Morning journal and courier., 1888-09-24
A CRAB FAmTNE IN THE THAMES
NOE a Single Catch Near Norwfch-Cu-
rIOus Facts About Grabs.
from the New York Tribune,1

Not a Single Catch Near Norwfch-Cu-
rIOus Facts About Grabs.
[From the New York Tribunel
It is singular if not unprecedented fact
| that no crabs are to be caught this season.
For years Grabbing" along the banks of
| the Thames and its many coves was a
| highly popular sport. But this year, strange
to say, no crabs have been captured, al
/ though the most tempting old fshheads and
| the most luscious chunks of meat have been
| tied to the ends of lines and let down where
| crabs have long congregated.
On one of the coves near Norwich, which
| is famous grabbing resort, lives an old man
who spends half his time on land and the
other half on the water.
"Cap'n," said the writer to this old expert
| the other day, Catching many crabs this
yearF'
'tNot crab," he replied ''Hain't seen a
crab this year. Skeercer'n feathers on cod
fish,"
"Isn't that somewhat remarkable?"
''Wull, ruther. Never see nothin' like it
before in these parts"
care there many crabs at this spot gene
rallyi'
'Tons of 'em! Wy, I've seen 'em come
into this cove SO thick at the turn o. the tide
that they blockaded the mouth of it where
ye see the spile bridge yonder, and the tide
didn't rise in here It all cause the water
couldn't git in"
"Would you object to diving down and
examining the bottom and seeing if there are
any more there nowa"
f'I tell ye there amt anv there. But if ye
make it consideration I'll go down fer ye."
In several successive descents the old skip
per examined large area of bottom, but not
sign of crab could be found. The writer
confirmed this conclusion by an interview
| with several oystermen and fishermen, who
have not caught crab this season. As to
the cause for this strange absence, they all
agree in attributing it to the severity of last
winter. Crabs spawn in summer. In the
fall they are about one and one-half inches
I long and they burrow in the mud, where
they spend most of the winter season. In
the spring they are about four inches long.
Between these two stages the young crabs
are extremely tender From birth to matur-
4 ity they are constantly shedding their shells
| and growing new ones adapted to their in
| creasing size, and during large part of their
l youth they are unprotected save by the mud
1 in which they hide. There is no doubt that
| the extraordinary rigor of last winter pene-
\ trated to their retreat in the mud and killed
| them while young. This misfortune has de-
1 prived consumers of delicious article of
food and fishermen of a profitable oceups-
l ton. Hard-shell crabs sell for about thirty
l six cents dozen and soft-shells for one dol
4 lar a dozen.
| It is a popular fallacy that soft-she1 crabs
| are different species from hard shell crabs.
| Practical fishermen and scientific books both
4 disprove it. The soft-sheu crab is the hard
| shell crab soon after it was moulted. -Four
| times year to the young crab and once OF
| twice year to the grown crab comes sea-
1 son of peril and fear. He crawls into dark
Granny or nook in the rocks, swells out until
| he cracks open his shell and then creeps out.
This operation is sometimes extremely pain
II frl Co.. o1o fhoy he
joints through which they must be pulled,
| and they are often lacerated in the process.
If his flesh did not become soft and watery
l before shedding he could not get out at all.
When the crab has moulted the once mailed
| warrior, who feared no foe except a more
powerful antagonist of his own kind, is at
the mercy of any enemy who can get into his
retreat. When the female crab moults her
male consort chivalrously guards the en-
trance to her hiding place until her skin is
1 covered with fresh deposit of lime. The
experienced eye can tell when the change is
1 approaching. Last year number of shed
ders" established themselves on the Thames
| a few miles south of Norwich near Fort
Point. They caught hard-shell crabs, i'm.
prisoned them in a crate beneath the water,
| and when the shells had been shed the ''soft-
shell crabs" were shipped to New York and
other points.
When the crab is born he has long, Joint.
l ed tail and curious spine sticking out of
his back. During the first days of his life
he sHims about vigorously, casting his coat
several times. Then he loses his spine, his
back becomes broader and he is what is
called the tailed crab. He keeps growing
and moulting, and gradually folding up his
tail until he becomes the true walking crab.
There is evidence that crabs possess higher
order of instinct than they are generally
credited with. There is an authentic record
of a quantity of crabs caught off the Lizard,
England, and carried to Falmouth harbor.
making their way back to their original
/ grounds when the crate in which they were
| imprisoned was broken by q storm. The
crabs had been branded and 30 were easily
recognized.