John A. Ryder, of the University of Pennsylvania, I find a short
description of the young J/ya attached by a byssus.* A few in-

* American Naturalist for January, 1889, embryological notes.

INLAND FISHERIES. 19

dividuals were found in New Bedford harbor by Vinal N. Edwards,
of the U. S. Fish Commission. These forms were attached to
floating timbers, together with masses of ascidians (molgu/a).
Professor Ryder, in his study of them, found in a few specimens,
a single byssus thread arising from a byssus gland in the foot.

Being invited by Dr. H. C. Bumpus, of Brown University, who
represented the Rhode Island State Fish Commission, to make
some investigations on the life history of the clam during the
summer of 1898, I proceeded to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to
consult with him in regard to the work. Soon after my arrival, I
was informed by Dr. A. D. Mead, who had just returned from the
Kickemuit River, in Rhode Island, that he had observed a small
bivalve in great numbers in the seaweed in which were also to be
found the small starfish which he was engaged in studying. On
proceeding to the “River,” [ found the creatures which I had
previously seen at Woods Hole in countless numbers attached by
a byssus thread to the matted filaments of the marine alga /nter-
morpha, and rarely to (va and eel-grass. The “nteromorpha was
attached to the long blades of the eel-grass, and to stones on the
bottom, and was found only near the beach, which contained a
great many clams. The small lamellibranchs I soon determined
to be the young of J/ya, and the following is an account of their
development and habits from the period of their fixation by the
byssus thread to the adult condition.

Not being able to reach the shore before the last of June, I was
unable to obtain material for the study of the embryonic stages of
the development.

SOME STRUCTURAL PECOLIARITIES OF THE SMALL CLAM.

Many of the attached forms were’ extremely small. Several
were obtained which were but 4; of a millimeter in length, and
these the unaided eye could with great difficulty distinguish from
fine grains of sand. A glance at Figure 2, which represents an in-

dividual of this length, shows a creature with little resemblance to

80 INLAND FISHERIES.

the adult J/ya. The outline is rounded, and the umbones are
very prominent, and project out so as to be widely separated from
each other. The foot, also, is of the ploughshare shaped variety,
found in such clams as Venws, Unio, and many others, and, though
not so represented in the figure, may be seen through the delicate
semi-transparent shell to extend over the entire ventral surface of
the visceral mass. In this it is very unlike the hatchet-like foot
of the adult J/ya, which is.relatively small and projects forward
from the anterior surface of the visceral mass. The siphons (8),
however, are similar to those in the adult form, but are excessively
delicate and filmy, occupying so little space when retracted that
the shell does not gape posteriorly to accommodate them. They
are protracted and retracted with the utmost facility and rapid-
ity.

It was not difficult, however, to determine that these individuals
were young long necked clams. When arranged in a series from
smaller to larger forms, very slight differences between contiguous
individuals, as regards the outline of the shell, lead from the
rounded form with prominent umbones to the elongated shell of
the adult, in which the umbones are inconspicuous. This com-
parison is illustrated in Figure 1. The outlines of the shells of a
few individuals have been selected from a much greater series.
They represent forms from ;'; of a millimeter to 73 millimeters
(less than *; of an inch) in length. The largest shell differs from
that in the adult in having the still conspicuous umbones placed
anterior to the middle of the shell, but the general appearance is
much the same, and the changes in outline from the one to the
other are easily followed in intermediate sizes.

In drawing a great many outlines with a camera, two individuals
of the same length very frequently presented differences in out-
line which were considerable. Everyone has probably noticed
how great are these individual variations in the shells of the adult
clams, even in those cases where the shells have not become dis-
torted in growth by coming in contact with unyielding bodies,
such as imbedded stones. The outlines selected and reproduced

INLAND FISHERIES. 81

in Figure I are, of course, respresentative, and show one or two
curious facts which would appear in any similar series.

The first of these is that the small rounded shell, as already
described, becomes relatively much elongated. Again, in the
shell ;5 of a millimeter in length, the umbo appears near the
middle of the shell, and then rapidly shifts its position anteriorly
as the creature becomes older. In outlines 9 and 10 in the series
(in individuals 6 and 73 millimeters in length respectively), the
umbones are being gradually moved back toward the middle of
the shell, and this is continued in older shells until, as in the
adult, they have again assumed a position about equally distant
from the anterior and posterior extremities. This shifting in the
position of the umbones is of course due to the fact that the shell
for a time grows more rapidly posteriorly, and, at a later period
the anterior part has a period of more rapid growth.

In shells not longer than 2 millimeters, it is not difficult to de-
tect the usual tooth in the left valve (as well as the excavation in
the right), which Gould and Binney describe in the adult as erect,
“rounded at its summit, of about equal breadth and height; its
inner face is smooth and rounded; its outer face is divided into
two portions, the largest of which is spoonshaped, the other flat,
and traversed across the middle by a grooved ridge, which pro-
jects beyond the margin of the tooth like a smaller tooth.” This
deseription may be easily applied to the small shell.

In the smallest forms examined there was a concrescence of the
mantle folds similar to the condition in the adult. There can be
no doubt, as appears from the enumeration of these peculiar
anatomical conditions, but that the small form here described is

Mya arenaria.
ATTACHMENT.

One of the most interesting features of the life-history of the
long necked clam—interesting from an economic as well as from a
scientific point of view, as I shall attempt to show—is the fact that
it is attached by a byssus to foreign objects during a considerable

11

82 INLAND FISHERIES.

period of its early life. The smaller forms which I was able to
find in the seaweed above the bottom were minute in size, some
being but ‘os of a millimeter in length. In every individual there
was to be found a well developed byssus, which afforded a rather
firm hold to the filaments of the weed. All the clams in the weed
of course maintained their position by the same means, and the
largest of these which I found, when I made my first examination
early in July, was 7 millimeters in length (a little more than + of an
inch). A search early in August revealed several somewhat larger
than this, each attached by a byssus, and in the mud of the bottom
also many were obtained, some of them from 10 to 13 millimeters
in length, which still possessed a well developed byssal thread.
In the note by Professor Ryder, spoken of above, a statement in
regard to the size of attached individuals is not quite clear. He
says: “As they grew larger it was further supposed that they
were held fast in their unusual position by the fibres and cement
substances secreted by the mantles of their ascidian neighbors,
and thus were suffered to attain a considerable size (from two

* * However, further investigation

to fifteen millimeters).
showed that in this I was in error, for after a careful search, a few
individuals were found from which a single byssal thread was
found to proceed.” From this statement it does not appear
positively that any individual fifteen millimeters long was seen to
have a byssal thread attaching it to a floating body, though such
possibly may have been the case.

Beginning work early in July, I was unable to find sexually
mature adults either in Narragansett Bay or at Woods Hole, the
breeding season evidently coming earlier in these localities,
probably in May and June. That a few individuals still continue
to discharge sexual cells late in July, however, we have evidence
in the fact that even in August there appear on the seaweed a
few very small forms which must be comparatively young.

We are led to the conclusion, then, that the free-swimming
embryos attach themselves to foreign objects, such as the sea-
weed Enteromorpha, to eel-grass, U/va, stones, and other bodies,

INLAND FISHERIES. 83

and that these attachments by the minute clam take place in the
months of June, July, and August—the great majority of them in
Narragansett and Buzzards Bays in the latter part of June and
in early July. Having become fixed in this way by a byssal
thread, the clams remain for some time, many of them attaining ¢
‘length of at least 6 or 7 millimeters, and perhaps more.

FREEING FROM ATTACHMENT.

It may be well to notice, at this point, the fact that the attach-
ment of the clams may be broken at any time, apparently at the
will of the animal, by a casting off of the byssal thread. This is
a very usual phenomenon among lamellibranchs with a byssus,
and may be well observed in the black mussel, J/ytilus edulis,
where the byssus is very greatly developed. Here, as well as in
the young clam, all the threads may be cast off from the gland in
the foot, and new threads may be produced at will. Apparently
young clams of all sizes in the weed very often perform this
function. When they have in this way made themselves free in a
glass dish, they at once begin to move about by means of the well
developed foot. Slowly crawling about for a time, they finally
conclude to reattach themselves, and even after this has been
accomplished, they often crawl about in various directions to the
length of their tether. In this process of freeing and reattachment,
however, it often happens that the little clams fall from the
supporting weed altogether, and reach the bottom. In order to
determine, if possible, how frequently this happened, I kept a
large mat of Hnteromorpha, covered with clams, floating in run-
ning sea water. Under the mass was spread some fine cloth. In
the course of a week, great numbers—perhaps a fourth of all those
attached—were found to have fallen from their support on to the
cloth, and these were of all sizes. Here they attach themselves,
wander about, and again attach, until, apparently tired of the
effort to find congenial surroundings, they remain inert, most of
them without byssal threads, for long periods of time.

84 INLAND FISHERIES.

MIGRATION TO THE MUD.

As one would naturally suppose, this period is a critical one for
the clam, as much so probably as any in its history, though the
creature has to contend with other great dangers also, which
threaten its existence both before and after it enters the mud.
The eel-grass on which the Hnteromorpha filaments grow most
abundantly in the localities examined is to be found in shallow
water, near the clam beds. In falling from their support, most of
the clams would probably find a resting place on the bottom, below
the lowest low tide mark. That this actually happens may be
easily demonstrated by taking a little of the mud in these localities
and washing it through a fine sieve. When this is done the small
clams are easily found. It is probably not possible for many of
these creatures to reach maturity in this position. I have dug
clams below what I should judge was the lowest low tide mark in
the salt pond at Wakefield, R. I. Ona recent visit to Essex, Mass.,
I was told by a few of the clam diggers that there were long-
necked clams in the bottom of the Essex River, which were always
covered by many feet of water. One or two of the diggers believed
these clams to be unlike the common long neck in some few
details of structure. I was unable to obtain any of the forms for
examination, and consequently do not know what this information
may be worth. Though it is possible that J/y~ may, in some
instances, be found in bottoms which are never exposed, it seems
to me altogether probable that such areas are not numerous.
Clam diggers very generally seem to know nothing of their
existence.

TI should conclude, then, that of the great numbers of small clams
which fall from the seaweed to the bottom below low tide mark,
few are able to reach a favorable position higher up on the beach,
and the great majority are destroyed. I have seldom found, in
such localities, individuals more than 6 or 7 millimeters in length.
While the majority may thus perish, we may well believe that a
few, on falling at certain times, are borne by tidal currents above

INLAND FISHERIES. 85

the low tide mark. They are to be found here burrowed into the
sand, or attached to the sides of stones, down close to the line
where the stone touches the mud. This occurs most often on
stones covered by rockweed (/’wews), and probably for the reason
that here the little clams find better protection from their most
destructive enemies, the young starfish. It is possible that some
of these small clams between the tide marks originally attached
themselves in this position, never having been fastened to objects
in the water below low tide mark.

This wholesale destruction of individuals below low water mark
is but another example of the tremendous struggle for life to which
sO many species of organisms are subjected in nature. Of the
millions of swimming larve that probably arise from one female
during a breeding season, few become attached to suitable objects,
the water currents carrying most of them away. Those which
succeed in fastening themselves are killed in vast numbers by very
small starfish ; and even after attaining a position in the sand and
mud of a favorable locality, the shifting of the sand, the crowding
of individuals, the decay of organic material in the water, or the
isolation of salt water in shallow arms of the sea, leads to the de-
struction of many. Considering these phases of the life-history
of the soft clam which I have thus far described, it seems that
artificial methods might be developed which should remove some
of the dangers to be found in nature, and hence lead to a greater
increase in the number of adults.

BURROWING INTO THE MUD.

The migration from the point of attachment having been ac-
complished, we are next concerned with the habit of burrowing
into the mud. In the adult clam the foot is reduced to a laterally
compressed, finlike projection from the anterior side of the visceral
mass, not extending down on to its ventral surface. It is with
great difficulty that the mature clam buries itself in the sand
after having been dug from its burrow. Clams from one to two

S6 INLAND FISHERIES.

inches in length will cover themselves gradually in the course of
from*half to three-quarters of an hour, but they reach the usual
depth of several inches only after a much longer period. Very
large clams out of their burrows seem to be entirely helpless. In
the young, the foot is relatively very much larger than in the
adult, and extends from the anterior side of the visceral mass,
just under the mouth, far back on its ventral side. This condition
of the foot is almost exactly like that to be found in such a clam
as the quahaug ( Venus mercenaria) in its mature state. J/ya has
probably descended from an ancestral form which possessed this
plowshare-shaped foot, its organ of locomotion being reduced to
its present form because it became less and less an organ of loco-
motion, and was used simply for digging downward into the sand.
We have a confirmation of this view in the structural peculiarities
of the foot in the very small J/ya, as described above.

In the young J/ya the foot is capable of great extension, and is
used not only in crawling over objects, but also in digging into
sand and mud. It is extremely interesting to notice that indi-
viduals but 14 millimeters long (I have not happened to observe
it in smaller forms), when placed upon sand, at once attempt to
cover themselves by thrusting and worming the sharp anterior
part of the foot into it. Unless the sand be extremely fine, clams
of this size are not able to thrust aside the grains sufficiently to
obtain a lodgment. Those measuring 2 or 3 millimeters in length
are sometimes able to cover themselves partially or wholly ; while
an individual 6 millimeters long can usually work its way beneath
the surface of any clam bed, and thus rest in comparative security.
All clams which I have observed, under 6 or 8 millimeters in
length, work their way downward only far enough to cover the
shell. None of them seem to be overly energetic, and many times,
after working long enough to raise the posterior end of the shell
into a vertical position, they give up the attempt to bury them-
selves, and remain in that attitude until toppled over by the water
currents. After having become completely covered they exhibit
a great deal of restlessness, and apparently often push out to the

INLAND FISHERIES. 87

surface again, as if dissatisfied with the surroundings, and, after
wandering about for a short distance, once more go down. ‘This
process I have known to be repeated, in an individual 6 milli-
meters in length, half a dozen times in the course of three days.
They seem to wander short distances—one or two inches only—
between the periods of descent, but I have noticed it in few cases,
and perhaps the wanderings on the surface of the bottom may at
times be more extensive. How large the clam is before it finally
digs into the bottom to remain permanently, I am not able to say.
I have frequently found lying on the surface empty shells at least
2 centimeters long which had been perforated by the oyster drill
( UVrosalpinx), which could only have made its attack when the
living clam was out of its burrow. Clams of this length, then,
apparently have periods of wandering, and it would be interesting
to determine, if it were possible, whether or not they would be able
to move up between the tide marks from some position below low
tide. When dug out of the bed, clams measuring 2 or 3 centimeters
in length are generally found to have gone down 12 or 15 centi-
meters (5 or 6 inches) from the surface, the extremely delicate and
filmy siphons of the small individual becoming relatively larger
and more muscular. There undoubtedly comes a period—probably
not far from this time—when the clam ceases to come to the sur-
face, and, except for some accident, remains forever buried, reach-
ing up to the water only by means of the siphon tubes. Evi-
dence of this we have in the fact that clams are frequently to be
found between rocks in such a position that it would be impossible
for them to move, having reached such a location when smaller.
Then, too, shells, especially the larger ones, are frequently dis-
torted and rendered asymmetrical by coming in contact, in growth,
with an unyielding object, such as a stone. The shape in such
cases conforms to the space in which movement is possible. This
same distortion of the shell may be noticed in other burrowing
lamellibranchs, like Petricola pholadiformis. In the case of this
latter form, and also in Pholas truncata, which are to be found
buried along the edges of salt marshes, the burrow is seen to be

88 INLAND FISHERIES.

surrounded by so dense a feltwork of roots from the marsh vege-
tation that it would seem entirely impossible that the adult animal
could remove itself. It is a mystery how the young could ever
force its way into such material.

FIXATION IN THE BURROW.

A peculiar habit, the utility of which is very evident, is the spin-
ning of the byssus by the small clam as soon as it has succeeded
in covering itself in the sand. As has just been stated, the small
individuals bury themselves, and again appear upon the surface,
and this is repeated several times. But whenever the creature
goes into the sand, it apparently at once proceeds to pour out the
secretion which forms the byssus thread, and attaches itself more or
less firmly by this means. Figure 3 represents a clam with a shell
2,4 millimeters long which has been removed from its burrow.
The single byssus thread (b) is seen to branch, the ends of the
branches being attached to three sand grains (s. g.). Actually the
number of sand grains and pebbles to which attachment is made
is usually greater than represented. The extremity of the thread
which is fastened to the foreign body is considerably widened, as
shown in the figure. The character of the thread is the same,
whether the creature is attached to several sand grains, or to a
single filament of /Hnteromorpha or to other bodies. Figure 2
represents a very small individual, 4; of a millimeter in length
(drawn on a larger scale than Figure 3), which was attached by
several branches of the byssus to one short seaweed filament.

In coming out of the burrow and moving to a new locality, the
byssus is cast off at the gland in the foot and left behind, and a
new one is constructed at the next descent. This is accomplished
in the space of a few minutes. Clams, from the smallest which
are able to cover themselves in the sand, to those at least 13 milli-
meters in length, exhibit this peculiar habit of forming a byssus
in the burrow. How much longer the byssal organ remains in
functional activity, and when it begins to atrophy, I have not
determined.

INLAND FISHERIES. 89

The utility of this habit is well illustrated in a circumstance
which recently came under my observation at the house-boat
laboratory, in the Kickemuit Narrows, belonging to the Rhode
Island Fish Commission. I had suspended in the water a box
filled with sand which I had taken from a neighboring clam bed.
In the sand I had sunken some glass dishes, about three inches
in depth, and had filled these also with sand. Here I had allowed
a number of small clams to burrow. On the 5th of August, the
region was visited by a terrific wind storm, and everything con-
nected with the house-boat was pitched about furiously for more
than an hour. Upon examining the glass dishes afterward, I
found that all the finer.sand had been washed out of them, and
but a few small pebbles remained. On these, however, several
clams remained firmly attached, and this had prevented their
being washed away. Where the waves were breaking on the
beach, the same thing was probably happening. Small clams
near the surface in their shallow burrows were probably washed
out in great numbers. Many of them were then thrown up per-
haps, and left to perish. I have been informed by clam diggers
that during violent storms, when the tide is high, vast numbers of
small clams are sometimes thrown up on the beach, and left high
and dry to perish by the retreating tide. But while, under such
conditions, many meet destruction, the possession of a byssus
which is attached to pebbles and sand grains many times heavier
than the clam itself must be of immense advantage in tending to
keep the animal from floating off from the bottom.

THE BYSSUS THREAD.

Reference has been made to the relatively large, plowshare
shaped foot which extends backward over the ventral side of the
visceral mass. The byssus organ, in which the secretion for the
thread is produced, is located in the usual position on the ventral
side of the foot, and far toward its posterior extremity. Its
position is indicated in Figures 2 and 3, in which, however, the
foot is represented as being projected forward to a considerable

12

90 INLAND FISHERIES.

extent, carrying the byssus organ outside the shell. The byssus
itself appears to be made of a single delicate transparent thread
(b) sometimes bearing a number of side branches, the end of each
branch forming a point of attachment. I have not had the time
at my disposal to determine the manner in which attachment is
actually accomplished, but it does not seem probable that it is
effected exactly as in J/yti/us (mussel) and the young Pecten (scol-
lop), in which forms a groove on the ventral side of the foot leads
from the opening of the byssus organ out nearly to the tip. This
groove is converted into a closed tube, and the fluid secretion of
the gland is poured out intoit. At the tip of the foot it is allowed
to come in contact with the body to which attachment is to be
made, and adheres tightly. The groove of the foot is now slowly
opened, and the secretion, upon coming in contact with the water,
is converted into a tough fibre. J/yti/us forms a number of threads
in this way, which extend out in various directions, and all unite
near the opening of the byssus gland.

In the clam, an attachment having been made at a few points,
the thread may be greatly elongated by pouring the secretion out
directly into the water where it at once hardens, much as the
secretion from the spinning gland of a spider hardens, after its
extension, by coming in contact with the air. By fastening a
byssus thread from a clam 6 millimeters (nearly + of an inch) in
length to the point of a needle, I have been able, by exerting a
gentle pull on the thread, to draw it out to a length of 5 centi-
meters (about 2 inches) in the space of about fifteen minutes. The
secretion was poured out at intervals, but not at any time with
much rapidity. The thread thus obtained appeared to be single,
was very elastic, and was possessed of some degree of toughness.

POINTS BEARING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS OF
CLAM CULTURE.

The falling off in the supply of clams in Rhode Island has for
some time been regarded with serious concern, and it is still

INLAND FISHERIES. 9]

rapidly diminishing. Clam diggers everywhere on Narragansett
Bay whom I have met during the present summer (1898) have
given the most discouraging reports. In some localities, where
clams were abundant four or five year ago, almost none can now
be attained. The culture of oysters as carried on in Narragansett
Bay, Long Island Sound, and elsewhere on the New England
coast, has been attended by many great and serious difficulties,
and yet it has become, in the hands of enterprising men, a very
profitable business. In localities where it has been impossible to
obtain a set of “spat,” where the beaches between tide marks
may not be used, where an annual rental of $10.00 an acre must
be paid, where the deadly starfish abounds, and where oysters
are purchased abroad and shipped great distances simply to be
spread upon the bottom and allowed to grow to a marketable
size, the business pays and is thriving. One or two abortive
attempts have been made to develop methods of clam culture in
this country, but for one reason or another—principally because
of a lack of protection by law from the depredations of clam
diggers—they have been discontinued. From the account of the
life-history of the long necked clam given above, it would appear
that it may be possible to develop culture methods which should
be productive of much greater results than those obtained by
oyster culture. Two or three points, brought out in the above
account, as well as some facts not yet mentioned, may well be
noticed as bearing on the solution of this economic problem.

(a) The habit of attachment.

Probably in many localities it would be possible, as it is in the—
Kickemuit “River,” to obtain great numbers of young clams in
the early summer, by simply gathering the floating seaweed to
which they are attached, and transporting them to localities where
the conditions should be most favorable for their further develop-
ment.

Though I have no facts bearing on this point, it may be possible
to bring about an artificial fertilization of the ova of the clam in

92 INLAND FISHERIES.

such a way that the swimming larvee might be induced to attach
to some suitable object, which should be convenient to handle,
when it is suspended in the water containing the embryos. This
has been accomplished with some degree of success in the oyster,
where artificial fertilization may be brought about with very great
ease. There are some lamellibranchs, however, in which it seems
to be absolutely impossible to induce this union of the sexual cells,
and this may be the case with the clam. Even if it were so,
sexually mature individuals might be placed in enclosed localities,
where large numbers of the young could be collected.

(b) ZLenacity of life.

While the adult J/ya dies easily in aquaria, if not occasionally
allowed to lie exposed, or if the water becomes foul, the small
clams are very tenacious of life. Early in July, 1898, a bucket full
of Enteromorpha, covered with clams, was taken from the water
at the Kickemuit Narrows at eleven o'clock in the forenoon of a
hot day. This was carried to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, arriv-
ing at four in the afternoon, the water in the bucket having become
very warm. These clams were transferred directly to the much
colder sea water in the hatching house of the U. S. Fish Com-
mission station. None of them seemed to be in the least injured
by their rough treatment, and they lived in very slowly running
water for over a month, when they were removed. In this ease,
no care having been taken to make the conditions favorable, they
did not seem to thrive, and certain individuals, measured from
time to time, showed little, or in some cases, no growth. However,
some of these individuals, after remaining a month in the hatch-
ing house, were placed in small glass dishes which were allowed
to stand until the water had nearly evaporated, and a zooglea
mass had formed on top of it, and they remained alive under these
conditions for many days. These facts seem to indicate that the
small clams are very hardy, and, if desirable in culture work,
could easily be transported without injury.

INLAND FISHERIES. 93

(c) Kyfect of waters of differing degrees of salinity.

In the transfer of clams just mentioned, it may be noticed that
the salinity of the water in the two localities is somewhat different.
In the Kickemuit the average salinity is about 1.019; at Woods
Hole, about 1.024. As is the case with oysters, clams will live in
water which is brackish. At the salt pond near Wakefield, R. L.,
for instance, the salinity J am informed by Dr. G. W. Field is
from 1.0049 to 1.0058 on the surface, and quite a number of clams
are to be found along its shores ; the density at the bottom may be
much greater than at the surface, however.

(d) Enemies.

One important fact which must be considered in developing any
method of clam culture is that the clam in its attached condition,
and when exposed on the surface of a bed, is destroyed in vast
numbers in many localities by one or two natural enemies. The
worst of these is that curse of the oyster culturist in northern
waters—the starfish. Many extremely interesting and important
observations in regard to this creature’s habits of destroying
clams and other forms have been made-during the past summer by
Dr. A. D. Mead. These observations show that the starfish, even
when minute in size, is terribly destructive to the young clams.

Another enemy of the young clam is the oyster drill ( Uvosalpinz).
I have taken many clam shells from the surface sand of the
bottoms, which exhibited the clam perforation filed by this creature.
Shells so pierced were from 3 millimeters to 2 centimeters or more
in length. As I have never found drilled shells in any great num-
bers in one locality, it would appear that the clam is not seriously
menaced by this foe. The adult clam, deep below the surface, is
probably not disturbed by other enemies than man.

SUMMARY.

To recapitulate the principal points established in the above
description of the life-history of the clam, beginning after the
swimming larval condition: The breeding season in Narragansett

Q4 INLAND FISHERIES.

and Buzzards Bay probably extends through May and June into
July. Beginning my observations late in June, I have not been
able to determine its limits with any certainty. After the free
swimming larval period, the young clams attach themselves by
means of a byssus, which is produced from a byssus gland in the
foot. Attachment is made to various bodies in the water, but
chiefly to the filaments of A’nteromorpha, a green seaweed grow-
ing near the shores. Clams may be found so attached from the
latter part of June to the first of August. They are to be found
in certain localities in immense numbers. The attached individuals
measured varied in length from ;‘s millimeter to 7 millimeters.
The shape of the smaller individuals differs greatly from that of
the adult in being much more rounded, with umbones widely
separated laterally. As they become older, they gradually assume
the outline which characterizes the adult, but in so doing the
umbones come to be situated relatively far forward and then
again move back toward the middle of the shell on the dorsal side.
This shifting in the relatative position of the umbo is due toa
more rapid growth of the posterior, and subsequently of the
anterior ends of the shell.

In the smallest forms examined, the mantle folds were in con-
erescence ventrally. The foot is relatively greatly developed,
extending over the entire ventral side of the visceral mass. The
siphons have the general characters of those in the adult, but they
are filmy, and may be retracted within the shell with very great
quickness.

Clams of all sizes are apparently freeing themselves from their
attachment on the weed. The byssus is cast off, and the creature
climbs about from one filament to another by means of the foot,
sometimes reattaching, sometimes falling free from the weed to
the bottom. In the sand, unless it be excessively fine, individuals
less than 2 millimeters in length are rarely able to cover them-
selves, though they always make the attempt. Those 5 or 6
millimeters long are apparently able to burrow beneath the surface
of any clam shore.

INLAND FISHERIES. 95

Having attained a lodgment in the sand, all clams observed at
once proceed to form a byssus thread, which is attached to sand
grains and pebbles. This tends to secure the creature, so that,
even if water currents or the action of the waves should dislodge
it from its burrow, it would not be carried so far from its original
position as would otherwise occur.

Of their own accord these clams frequently leave the first
burrow, wander about, and form another, some individuals repeat-
ing the process many times. A time finally comes when they dig
into the sand to remain permanently.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES.

Figure 1. Mya arenaria. Ten camera outlines of shells varying
in length from +o of a millimeter to 74 millimeters. They are
intended to illustrate the change from a rounded outline in
the smaller individuals to the elongated condition of older
forms. In this there is at first a more rapid posterior, and
subsequently a more rapid anterior, growth of the shell, which
causes the relative position of the umbo to shift forward, and
then back to a position midway between the two extremities
of the shell.

FieurE 2. Mya arenaria. An individual with shell 75 of a milli-
meter in length. Removed from attachment to seaweed
(Enteromorpha) and showing the single, branched byssus
thread (b) arising from a byssus gland at the base of the foot
(f). The filmy siphons (s) are shown protracted.

Ficure 3. Mya arenaria. Form 2;%5 millimeters long (drawn on
smaller scale than Figure 2), removed from burrow in sand,
and showing attachment of byssus (b) to numerous sand

grains (s. g.).

96 INLAND FISHERIES.
X. The preparation of «a relief map of Narragansett Bay.

It is self-evident that a thorough knowledge of the habits and
distribution of fish in the waters of the Bay requires a knowledge
of the territory itself, and particularly of the configuration of the
floor of the Bay and of the sedimentary deposits. The Com-
mission, therefore, has prepared a large relief map, which gives an
excellent idea of the distribution of fresh, brackish, and sea water,
and enables one to determine at a glance the location of the fish
traps, their relation to the channels, and the various shallow water
tracts already available or adapted to successful clam and oyster
culture.

XI. An examination of the feasibility and practicability of
artificial lobster culture.

That the lobster industry of Rhode Island is rapidly waning
needs no argument. The incessant unrestricted capture of the
adults and young, the annual destruction of many millions of eggs
by indifferent fishermen, and the inroads made upon the native
supply by those not inhabitants of the State, have so reduced the
annual catch that the industry is no longer profitable, and the
lobsters themselves are sold at prices that make them prohibitive
to many as a regular article of food.

The artificial hatching of the lobsters’ eggs is an extremely
simple matter, and has been carried on for many years in
Norway, New Foundland, Gloucester, and Woods Hole; but the
young (Plate A, Fig. 1) when liberated are in no condition to
care for themselves. They swim or float about in the ocean,
their bright colors rendering them attractive to predatory fishes.
Currents carry them far from their native grounds, and it is
probably safe to say that scarcely one in a thousand finally reaches
a matured condition. It is evident then that the mere planting of
lobster fry, can have little, if any, effect towards rehabilitating the
lobster industry. .

The helpless lobster fry swim about in the water for a period of

INLAND FISHERIES. 97

about four weeks, during which they pass through the stages
represented in Figs. 1, 2,3, before settling to the bottom to assume
the shape and retiring habits of the adult (Plate B, Fig. 4). If it
were possible to carry the young lobster through this free-swim-
ming period of their youth, there is every reason to believe that
the young so reared would, on liberation, seek hiding places in
the crevices of rocks, under shells, etc., and the period of greatest
mortality would thus be overcome.

Efforts repeatedly have been made to brood the young, but the
animals are so delicate, and at the same time so voracious, that
it is extremely difficult to keep them alive in any of the more
ordinary forms of hatching apparatus. One of the Commissioners,
during the past spring, prepared several large “fish-cars ” (about
sixteen feet in length, six feet in width, and five feet in height),
with fine wire mesh, the holes of which were sufficiently large to
enable many small animals to enter as food, but so small that the
young lobsters could not escape. The bottoms of some of these
cars were covered with gravel and pieces of growing seaweed, and
everything was done that could be done to make a natural en-
vironment.

The experiment, so far as the young lobsters were concerned,
was a failure. The young of rapidly growing predatory animals
worked themselves into the car and preyed upon the helpless
larve. The sea water, laden with dirt and sediment, on reaching
the more quiet water of the interior of the car, simply precipitated
its refuse and left a quantity of decaying organic matter to poison
the water.

The next experiment consisted in the placing of a large cheese-
cloth cage inside of one of the fish-cars. The mesh of the car
thus protected the finer mesh of the cheese-cloth frame, but the
young lobsters did not flourish. There was not sufficient motion
to the water to keep them floating ; their feet became entangled in
the fibres of the cloth, and they preyed sadly upon each other.

The breeding season of the lobster is not sufticiently extended

to enable one to experiment along a large number of lines, but
13

98 INLAND FISHERIES.

before the close of the season the results obtained were more en-
couraging. Several lobsters were actually raised to that stage
when the characters of the adult are assumed—the fourth molt,
Figure 4. These young lobsters were raised in a car of somewhat
novel design, but so arranged that the water after flowing into the
car has a considerable amount of motion. The fry were fed upon
shreded codfish, which contains a sufficient amount of air to cause
it to descend only slowly through the water, and it thus be-
comes an attractive object to the young animals, which quickly
follow any moving object. At times minute pieces of fresh fish
were greedily devoured, and the writer has repeatedly seen the
young animals follow the scent, which has been left in the sea
water by a piece of slowly descending fish, until several pounced
upon the object when it finally reached the bottom of the
aquarium.

The results of the season’s experiments are such as to warrant
a continuation of the work. We know perfectly well that many
others have failed in doing what we attempt, but until we are
thoroughly convinced that the young lobster cannot be “ brooded,”
we propose to continue our work.

XII. The extension of the commercial Jisheries of the State through
the discovery of new localities for food fish.

The extension of the commercial fisheries of the State through
the discovery of new localities for food fish at first impression
would appear absurd in a locality so well known as are the waters
of Rhode Island, but only a short distance to the south (a distance
that can readily be covered by an ordinary sailing vessel in a
single night) are the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, and a mem-
ber of the State Commission has conducted several expeditions,
in the United States Fish Commission Schooner “ Grampus,” to
the edge of the continental plateau, for the purpose of determin-
ing the presence of a valuable food fish discovered there some
years ago, but since supposed to have become extinct. These

Plate A.

Fig. 1. Larval lobster at time of hatching—enlarged fifteen times.
(From F. H. Herrick).

Fic. 2. Larval lobster after first molt—enlarged fifteen times.
(From F. H, Herrick).

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Plate B.

Fie. 3. Larval lobster after second molt—enlarged eleven times.
(From FF. H. Herrick).

Fie. 4. Young lobster after third molt—enlarged five times.
(From FH. Herrick).

INLAND FISHERIES. 99

expeditions have resulted in the capture of large numbers of tile-
fish, and the definite location of a fishing ground which may de-
velop an industry of great importance. The exact location of this
tile-fish ground is indicated on an accompanying chart.

As is well known, a cold Arctic current flows westward between
our coast and the Gulf Stream, and it is in this colder and shallow
water that the cod and haddock fisheries are largely carried on.
The Gulf Stream as it approaches the north is deflected from our
shores by this Arctic current, and its deeper waters are also
deflected by the steep bank of the continental plateau. The
bottom in this neighborhood drops off very rapidly to a great
depth, where the water becomes excessively cold. There is thus
left on the upper edge of this bank a band of water, brought by
the Gulf Stream from the south, which is both very much warmer
than the shallow water lying immediately on the north and the
deeper water lying on the south. It is in this narrow band of the
sea bottom that the tile-fish, a tropical animal, finds an abundance
of food, and it occurs in great numbers.

The following is a brief history of a fish which promises to
become of great economic importance to our State.

ON THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE TILE-FISH.*
(Lopholatilus chameleonticeps.)

During March and April, 1882, the presence on the surface of
the ocean of large numbers of dead tile-fish gave rise to consider-
able discussion in scientific journals, and frequent allusions have
since been made in text-books, and elsewhere, to this phenomenon
as illustrating the elimination of a species in recent times by
purely natural agents. The reappearance of the fish in abundance
in its original locality is, therefore, of considerable biological
interest.

*[ Reprinted from Science#, NV. S., Vol. VILL, No. 200, Pages 576-578, October
28, 1898. |

100 INLAND FISHERIES.

‘

The history of the discovery, the “extinction” and reappear-
ance is as follows:

In May, 1879, Captain Kirby, of Gloucester, caught a great
number of tile-fish off the southern coast of Nantucket, in water
about 150 fathoms in depth. Specimens were sent to Washington,
and the species was described by Goode and Bean in the “ Pro-
ceedings of the U.S. National Museum” for that year. In July,
Captain Dempsey, also of Gloucester, found several specimens in
practically the same locality.

In 1880 Professor Baird sent the “ Mary Potter” to search for
the fish, but the expedition, on account of uncommonly severe
weather, was not successful. The “ Fish Hawk,” however, while
exploring along the continental plateau, caught several speci-
mens.

In 1881 the “Fish Hawk,” continuing deep-sea work along the
southern shore of New England, caught a large number, and
Professor Baird felt confident that he was about to establish a new
industry.

In March and April, 1882, vessels entering New York and other
Atlantic ports reported that they had passed through countless
numbers of dead fish while crossing the northern edge of the Gulf
Stream. Investigation proved that these were tile-fish, and that
they appeared on the surface of the water for an extent of 170
miles in length and 25 miles in width. A conservative estimate,
made by Captain J. W. Collins, placed their number at upwards of
1,438,720,000. Allowing ten pounds to each fish, there would be
288 pounds of fish for every man, woman, and child then in the
United States. In September, Professor Baird chartered the
“ Josie Reeves” and sent her to the tile-fish grounds, that he
might ascertain to what extent the species had been depleted ;
but the vessel returned without having found a single individual.

Tn 1883 the “ Albatross” made further search, but without suc-
cess.

Tn 1884 the “ Albatross” made a more careful investigation, but

again without success.

Tile-fish. (Lopholatilus chameleonticeps).

it

a

INLAND FISHERIES. 101

In 1885 the same vessel searched from Newfoundland to the
Gulf of Mexico without discovering the least trace of the tile-fish,
though Munda, a species of crustacean upon which the fish was
known to have fed, was found in abundance.

In 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, and 1891 nothing new was
learned.

In 1892, at the suggestion of Professor Wm. Libby, Commissioner
McDonald fitted out the “ Grampus,” and on August 5th trawls
were set on the old tile-fish ground. No fish were taken. On the
6th the trawls were set again, and one specimen, weighing seven
pounds, was brought to the surface. This was the first specimen
that had been seen since the mortality of 1882, ten years before.
The “Grampus” continued her work, and in about two weeks
caught a second specimen, which weighed thirteen pounds. On
September 17th one specimen was caught, and on September 18th
three specimens were taken. No more were caught until October
8th, when two were found off the Delaware coast. Thus, in 1892,
a search of two months yielded only eight specimens.

In 1893 the “Grampus” resumed the search throughout the
months of July, August, and September and caught scattering
specimens.

During 1884, 1895, and 1896 no additional information relative
to the fish was secured.

On February 8, 1897, the Schooner “Mabel Kenniston,” of
Gloucester, was overtaken by a gale on George’s Bank and blown
120 miles toward the southwest. After the gale, trawls were set
in sixty-five fathoms of water, and thirty tile-fish were caught.
These weighed from six to fifteen pounds each. They were landed
at Gloucester on February 16th.

On August 12th, of the present year, the ‘“Grampus” left Woods
Holl with a small party of scientific men, and sailed to a point
about seventy miles south of No Man’s Land. At the first set of
the trawl, eight beautiful tile-fish were taken. The boat, in-
sufficiently equipped with lines and bait, at once returned to the
“station.” New trawls were purchased and on August 30th, ice

102 INLAND FISHERIES.

and bait having been taken on at Newport, she again sailed south.
The following morning, when the boat was only sixty miles from
Block Island, the trawls were set. The first haul yielded seven
fish; the second, forty-seven, and the third, nineteen. On the
following day seventy-eight fish were taken, many of them of large
size, and the vessel, now bearing 1,000 pounds, headed for Montauk
Point, where the fish were given to the soldiers at Camp Wikoff.

When one considers that the trawls were short, provided with
only a few hooks and tended by only one dory, it would seem that
the fish are sufficiently abundant for an ordinarily equipped fish-
ing-smack, with its miles of trawls, to secure a full fare in a very
short time.

The tile-fish, since the mortality of 1882, has been taken only
along the edge of the continental plateau, in water near the one-
hundred fathom line, from points south of No Man’s Land, Block
Island and the eastern portion of Long Island. The “range” of
the species, as at present determined, is restricted to a tract of the
sea bottom about one hundred and fifty miles in length, and ten
to fifteen miles in width. The “stations,” however, are few, and
further investigation may result in a considerable extension of the
range. The fish that have been caught during the past summer
differ in respect to size from those that were caught before the
mortality ; for, while many are large, weighing fully twenty pounds,
there are also many small immature individuals which often weigh
but a pound or two. This percentage of immature fish would seem
to indicate that the present environmental conditions are favor-
able, and that the species has become re-established.

H. C. Bumpvs,
Director of Biological Laboratory.
U.S. F. C. Station, Woops Hott.
Norr.—The “Grampus” again visited the tile-fish grounds the
latter part of September, returning to Woods Holl on October 2,

with over two hundred fish, weighing upwards of 3,000 pounds.
This last catch was made between the meridians of 69 and 70, a

\ooofath curve

\ooor

Chart showing the location of the tile-fish grounds.
The stations at which tile-fish were actually taken are
represented by heavy black dots connected with lines,
The area of the sea bottom that is probably inhabited
by the tile-fish is stippled.

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INLAND FISHERIES. 103

tract that has not heretofore been known to be occupied by the
fish, and indicates an eastern extension of the range of about
twenty-five miles.—H. C. B.

XI. = Linprovements in the methods of preparing fish for ship-

ment.

The value of the fish caught along the shores of the State does
not alone lie in their use as food by people residing within the
limits of Rhode Island, but their exportation brings a large in-
come to those interested in the industry.

A most casual examination of the methods of packing and ship-
ping fish, when compared with the methods of packing and ship-
ping poultry, meat, ete., will show that, whereas the methods of
shipping the latter have materially improved within the last few
years, the packing and shipping of fish is at the present time both
erude and wasteful. The ice is in itself expensive; it occupies
room that might be used for other purposes; its weight gives rise
to excessive express charges ; and when melted the fish are soaked
in the impure fluid, and rendered unpleasant to handle, uninvit-
ing to witness, and subject to rapid decay.

Your Commission therefore has thought it advisable to examine
more carefully into the present methods of packing and shipping
fish, with the purpose of devising, if possible, some means which
will eliminate many of the present unpleasant features. Mr. Ralph
W. Tower was engaged to do this work, and his report is as
follows:

SPECIAL REPORT

METHODS OF PREPARING FISH FOR MARKET.

BY PROFESSOR RALPH W. TOWER.

It is a well known fact that ice, as it is used in the ordinary
methods of fish packing, is more or less of a failure. It spoils the
freshness, flavor, and firmness of the fish; but, more than this, the
moisture of the melting ice favors the development of putrefactive
bacteria and hastens decay. The investigations which I have
made at the suggestion of the Commission have been planned for
the purpose of ascertaining just how far fish are spoiled by care-
lessness, filth, and bad packing, and to devise methods of mitigat-
ing these evils.

Decay is nothing but the result of the activities of certain
putrefactive bacteria. If the fish are so handled that the activity
of the bacteria is restricted, the process of decay will be retarded ;
but if the fish are handled in such a way as to encourage the
ravages of the bacteria, the process of decay will progress much
more rapidly. The pressing of fish by close packing softens the
muscles and renders the flesh more susceptible to invasion by
putrefactive bacteria. Another item of no small importance is
the packing of fish in foul barrels and unclean boxes, the con-
tamination from which is conveyed to the several fish by the melt-
ing ice.

The animals used for the following experiments were squeteague,

INLAND FISHERIES. 105

bonito, bluefish, and tile-fish. The fish taken from the traps of
the United States Fish Commission furnished an unlimited supply
of material. During the months of July and August, the most
abundant fish were squeteague. The flesh of these fish is soft,
very susceptible to invasion by putrefactive bacteria, and difficult
to preserve by the ordinary methods of packing. The flesh of the
bonito is firm and hard, and is much easier to preserve.

I. The first experiments were made with squeteague, with a
view to determining the influence of ordinary summer tempera-
tures, and of different methods of killing and handling, upon
putrefaction. Forty-eight fish were hung up, by a wire passing
through the eyes. Twenty-four had the intestines removed, and
the fish were drained immediately after capture. The remaining
twenty-four were not opened. The experiment was made in a
place that was protected from the sun, but to which the air had
free access. The weather was humid and foggy, the temperature
being 68° at 8 A. M., 72° at M., and 71° at 5 P.M. After remain-
ing twenty-four hours, the fish were examined: those which were
unopened were putrid and emitted an almost unbearable odor.
The fish whose intestines had been removed were in a better con-
dition, and the abdominal cavity was much fresher. Putrefaction
had not penetrated so deeply into the flesh, and these fish might
even have been used for food. The experiment shows that when
the intestines are not removed decomposition takes place much
more rapidly, and that the immediate removal of the viscera delays
decomposition. |

II. The next experiment was made with twenty-four squeteague
and six bonitos. After the removal of the intestines as above the
fish were laid on their sides, but not in contact with one another.
The day was humid and foggy, the temperature ranging from 69°
at.8 A. M., and 72° at 12 M., to 71° at 5 P. M. At the end of
twenty-four hours the fish were examined. The squeteague were
badly decomposed on the side next the wood. On the other side
decomposition had not proceeded so far, although it had pro-

gressed to a considerable extent. In the body cavity decom-
14

106 INLAND FISHERIES.

position was evident, but it had not advanced very far. The
bonitos were in much better condition, although an odor of putre-
faction was noticeable, and the side on which they lay was most
affected. The walls of the body cavity were also in better condi-
tion than those of the squeteague. The experiment showed that
free circulation of air around fish retards decay.

III. After the intestines had been removed from twelve sque-
teague, the fish were hung up by their tails, and allowed to remain
twenty-four hours. The weather was cloudy, and the temperatures
were as follows: 8 A. M., 71°; 12 M., 74°; and 5 P. M., 73% “he
atmospheric conditions were less favorable for the preservation of
fish than on the previous day, yet at the end of twenty-four hours
the fish were found to be in much better condition than in any of
the preceding experiments. There was a decided odor of putre-
faction on the outside of the fish, but the abdominal cavity and
the muscles showed only a little evidence of decomposition. The
fish were in as good condition as many fish found in our markets
and generally sold as “fresh.” The experiment shows that early
cleaning, thorough draining, and free circulation of air retard
putrefactive processes.

IV. Twenty-four living squeteague were decapitated, and their
intestines removed. The intestines were removed from another
series of equal number, but these animals were not decapitated.
The forty-eight fish were then packed in a box, in close contact
with one another. The weather and temperature conditions were
practically the same as on the preceding day. At the end of
twenty-four hours, the fish were examined. They were very soft
and had a bad odor, although those which had been decapitated
were in a better state of preservation than the others; all were
unfit for use. The fish on the top layer, where they were exposed
to the air, were in early, while those at the bottom, away from the
air, and moistened by the drip from those above, were in advanced,
stages of decomposition.—The experiment indicates the import-
ance of thorough drainage of the flesh by early decapitation.

In all the above experiments the fish were taken from the fish-

INLAND FISHERIES. 107

trap alive, and were immediately prepared to meet the conditions
of the various experiments. By this means no decomposition
could have taken place before the experiments were begun. The
fish were handled as carefully as practicable, so as to prevent
bruising or rupture of the muscular tissue. Cleanliness was as-
sured through copious washing with sea water.

To recapitulate, the experiments show that putrefaction takes
place most rapidly in fish from which the intestines have not been
removed ; that moisture augments the process of decay. Free access
of air tends to arrest, rather than promote, putrefaction, and drain-
age of the blood system is an important means of preventing
decay. If the head and intestines are both removed, and the fish
is suspended by the tail so that the blood, which is a most favor-
able medium for the growth of putrefactive bacteria, is drained
from the entire body, the fish will remain sweet for a considerable
time without the use of ice.

In none of the above preparations were putrefactive bacteria
prevented from entering the flesh, or hindered in their action after
entrance. Consequently further investigations were made to at-
tempt to dress and pack the fish in such a manner that the bacte-
rial invasion could be delayed at least for a few hours. To do this
the fish were washed with a solution which would be unfavorable
to the growth of bacteria, and at the same time not in any way
injurious to the flesh. It is to be noted, however, that the fish are
not injected with the solution, nor are they in any sense preserved
in it.

Various solutions were tried, and, with one exception, without
success. In every case the control experiments were made on fish
taken at the same time, but not subjected to special treatment :

I. The first experiment was with a 0.1 per cent. solution of
salicylic acid in sea water. Twenty-four squeteague, taken alive
from the nets, were carefully dressed, washed with this solution,
packed in a box, and allowed to remain for twenty-four hours.
The temperature ranged from 73° to 76°. When examined the
next morning, there was a perceptible odor of putrefaction ; the

108 INLAND FISHERIES.

fish were soft and unfit for market. The control fish were not
much worse. Experiments were subsequently made with the
same solution, but none was successful.

Il. The next preparation experimented with was a 10 per
cent. solution of potassium nitrate. Eighteen squeteague, cleaned
immediately after being taken from the nets, were decapitated
and thoroughly washed with this solution, and packed close to-
gether in a box. During the next twenty-four hours the weather
was foggy, and the temperature ranged from 73° to 74°, at the end
of which time decomposition had advanced to such a stage that
the fish were totally unfit for market. There was no apprecia-
ble difference between the fish subjected to the potassium nitrate
and those of the control experiment. Six more trials were made
with this solution, but always with the same results.

Ill. A 5 per cent. solution of formalin was next used, but, as
might have been predicted, the fish did not keep, and they were
as bad at the end of twenty-four hours as those of the control.

TV. The next, and most successful, experiment was made with
a 3 per cent. solution of boric acid (B, O,;) in sea water. Two
dozen squeteague were dressed immediately after being caught.
Some were decapitated, and others were packed with head and
gills attached. All were then merely washed in the above solution,
and then closely packed in a box. The weather was foggy and
cloudy. The temperature ranged from 74° to 83°. When ex-
amined, twenty-four hours later, the fish were found to have kept
well. There was no odor, and decomposition had evidently not
begun. The flesh was hard and firm, the eyes were clear, and in
fact one of the fish was declared, by a native fisherman, to have
been taken from the water that very morning, and he was not
readily convinced that it had been kept without ice for twenty-four
hours. One of these squeteague was baked and served on my
own table, and was pronounced excellent. It is needless to say
that the control fish were in advanced stages of putrefaction, and
wholly unsuitable for food.

In these experiments with boraciec acid, the fish were in no sense

INLAND FISHERIES. 109

“ embalmed,” or even preserved. The walls of the adominal
cavity, after the removal of the viscera, were simply washed with
a sponge that had been dipped in the solution. The success of
the experiment is of course largely dependent upon the ¢mmediate
removal of the viscera after the capture of the fish; the careful
handling of the fish, both before and after evisceration; the
thoroughness with which the walls of the abdomen are washed ;
and the care with which the fish are packed. The use of boric
acid will not prove satisfactory if fish are first thrown about, walked
upon, slovenly eviscerated, washed in the sterilizing fluid, and then
pitched into barrels. Those who prefer to abuse fish in this way
will do well to stand by the older and more expensive methods,
use ice, and complain of the market.

Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, one of the largest wholesale dealers
in New York, has said, “As an example of the increased returns
to the shippers from careful handling, I call attention to the fact
that certain shipments of shad, going to the New York market
from North Carolina, bring from 25 per cent. to 40 per cent. more
than other shad from the same locality.”

“What I wish to impress upon the shippers and fishermen is,
that for every dollar invested in labor and ice in packing the fish
they will receive ten dollars in return.”

Twenty more experiments were made with the same solution.
Some of the animals were decapitated and others were not, but
the swim-bladders and kidneys were removed from all. If the
gills were thoroughly washed in the solution, it was found that
even fish with the head attached kept as well as those which
were decapitated. Nevertheless, in fish treated with boric acid, it
is in the gills that putrefaction first shows itself.

A bushel basket full of squeteague prepared in this way was
put on the deck of the U.S. F. C. 8. Grampus, on the morning of
August 12, where they remained exposed to the sun throughout
the day. The next morning, when they were cut up for bait, they
showed no sign of decomposition. On another trip, a catch of
tile-fish weighing 1,000 pounds was washed in the solution. The

110 INLAND FISHERIES.

fish were then packed in ice, where they remained for two weeks.
When unpacked they were in a perfectly fresh condition.

It is evident, then, that this solution retards the initial stages of
putrefaction, even at summer temperatures, and for a sufficient
time for the fish to arrive at the markets, where they may be
iced and kept indefinitely. The solution of boric acid thus used
is not a preservative, and it is not intended as such, but, like soap,
is an agent of cleanliness. As the fish are simply sponged over,
the amount of the fluid that remains on a single fish is incon-
siderable, and careful analysis fails to show more than the least
trace in the flesh. Moreover, Chittenden and Gies have shown
that boric acid given in doses, even up to 3 gm. per day, has no
effect upon proteid metabolism, or on the nutrition of the body ;
that it is not cumulative, but is quickly eliminated from the system ;
and that it produces no renal complications. Its employment,
therefore, as above recommended, can have no injurious effect on
the consumer.

In preventing the growth of the micro-organisms which cause
putrefaction we also eliminate the cause of ptomaine formation.
Though some of the ptomaines are exceedingly poisonous, this is
not characteristic of all, and it can be safely stated that the greater
number of those that have been isolated are of a non-poisonous
nature. The kind of ptomain that is formed depends upon the sort
of micro-organism which produces it, the character of the material
acted upon, and the circumstances under which putrefaction takes
place. As the ptomaines are only transition products in the process
of putrefaction—mere temporary stages in the great process of de-
composition by which the complex organic molecule is trans-
formed into the simple inorganic state—it is evident that the kind
of ptomain present in putrid fish is dependent upon the stage of
putrefaction. The ptomaines formed when the putrefaction takes
place in free atmosphere will also be different from those resulting
from putrefaction where atmosphere is excluded. At the present
time almost any illness caused from infected food is generally
spoken of as being due to “ ptomain poisoning.” In the majority

INLAND FISHERIES. ae

of cases, however, the poisonous bacterial products are not basic,
although their true chemical structure is not understood.

The researches of Meisener Rosenbach, G. Hauser, F. John J.
von Todor, and others, have shown that the blood and flesh of
healthy animals is entirely free from bacteria. But the contents
of the digestive organs are rich in Schizomycetes. (Popoff has
shown that the digestive canal of a healthy new-born animal is, at
the moment of birth, free from bacteria. These, however, subse-
quently obtain access, principally in the food, and the contents of
the bowels become extremely rich in microbes.)

If aslaughtered animal is left without:being disemboweled, these
bacteria will make their way through the capillary vessels of the
intestinal villi into the arterioles, the alkaline contents of which
(rich in albumen) are especially favorable to these acidly putre-
factive bacteria, so that the entire carcass quickly begins to
undergo decomposition. This early decay may be prevented by
the immediate removal of the entire alimentary canal, from cesoph-
agus to rectum, and, if this precaution be taken, the flesh will for
a time remain free from putrefactive bacteria. If putrefaction
afterwards sets in, it is due to the bacteria from external sources
obtaining access to the flesh.

The gradual penetration by way of the blood vessels into the
interior of the flesh has been studied by Trombetta and Gartner.
Gartner found them only in the external layers of meat three days
old ; but at the end of seven days they had penetrated 2 ¢. ¢. below
the surface. It is, however, probable that the flesh of fish is not
so resistant to the penetration of bacteria. The sources of this
bacterial infection cannot be entirely removed, but they can be
considerably reduced by cleanly procedure, and attempts may
be made to restrict the increase of the microbes and thus arrest
the process of decay. The most common remedy is cold, but ex-
periment has shown that the temperature must be kept some de-
grees below zero C. m order to obtain the best results. This
method is used not only in the American and Australian abattoirs,
but haddock caught in Norway are cleaned and frozen at 50° ©,

112 INLAND FISHERIES.

and are then shipped in specially constructed steamers. This
freezing of the fish does not immediately kill the bacteria present,
but prevents their reproduction for the time being. Koch has
found very many bacteria in fish that have been treated in this
way. Foster has found that certain germs increase in meat stored
at moderately low temperatures, though actual putrefaction is not
produced by them. Moreover, the researches of Frenkel, Bordoin,
Uffreduzzi, Prudden, and Heyroth show us that natural ice may
contain both putrefactive and pathogenic bacteria. This fact
alone should teach us to look with suspicion upon any meat that
has been brought in direct contact with ice, especially where the
ice is allowed to melt and the drip to permeate the flesh.

It is worthy of note in this connection that poisonous ptomaines
do not begin to appear until about the seventh day of putrefac-
tion, and that they finally disappear, if putrefaction is allowed
to go on for a considerable time. The toxicity of the ptomaines
themselves is not affected by cooking, no matter how thorough
this may be. There are two distinct kinds of poisoning that may
arise from the use of fish as food. The first is an intoxication
caused by the devouring of meat which has become invaded
by ptomain-producing bacteria. The second is an intoxication
brought about by fish not necessarily infected with bacteria, but
in which the poisons are /ewcomaines produced by the tissues of
the fish and their normal product, in the same way that certain
toad-stools are always poisonous.

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