The Lobster Fishery of Maine: Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 19, Pages 241-265, 1899 — John Shaqi
The Lobster Fishery of Maine: Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 19, Pages 241-265, 1899Cobb, John N. (John Nathan)
History
The Lobster Fishery of Maine: Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 19, Pages 241-265, 1899
Cobb, John N. (John Nathan)
Lobster fisheries -- Maine
(3) The female may be impregnated or provided with a supply of
sperm for future use by the male at any time, and the sperm,
which is deposited in an external pouch or sperm receptacle,
has remarkable vitality. Copulation occurs commonly in spring,
and the eggs are fertilized outside the body.
(4) Female lobsters become sexually mature when from 8 to 12
inches long. The majority of all lobsters 10-1/2 inches long
are mature. It is rare to find a female less than 8 inches long
which has spawned or one over 12 inches in length which has
never borne eggs.
(5) The spawning interval is a biennial one, two years elapsing
between each period of egg-laying.
(6) The spawning period for the majority of lobsters is July
and August. A few lay eggs at other seasons of the year--in the
fall, winter, and probably in the spring.
(7) The period of spawning lasts about six weeks, and
fluctuates slightly from year to year. The individual variation
in the time of extrusion of ova is explained by the long period
during which the eggs attain the limits of growth. Anything
which affects the vital condition of the female during this
period of two years may affect the time of spawning.
(8) The spawning period in the middle and eastern districts of
Maine is two weeks later than in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts.
In 1893 71 per cent of eggs examined from the coast of Maine
were extruded in the first half of August.
(9) The number of eggs laid varies with the size of the animal.
The law of production may be arithmetically expressed as
follows: _The number of eggs produced at each reproductive
period varies in a geometrical series, while the length of
lobsters producing these eggs varies in an arithmetical
series._ According to this law an 8-inch lobster produces
5,000 eggs, a lobster 10 inches long 10,000, a 12-inch lobster
20,000. This high rate of production is not maintained beyond
the length of 14 to 16 inches. The largest number of eggs
recorded for a female is 97,440. A lobster 10-1/2 inches long
produces, on the average, nearly 13,000 eggs.
(10) The period of incubation of summer eggs at Woods Hole is
about ten months, July 15-August 15 to May 15-June 15. The
hatching of a single brood lasts about a week, owing to the
slightly unequal rate of development of individual eggs.
(11) The hatching period varies also with the time of
egg-laying, lobsters having rarely been known to hatch in
November and February.
(12) Taking all things into consideration, the sexes appear
about equally divided, though the relative numbers caught in
certain places at certain times of the year may be remarkably
variable.
(13) Molting commonly occurs from June to September, but there
is no month of the year in which soft lobsters may not be
caught.
(14) The male probably molts oftener than the female.
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