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SUPPLEMKxN'TAKV ()B8EK\AT1UN8 UN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CANADIAN
OYSTER
J. 8TAFF0H1). M.A., Pii.D.
NEW YORK
1
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3 3298 00085 3813
I Kpphntml fri>in Trk Amkrican Nati'RAI.iht, Vol. Xl.VI . .Ian . Ifll'-'l
SUl'l'LKMKXTAUY OUSKHVATK »NS OX THK
DKVKI.OPMHNT UK TlIK CANADIAN
OYSTKK
J. STAKKOKI), M A.. l'ii.l».
RinTXMiicM. St\tm)v. Dki-abtirk BA^. H. C.
In tlic Amkhk AN Xaiihalist of ■lisiuDuy. IIM)"), Janu-
ary, 1!»0!), June, liUO, I liave fjiveii s( iiic account of obser-
vations (in 1!)04) on tiie (U'velopnu-iit of tlit' oyster at
Malpe(|ne. Hiclmiond Hay, I'rince Ivlward Island, Canada.
()l)l)ortunity to verify, continue, and extend tiiese i-l)-
servations was again alYorded in HMI!>, when I studied
tiie ovster in tiie most ini|H>rtaiit ceiiteis aloii<r tlie east
coast of New Brunswick.
In tile present suninier, i:tll, lieiiig oceui)ied at the
Pacific J^ioioiricai Station of Canada, in Oeiiarture l?ay.
near Xanainio, Vancouver Island, I have the privilege of
observing some of the Prince Kdward Island oyster.^
transplanted to this vicinity in IDO'), as well as adding to
my ac(iuaintance the little British Columbia oyster, so
(litTerent in size, apiiearance. habits and reproduction.
In the intermediate years, not being located in oyster
regions, I devoted a good deal of time to other bivalvo-
larva'. largely with a view to making my studies of the
oyster more secure, the main results of which have been
given in a paper "On the Recogniticm of Hivalve Larva?
in Plankton Collections," unreasonably delayed in publi
cation at Ottawa.
In all this work 1 have kejit samiije i)reservations witli
dates and localities, which liave often i)r()ved of great
service in judging of questions that subsequently arose.
My first work began where that of Brooks left off, and
showed for the first time that later stages of the oyster-
larva undoubtedly exist, and when, where and how they
20
9862B
PH'JVINCIAL LIBRARY
VICTORIA. B. C.
"." ;j
.~i-~-~; ^ .
:i(i
//// I Ml HI' 1 \ \ W/.' 1/ /-/
Vol, \I,VI
■'•-.\
■'ii
IllilV lir I)rc>''U|-c.|. Jl^ Wril ;i~ the Irllirtll "I' tln' |irlliMl iif
tlifir I'liT -wiiiiiniiitf lil'f. 'I'lii' liirvM' i>liliii I liv I'.rnok-.
1,'ii'.'. I{\(1.T. Win-low. anil utlicr- w-tc ol.tiiint'd by nil
liiif riHin rci-tili/.t il •■i;u>. anil wnr at innvt ^i\ <lii>- nM.
anil in tlic >nun'4 -fi-ai;:,lit hinv,''- -lairc In Ijirnpi' iar\a-
lit' a similar afjfc, >i/.i' ami -tiurtiin' liiul Ih'imi lakfii from
tlic intra liraiii'liial cavity of tiic parent i)y>tfr hy Da-
\ainf. i.ai-a/r Dutliirr-. ( o-t.', !»«• la IJlan-in'T.'. (i\v>ii
.l.'ffrii-. Saumli r-, Saltiisky. MilMiis. Ilnrst anil Iln\lt'y.
lint tlic oilier, latei- oi- laryer -ta>,'es were unite unknown.
'I'lii- left room for -nine -pei niatioii a- to tlie exact time,
place ami manner in wliidi tlie -ncceeilinir --fai^'es stioiiM
lie fnuinl. a- well a- occa-ioiicil the prevalent mi>take tliat
the free larva -ettle- ili.wn at tlii> peiiml to iieeome a
lisi.il -|ial, r.rook- wrote. ••.Ml m> attempts to i;'et later
-taue- than tlie-e faileil . . . ami 1 am therefore unahle
to ili-crihe the manner in which the --wimniinu- emhrvo
hccome- converted into the adult. Imt 1 hope that tlii-
uap will he tilled, eitlier l>y future oIis.m'v atioii- of my own
or hv those of some other eiiihrv olouist." In a similar
way dack-oii. at a later period, speak- of --a Idaiik in the
kilowledl,'e of the developmelit of the oy-te.." 'i'his
•■iraii" or ••hiaiik"" i- now coinpletelv filled .M v -tudies
jirove that the larva continues to live a> a larva in the
-ea water almut oyster-heds for two or three weeks
loiiirer. where it swim< nliont. feeds, firows and ehanj^os
in structure, and that it tirst -ettles down to hecoiiu' a
M'dentary spat, lixed to >liell> or other olijects. at an
a.^-e of three to fiuir wi'ek- from fertili/ation the lemrth
of time deliendim;' to some extent on temperature, food,
individuality or >ncli causes. This information lias been
trained through the method of piocurinu' ov>ter larvie
from the waters of oyst.'i- areas b\ means of a plankton-
uet. and connectinii- tliem in serie- with yicuiirer stau'es
obtaincil by fertilization and culture and with older
-ta^es obtained bv catchiim- s])at on irlass. shells, etc.. so
a- to make out the com])lete life-liisfory.
'i'he di.-eovcrv that the hitherto unknown -taues of the
- .,■■ -..T^- -fS.,'1- -'
N(. .'.n
rill C.WMil I \ DYslIll
31
oyster larva can Im' coiiv fiii<Mitl> nlitaiiicd liy a i>laiikti>ii
iH't carries witli it tin- |(n->iliility ..t" a i-raetiral a|>iili<"i
tiori "f int'stiinahlf \aliif in tln' cnltiirf n{ ov-tcrs. From
t!ic time ill' the caily l{"!i!ai! KiMpii-' it lia^ li,..'ii kiiDwn
that nvstcr si)at can sometimes lie ohtaiiicd on ropes,
anchors, jiiles of wliarves. stones, shells or other natural
or artificial ohjects in the ^ea. and some sort of methoil
of cnltMic has lonir hceii in use in many countries. At
times men have risen to exaite<l conceptions of the possi
hility «if findintr a i>racticaltle, safe and sure i-ictliod <»f
catchinir. retaininir, and rearing the younp spat. T i|Uott!
W'inslow to the effect that "'i'lioiisands of dollais would
]h' annually saveil hy ttie Connecticut oystermcn if tliey
could determine, with e\ en appro\imate accuracy, tin'
date when the attachment of llie younir ovstei' would
occur. Hundreds of thousands would he saved if they
Imtl any rdiaide method of detcrminiiii;' the prolmliilities
of tlie season." This is now possiide.
It is well known that oyster or other shells dried am?
whiteneti in tlie sun form the \cry hest oystercoileet(U-s
or cultch. To put these hack into the water liapha/ai'd
has often resulteil solely in the loss of all the lahor of
proj)aration. Iir cncu a few da\s the> ma\ become cov-
ei'ed wiflr a slimy coatiiiir which reiluces or' lari^ely
destroys their etliciency. The jioirrt is to he ahle to deter
mine with accuracy, f(U- each seasoir and for- e\'er-\ local-
ity, when o\ ster laiNM' are pieseirt in tlie water full-
iji'own and I'eady to settle as spat, so as not to run the
risk of losiiii^ ade(|uate value foi' the laboriously ]i|-e-
pared cultch. -V man instructed and (|ualilied in tho
method of taking plankton and in ideiitifvinu' oyster-
larva- can tell almost to a day when is the proper tinu' to
put out cultch so as to obtain an abundant and copious
sft of si)at. It is not enousjjh to know aiiout the time, or
to know tiio time for certain previous years, oi- to know
the averaii^c time.
Three methods are open to the expert: (1) Examina-
tion of tlie <renital orirans of adult oysters to determine
H
;v2
//// iMh:HI(W \ I777M//W IVdi. MAI
uh.i, llir ciiu- iirc ripi', (J) cxiiiniiiatioii of llic -•■a water
I., l.nni if c.>~tfi- lar\a' ari' ]>n-.cnt ,m<l in "liat >tau'i'.
C!) t'xainiiiatinii ,<( natural <>r iniprovisc .1 (.lijects iii the
water til ilixovci' it' y.-mitf >pat ate alreaiiy i'nrincd. 'riie
lii>t i> rint iiiim<Mliati'l> (Ictcrmiiiativc lic.'aii-i' of tlic Ions;
p.Tiu.l ill' i|fVflu|iniriit -riiaiatiiii,' Npawnini,' an<l spat-
linir. 'I'lie last i^ n<it very ]irai'tiralilc liceauM' df the ilitli
ciillv uf lindint; an<l ri ruuni/.iiiu' the \<iMMi,'esl spat t)C'fort'
the jieriiid is i,'nne hy I'm- piittiiiii' nut rulleh. 'I'he second
is 111,' onlv praeticahle and ron.iu^ive method and its
ellicieiicy is iirniKutioTuite to tlie nunilier, care and nc-
, iiiaey of the i.liM'ivations. li- ^access will iuerease with
experience.
'I'hi- method make> u-e of tlie e(il<i->al nuiuhef of larviu
lavishly provided hy nature to <itTset the e\iu;en<'ies and
aeeidents nf life and in-ui-e a i-easoiuilile ehanee of kw]<-
in- up the -lock. 1 helieve that all the larva' an army of
men could rai>" up and tuin into the sea would not ma-
terially alter the n\mil)er of succes.-ful individuals in the
set of spat. r>ut on the other hand a few ciUturists could
enoiniou-l> increase the chances for a >uccessful catch
hv >preadinii an ahumlance of suitaitl.v prejiared cult<'h
at the proper time and place.
in the paper of lHHit 1 have descrihed the method of
elilainin^- iilankton. the aiMiearauces and measurements
of the (ivvter laivM' to lie recduni/.cd, the time of the year
to he^'in makiim- olisersatioiis. In the paper on " IJivalve
|.ar\a'" 1 distini,'ui>h in sizes, sliapo, colors, tlie com
monly occuirinu' a--ociates uf the oyster-larva' winch
nii.u'lit he taken for the latter. In the ]iresent jiajier, after
Idiii,^ reflection. 1 suuu'ot a practical apiili<ation of the
kiiowledi^e aciiuired.
I f-hould not omit to mention that th.' jiaper of liUO
connects the larva, throuiih the youiii,M'st microscoi.ic
spat, -with tlio macroscopic spat of fisliermen ami linally
with the adult. Similarly in i:iii!t I perf.irnied extensive
artili<'ial-fertili/ation exiieriments, while at Sliediac.
('ara(|uette and Malpe<iue. in order to connect the small-
Nn Ml]
rill
I \ I/)/ I \ (ly^ I hi!
18
ot l.lilllktnll -times III' .i\ sttT lalMI- Willi cllltlllr iair«'S
ami tlirniiirli tlir-c liack tn IIm- .•-:.'. I,ai\,r l»> tin- niilliit:;
were rcarrd in luaki r> of -ca water at a temptTiitnif
little alinve JO ('. and witl! a -jieiilie u'ravity (saiiiiits I
\ aryiii« x.niewliat iindfi- iDJd. I alxi carriiMl ( 'araiiiietle
Dvsters f(i Mal|iei|iie and raided up larv:r t'rian ei,'i;> ei(>»
fcrtili/ed lietween two -neji i.liv ii.ll-l> dilfelent \arietie-.
as tlie small, nairnw. eur\ ed. tliiek, hard and heavy ( 'arn
qnette oNstef aiid the line, laiKe. liTiiad, >traiulit. <iean.
.Ninootli speeimens rriini tlie ( iirtain 1-land heils.
In i'^'.K) and ntztun in l'.l"'> tlie Canadian (iov einmeid
Inid .\tluntie ny>tei> tians-liiped tu the I'a.ilir and put
out at si'lected plaee-. ill tile latter year some of tlic
jtlaees were clio-eii h\ Captain Kemp. I'Spert in oNster
culture.
iieiiiiT orrnpied Ihi- -uiiiiiier at oiir I'anlic r.iolo^Mcal
Station, I have taken advantatre (altlioufili not re(|iu'sted
to do so) of my proximity to three of these nlaees to
search for tlie transplanted I'liiice ivlward Island
oysters, and to examine plankton taken in the vicinity.
At tiie lirst place, Hammond itay. heimr a small liay and
close to hand, I could easily o\er run all the heach at low
water, and soon discovered the dead shells that had heen
deposited too far above low- water mark. .\t Nanoose
Hay, some tv, e!ve miles away, perha]>s tive miles lout; and
a mile and a half wide, with extensive flats at low tides,
this was noL so easily done. Having spent three suminers
with Captain Kemp, 1 tlioi-ght now to test my judgment
of where he wouhl select to dejiosit the oysters. As the
tide wis iinfavorahle at my tirst visit 1 used the ilredge,
and was afterwards surprised to learn that 1 had actually
calculated to within a few rods of the jilace. At the
second visit I went to look at other parts of the hay, iait
on the thini returned and. with a favorahle tide. coiiUi
wade and i>ick up some of the oysters. This was at .•
P. M., July 17. and 1 took Ki tine living siieciiiieiis of the
Malpcque oyster for examination two or three of them
with pieces of I'rince Kdward Island red samlstone still
34
Tin: AMEIUC.W XAir'iAT.IST
rvoi,. xi.vi
attached to tlu'iii. Tlit'>- varitMl from two and three
fourtlis to live Indies in lenjjtli, some of tliem sliowinj?
,'onsi(leralile j^rowtli. This ])roves tliat Atlantic oysters
can be trans) ihuited to the racitic and remain liealthy
and ^row. I'pon I'eachini: home ' proceeded to examine
some of the oysters and it turned out that onl> one ha<l
airead> spawned wiiih' tiie otiier litteen were ripe and
fjeiierally somewiiat distended with ejjj^s or s])erm.
This ))r()ves that tlie trans))laiited oysters can come to
maturity and rii)en tlie r i>r()dnctive eh'ments.
At 7.10 1*. M. of tlie sanie (Jay I j)ut togetiier cjr^'s and
sperm in a tunihier of sea-water and at 7 A. .\r. next
mornin<; tiiere was an alamdance (tf se,irmentatii>n stajjes
and free-swimminj; hu\a'. Tiii> proNcs tiiat tlie oysters
("in spawn and that the e^'^s can develop into youiifr. 1
make these statements because of a prc\ailinfj; opinion
that the transplanted oysters have all died, and the few
peojile who think there are still some liviiiii' are do^Miuitic
in their assertion that they do not breed.
Plankton taken at intervals at Hammond and Nanoose
l>ays had not yielde(| any oystei' larva', which became ex-
plainable upon liudiiifir the condition of the reproductive
organs. A further o))servatiou on this was afforded on
the "Jtith of July, when I examined a second lot (obtained
at a very low I'de *ho day before) from Nanoose Bay.
The forty seventh oyster examineil was the first to yield
iiood ripe eiifj;s — all previous ones were s])awned with the
exception of four or fivi; which were ri, ' males. The
interval between these two visits had been the hottest of
file summer and the oysters had nearly all spawned in
this i>eri()(l- sliirlitly later than is usual on the Atlantic.
* )n the 27tli 1 made a tri)) to Oyster Harbor (Ladysraith),
iibout fifteen miles from here, where T had better luck in
irettinii ti'ack of tli" few transplanted oysters. Tn a
similai' way 1 examined several individuals and took
plankton which for the first time contained larvjc of the
Atlantic oyster — recoiin'zable by their slia))e and meas-
urements but not pi'esentin.ii' such a deeii ))ink or brown
I
Xo. .')41 1
TUK r.i.v in/.i.v orsirm
36
coloration as in their native lionie. For comparison
with my former jiajjers I will jrive the me..surements oi
a sinjifle specimen with tlie characteristic ])ostero-dorsal
hi;;h nmbos. the larffe convex kft valve, and the smaller
and flatter ri^ht valve, velum, foot, pij?ment spot and the
rest. ( )cular V, ohjective 4, 42 long by ."57 high
(=^.28!) X .-55 mm.). This prov.-s that larva; grow up.
There is only one other bit of evidence possible and that
is to find spat. This 1 lia\e not done as yet. It is too
early for tliis year's spat and I have not seen any un-
doubted specimens of a former year's spat. One can
judge that the comparatively few descendants of two
and a half barrels dejjosited at Hammond Bay. five
barrels at Xanoose l^ay. and one barrel at Oyster
Harbor, when dis]iersed over the broad areas at their
command, would not pi'ove very conspicuous objects,
which is again complicated by the presence of millions of
British Columbian oysters of varying sizes, shapes, and
comjilexions.
I regard my findings as conclusive and would urge the
transplanting of Atlantic oysters (Osfrra rirqinica
Gmel.) to the Pacific in greater quantities. Tlie At-
lantic clam (MjKi (ire)iiiriii Fj.) has projiagated enor-
mously here notwithstanding the fact that it has more
comi)etitors in its jiarticuiar habit than in its original
home.
Ostrni liiriila Carp. — Even before making any head-
way in the foi-egoing researches, I had begun to gather
information on the occurrence, size, shape, color, struc-
ture, breeding, etc.. of the British Columbia oyster.
This s])ecies is not common in Dejiarture Bay, or in
Hannnond Bay, but a few sjiocimens may be found under
stones exposed at about one hour from low water in
front of the C. P. R. caitle house in the former, and just
inside the far point of the latter, and are usually so
broadly and solidly attached (with the left valve against
the under side of the stone and hence uppermost) that it
is scarcely possible to separate them without destroying
:i6
I in: AMHiiK w xMrnAi.i>r
Vol.. M.VI
.--£. ■ . _sr . -S
the attaclied siirt'iicc. Hut on tlic extensive Hats at the
upper ends of Xanoose I'.ay and of Oyster llarlior tliey
occur free on tlie surface hy thousands and more or leas
covered with harnacU's.
(lood si)eciniens reacli two inciies in leiifftli t)y an inch
and a lialf in hreadth. witli a straiirlit dorsal niarf,'in and
a semicircular ventral curvature. The right, upper or
smaller valve is nearly Hat or hut little convex and (its
into the margins of the larger, convex, lower or left valve,
the greater part of tlie lower and posterior margin being
scalloped, while the left valve has corresponding ridges
and points. The color is usually dark (those under
stones lighter) with the older parts weathered grayish
and the umhoiuil region of the left valve is often attached
to a small stone or another oyster or hears a scar. In-
ternally the shell is extensively iiigmented, dark, with
smaller hands or hlotches of lighter ])earl. while the
muscle scar is lather lighte" and handed. The mantle is
broadly margined with dark, whicli nuiv also creep up
on to the abdomen.
The most interesting feature in connection with the
Pacific oyster of Canada is its divergence in some re-
spects from the mode of breeding of our Atlantic species.
In the British Columbia form there is no jirimary sepa-
ration of individiuds into males and females — the sexes
are united in eacli individual. In other w<»rds each in-
<lividual is bisexiud, moncecious or hermai)hrodite. In
this resi)ect it is identical with the English or c(mimon
European species (O.strea eduUs L.).
My first observations were made on duly li', ou
sjH'cimens ])rocured under stones near the Biological
Station. Nearly all ajipeared to be males, and, as they
were of small size. I took it that, as commonly occurs,
the males hatl ripened earliest. But one was of medium
size and contained eggs that at once attracted my atten-
tion on account of their large size, ojiacity and rare ex-
hibition of nucleus. Measured exactly as all my former
measurements, these gave: Oc. V. ol).i. 2 (1.5; Oc. V,
*
N(
'411
Tin: c.wMti i\ nysTEn
37
(it.j. 4 1.'); (>c. \', oli.j. 7 72. Aiiotlicr iii<iiviflual, ob-
tiiiiH'd since, with iui ii'miidaiice of oirj^s oozing from the
(ividiict. pun' ami ripe, jjavc the ahnost iiiivaryitig moas-
ureinciit of tlic cfijr as: ()c. ^^ ohj. 7 75. Tiiis wlien
oaicuiatcd is 75x1.45^ 108.75/t sli,ijiitl\ over .1
mill. slisjiitly ovor ',L'.-.i> inch - fully twice the diameter
(if the efifj of the Atlantic oyster, and perhaps identical in
size with the e<i<j of the Mnglish oyster.
In making measurements it is important to use only
ripe egf?s. as in this case, and to select those that are
spherical or nearly so and not flattened by the weif^th of
the eoverslij), as well as to extend the measurements to
many individuals in order to exclude all itossiliility of a
>lip. The nucleus is between one half and two thirds
the diameter of the cfiir.
Upon turning particularl> to spermatozoa I found
them in every individual — even between tlie eggs of those
containing eggs in tlie gonad. The younger indivi<luals
liad no ova, but ail s]ierms. Some of the older ones had
a few big, soft, opa(|ue, irregular, elliptical, oval or
nearly spliei'ical eggs, scattered among irregular ma-ses
of less tiian half their size, which are halls of spermatids
on tlie way to development into spermetozoa. One of
these measured 4(5^ < 40^. and each one is ke])t in a
dancing or rolling movement, somewhat like that of many
infusoria, by tlie flajiiting of the tails of the ripening
sperms on the surface. Between these masses are mib
lions of mature, free, dancing sjiermatozoa, of whicb the
tails are rai'ely visible until one searches for them with
a high i)ower. I have not yet made extensive measure-
ments of the sperm on account of the di'Ticulty of measur-
ing such exceedingly small objects with certainty, but 1
believ(> the sjierm of the Rritish Columbia oyster is
smaller than that of the Prince Edward Isbvnd oyster,
which may have some relation to the particular mode of
fertilization, such as being introduced by the respiratory
current. Tn some ]>arts of the gonad ova may be plenti-
ful. whil(> at other parts there are only sperm-balls.
k
5^
38
I in: .\Mh:ni(\\ .v.i/r/,M/./>/
1 Vol.. xi-vi
Later, in tlu- waniicr wcatlicr, tlic siicriu may be pretty
well iiiii off and tlic n'i)r(>(liictivc orj^Mii coiitaiii mostly
t'f^irs. In tliis way tlic yonnf^iT oysters, and tlu' older
oysters at tlie l)e<,'iuninfr «>f the season, may lu- physio-
lojii.ally males, wliile ol(ler oysters at tlie !iei-!it of tl\e
breeding season may be pliysioloj^ically females.
Oysters from liaimnond l?ay siiowed the ^ame plie
iiomeiia.
rpoii tinditiir an aiumdanee of hujjer oysters on ttie
surface at Nanoose Hay, I brought horn- a iKiil-full of
picked si.eciiiiens to serve as a convenient stock for ob-
servation and experiment. On .Inly Hi T fo'ind a sj) -ci
men with periiaps half a teasi)oonfnl of e.i!;,i,'s in various
sta,i,'es of sejrmentation, lyinj? free in the lower valve— a
mass of white granules. The v\]M' ejrffs ooze into the
infra brancliial cavity and lie on and l)etween the sills,
(. (.. between tiie two folds of the mantle, where they are
retaiiKMl apparently without any retaininir, sticky matrix.
1 sniipose that it is here they tirst meet with riix' si^erms
from other individuals, for T do not believe tiiat at this
time the sjierms of tiie same individual are physio-
loirically capable. The whole oy>ter a]ipears exhausted,
the wills rent, the tlesh collai>sed, soft and jiarts of it
almost rotten. On .Inly 24 I ojiened one hundred of
the stock siijiply and found six with ejrss, embryos or
conchiferous younir, in the infra-branchial cavity. .\11
the other- were in ])rocess of sy),.rnioiienesis and
oofjenesis.
An experiment that has often seemed ]iossible to me is
to do the same with the Euroi»ean oyster, by way of
artificial fertilization, as T.rooks did with the American
oyster. Now that T hatl an oyster essentially the same as
tiie European T tried it, and ^\ith seeming success, but
of course it is difficult to be sure that sperm from another
liad not already hail access to the esgs. Unripe eugs
are no good; eggs already freed from the gonad may
have come in contact -with sperm. This restricts one to
finding a specimen .just before but ,iust im the point of
-^l
i
-^'^ - vr- I
-.^v ■^. '^'J^-:^^
No..>»l|
Tin-: (\i\'AI)I.\.\ OYSIKH
39
cxtnidiiif? its Cliffs. I jilso tried Atlantif oyster eijffs
with Piicilic ()\-ter >|ienris. as well as Atlantic oyster
>pei'iiis witli Pacific u\ stei' effffs, hilt witiuiut success, as
.irie laifflit siippose. I put effff>. eiiiiiryos and larva- of
hoth s](ecies tciffet her under the same coverslip for coiu-
parisoii -those of tlie snuill I'.ritisli Coluinhia oyster
Inokinff like yiants heside tliose of tlie larffe Prince Kd
ward Island oy>ter. Tliis is a curious pheiiomenoii
which I ha\c several times oliserxcd on other s])ecies.
I. (I., the ver> laiffe effffs of Astarte comi)ared with tiie
small eirffs of iariic species liko Mactra.
I'or the >tlld\ o|' >ci;inentatioll. etc., the Athmtic species
i~ of .I'K antaffe on account of smaller si/.e and ffrt'atcr
( ran-paieiicy. The order of sejiiiieiitation ajipcars to he
tlie same in hoth both ^iiliject to xariatioiis such that it
would re(|nire a i;reat iiuiiiiier of paiustakiiii;- ohsei'va
lions to decide exactl> wliat is tlie normal mode in ffood
heaitiiv euus. I havf. on hoth sides of this continent,
^ji.'nt coiisideialile time in tiyinu' to determine the order
ot' sei;nielitation. the cell-lineaye, the planes of cleasaye.
the sncressidii (if nuclei, tile et"i'e<'t of Ufa vitat ioll. the
constant and continuous orientation of successive stages,
the origin of the sliell-ffland and tiie niede of formation
of the shell, etc., hut can not discuss such suh.jects here.
I ma\ hrietix state, however, that 1 lielie\e Hrooks failed
to observe the shell ffland, in his orii^iiial work, and at
one ]iaiticiilar staiic mistook the relation of the sliell-
\al\cs to the blastopore which made it necessary to re-
verse his orientation of the embryo- -luauo bis use of the
terms dorsal and ventral are niisleadins;. The polar
bodies are dorsal at first later, if tlie> ]iersist. they ma\
become displaced anteriorlv . 'I'he blasto])ore is xcntral.
the velum anterior, the sliell-,s;land dorsal, the mouth
ventral, 'i'lnu'e is no foot. iKU' rudiment of it in jire-
conchiferons stages.
I have found conchiferous youiiir of the P.ritish Colum-
bia oyster retained within the parent's slieil until their
own minute shells wore .loS mm. in length. I belicM-
40
I HE .\MFliir.\X XATlltMlsT | Vol.. XLVI
•->.■-!
gV:^
m
they remain longer, for, acconlinjr to Mobins the younp
of tlu' KuroiM-an oyster leaves tlie parent at a size of .I'l
to 18 mm. (Horst ^ves .!(! mm.; ITnxley '1,v. inch). I
have taken larva> of (). lundn in i-huikton (identified by
comimrison with those from a parent, and also by the
strneture. shape and size) of a len.utl, of .ICf) mm. as well
as different hir-er sizes. Tliey still had a straisl't-hmRe
line of half tlie len-th of tlie sliell - unlike the 0. nnn»'r,i
whieh at this size is already passing into the un.bo-stas;."
and with a nuieh sla.rter hintre line. The larva> of O.
hiiuhi are not pink or brown but have tive or six dark
blotches in tlie re^'ion of tlie liver and in the velum, m
eontrast to the -eiieral liirht shade of tlie rest of the
animal.
i
am