The crustacean species composition in the intertidal zones of 13 sheltered unconsolidated marine beaches in south-eastern Brazil is described. Fifty-three crustacean species were collected, adding 46 species to the total reported by previous studies in the same region. Decapods dominated the community, in contrast to exposed sandy beaches where peracarids normally predominate. The species were distributed irregularly among the beaches. Richness varied markedly among sites, and was positively related to a combination of factors such as fine sand grains, high organic matter content, and relatively low silt–clay content. The presence of rock fragments enabled both rocky shore and sandy beach crustaceans to occur on the same beaches. Richness and abundance of crustaceans showed no clear relationship to sediment grain size and slope, in contrast to the norm for exposed sandy beaches. The dominance of the tanaid Kalliapseudes schubarti in some areas may be a result of organic matter pollution in the region. These beaches showed higher species richness than typical sheltered and exposed sandy beaches, indicating that this sheltered, highly heterogeneous seascape is an important area for conservation.

Schistomysis spiritus (Norman) breeds throughout the year in the Clyde and in Loch Ewe, Wester Ross, but breeding is more intense at some seasons than others. The over-wintering population in the Clyde breeds in March/April, the progeny growing and becoming sexually mature in July/August to produce a further generation which matures and breeds in October/November. In Loch Ewe the over-wintering population breeds in February, March and April and members of this spring generation begin breeding in May and continue to breed until September; the number of S. spiritus breeding in Loch Ewe decreases sharply after September and no autumnal peak of breeding, such as that in the Clyde, was found during the period investigated. The number of young carried in the marsupium varies seasonally, being 20–30 in May/June and 2–6 in midwinter. The food and the horizontal and vertical diurnal and seasonal movements of this species are discussed.

The stomach contents of 235 specimens of the squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (4·3–36·5 cm mantle length, ML) were examined. A detailed list of 60 species of prey, comprising young and adult squid, is given together with their frequency of occurrence and proportional contribution. The size and number of each food item was investigated. Three ontogenetic size-groups of S. oualaniensis were distinguished: I, fry and young (4–10 cm ML), micronektonic epipelagic plankton-eaters; II, transient critical size group (10–15 cm ML), converting from feeding on planktonic crustaceans and fish larvae to myctophid fishes; III, medium-sized (adult) nyctoepipelagic nektonic predators (15–36·5 cm ML), feeding primarily on myctophids and secondarily on squid. Myctophids (genera Symbolophorus, Myctophum and Hygophum) were the most abundant prey in the diet of adult S. oualaniensis from different parts of its distribution.

Comparative studies were conducted on intertidal algal and faunal communities associated with Sargassum muticum and native algae on the Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland. Significant differences were detected in the structure and composition of the communities. The abundance of the dominant native algae Dictyota dichotoma was found to be reduced in areas dominated by S. muticum and displacement through competition for substrate or light is inferred. Elevated faunal abundances were associated with S. muticum and evidence indicates that increased detrital input may be a possible contributory factor. Differences in faunal community composition were most pronounced in the sessile epifauna below the S. muticum canopy. Faunal communities associated with S. muticum were less heterogeneous in composition than those associated with native algae at equivalent shore positions. Some of the compositional differences may be coincidental and attributable to factors favouring the establishment of S. muticum rather than to the direct influence of the S. muticum canopy.

Using flow cytometry, two distinct populations of virus-like particles (VLP) and heterotrophic bacteria were defined within the 12 cm water layer immediately overlying healthy, diseased and dead acroporid corals. Bacterial abundances were similar in overlying water for all coral types, however, VLP were 30% higher above diseased corals than healthy or dead corals. Mean virus to bacteria ratios (VBR) were up to 30% higher above diseased corals than above healthy or dead coral or in distant water. Concomitant with increasing VLP concentrations within 5 cm of coral surfaces, VBR distributions were generally highest above healthy and diseased coral and depressed above dead coral. These results suggest fundamental shifts in the VLP and bacterial community in water associated with diseased corals.

A total of 870 blue sharks ranging from 70 to 349 cm in total length (LT) were sampled from the swordfish longline fishery in the Mediterranean Sea during the period 1998–2003. Males predominated and the sex-ratio (1:1.8) showed an increase in the proportion of males as size of fish increased. Gonad observation revealed that females smaller than 120 cm LT had immature ovaries with no mature oocytes, while mature ovaries with visible yolky oocytes were present in specimens larger than 203 cm LT. Ovary weight varied from 4–137 g and maximum oocyte diameter was 21.1 mm in mature females. All males smaller than 125 cm LT were immature while males larger than 187 cm LT were mature, as indicated by the presence of heavily calcified claspers, which extended beyond the posterior end of the pelvic fins. Length at 50% maturity (L50) was estimated to be 202.9 cm LT for males and 214.7 cm LT for females. Age estimates using caudal vertebrae ranged from 1 to 12 years, while age at 50% maturity was estimated at 4.9 years for males and 5.5 year for females.

Littorina obtusata is an epiphytic gastropod which lives for three to four years on its host Ascophyllum nodosum, a long-lived brown alga. Most of the population consists of adults, present throughout the year in the size range 14 to 17 mm. Newly hatched individuals appear between April and October with a peak in July; the immature winkles grow to merge with the adult cohort in May.

In contrast Littorina mariae is an annual; newly hatched individuals grow to maturity by the winter of their first year. Those reaching maturity overwinter as adults but very few live beyond spring of their second year. The population dynamics of L. mariae are closely linked with changes in the biomass of the alga Fucus serratus on which it lives.

This paper details the first recorded instance of the prawn Palaemon macrodactylus in Europe, at the Orwell estuary, Suffolk. The species is native to north-east Asia, including Japan and Korea, and has previously been introduced to other areas outside its natural range. Records of the abundance of caridean species, obtained from routine benthic trawl samples in the Stour and Orwell estuaries, provide a summary of P. macrodactylus' habitat preference in reduced-salinity waters. Consistent catches and records of ovigerous females provide evidence for the stability of the Orwell population. A revised key to British Palaemonidae is also provided.

In July, 1935, a cruise was made in Col. E. T. Peel's yacht St. George to study the distribution of certain plankton animal indicators in the mouth of the English Channel.

Three bodies of water were clearly shown by their plankton content:

(1) water characterised by the presence of Sagitta elegans, Clione, Themisto graclipes, Euphausian larvæ, Stephanomia and Aglantha; (2) Biscay water, on this occasion characterised by Noctiluca and a paucity of zooplankton; and (3) Channel water characterised by the presence of Sagitta setosa and absence of other indicators.

It has been shown that the study of certain plankton animals should prove of help in understanding the hydrography of the Channel mouth region.

Examination of the reproductive biology of the abyssal seastar Dytaster grandis taken at different times of the year in the NE Atlantic suggests seasonal reproduction that is related to the seasonal pulse of phytodetritus to the deep-sea floor. Although this seastar is an omnivore, the availability of this labile organic material may fuel vitellogenesis during the summer and autumn months. The egg size suggests planktotrophic larval development. Spawning occurs in the early part of each year to allow the zygote to develop into a feeding larva to coincide with the downward flux of phytodetritus. Thus the flux of detritus may constitute an environmental forcing pressure at least at two points in the life history of D. grandis.

Conqueria laevis gen. and sp. nov., a new monothalamous agglutinated foraminiferan, is described from core samples collected in the abyssal western Weddell Sea. The species is characterized by a very elongate, almost cylindrical test that usually follows a more or less curved course and has a single terminal aperture located at the end of a short neck. The wall has a very smooth outer surface and is composed of tiny (<5 μm) agglutinated particles. Very similar and presumably congeneric morphotypes occur at northern hemisphere sites, including Arctic fjords around Svalbard and the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences, indicate that the new Weddell Sea species forms an independent lineage branching among monothalamous foraminiferans as a sister group to the clade of Psammophaga.

1. Until the beginning of the present century there was little demand in this country for Rays and Skates. This fishery is now of major importance both nationally and within the Devon and Cornwall area.

2. Of the eleven species of Raia present in the western area of the Channel, R. clavata makes the greatest numerical contribution (37%) to the total landings in Devon and Cornwall. The composition of the catches obtained by different methods of fishing varies greatly.

3. R. clavata is the most widely distributed species in the Channel area at all depths and on all kinds of sea bottom.

4. In a series of trawl hauls off the west coast of Ireland R. clavata was most numerous in the catches down to about 100 fm. From that depth down to about 170 fm. (the greatest depth fished) R. fullonica was most numerous.

5. Unispecific and even unisexual shoals of at least three species of Raia—R. clavata, R. brachyura, R. fullonica—occur.

6. When more than one species of Raia is present within the same area at the same time, the members of the different species have been found not to mix indiscriminately.

7. R. clavata appears to hatch out in shallow water close inshore and gradually move seawards into deeper water as it grows.

8. Adult R. clavata show definite migratory movements, though the full extent of their wanderings is not yet known. There is an inshore migration in early spring of adult fish to a small part of the coast near Plymouth. The first fish to appear are females, males appearing later.

9. There is evidence of somewhat similar migratory movements by R. brachyura.

10. R. clavata—and possibly also R. brachyura and R. batis—at times may feed almost entirely on Herrings.

11. Large R. batis feed to no inconsiderable extent on other species of Eaia.

12. In foraging for their food Rays and Skates depend upon some sense other than sight.

13. There has been in recent years a steady decline in the landings of Rays and Skates from the English Channel—probably due to depletion of the available stock of fish.

An investigation of the adhesive mechanisms in all nine species of the genus Diclidophora has shown that there is a common structure consisting of a pair of hinged jaws operated by intrinsic muscles and also by a more powerful extrinsic muscle which acts on a diaphragm to produce a suction pressure that is converted into a clamping action. This investigation has revealed errors in Cerfontaine's and other descriptions of the anatomy of Diclidophora adhesive organs, but substantiates Cerfontaine account of the adhesive mechanism, and therefore disagrees completely with the more recent account given by Sproston.

The distribution and abundance of Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus serratus and F. vesiculosus were described at four sheltered, rocky shores in the south of the Isle of Man. Canopy removal experiments were performed at mid tide level of one sheltered, canopy dominated shore to investigate the interactions between the dominant canopy alga, Ascophyllum nodosum and the competitively inferior canopy species of Fucus serratus and F. vesiculosus. Ascophyllum was removed from replicated plots, 2×2 m in size, in both winter and summer; the early growth and survival of fucoids in the presence and absence of the Ascophyllum canopy were monitored and the eventual development of a new canopy described. Juveniles of F. serratus originally present beneath the undisturbed canopy of Ascophyllum died following canopy removal but new recruitment resulted in some canopy development, principally in the winter experiment. Fucus vesiculosus, despite being completely excluded from the Ascophyllum zone of all four shores described, dominated the canopy removal plots of both winter and summer experiments. The Ascophyllum canopy did not recover over a five year period of observation, although a considerable increase in the abundance of Ascophyllum juveniles occurred.

Age and growth were estimated in the European squid, Loligo vulgaris, by examining growth increments in the statoliths of 203 specimens collected from off the French Mediterranean coast. Length and increment data were analyzed assuming that the increments were formed daily. The relationships between age and length showed that: growth rate varied considerably among individuals; growth was double exponential; the squids grew on average to 240 mm ML at 240 d from hatching, with a maximum of 350 mm at 240 d; the life span is probably about one year.

1. A comparison of the strength of the wind, Beaufort Scale, and of its direction during the periods when the vernal diatom outburst caused phosphate depletion of the surface water, has failed to indicate that there is any connection between either strength or direction and the date of the outburst. The spring sunshine still appears to be the important factor at El.

2. The sequence of the years studied as regards the main spring diatom outburst deduced from phosphate depletion at Station El is as follows: 1924, early March; 1926, late March to early April; 1925, early April; 1923, early May.

In Britain Octopus vulgaris occurs on the Channel coast and only very rarely on other coasts. In Brittany and the Channel Islands it frequently makes its lair at low water, but on the English side of the Channel it does not come so close inshore except in abnormal years of high sea temperatures.

The discovery of Octopus larvae of various sizes, from newly hatched to 6·0 mm. (mantle length), in plankton hauls taken to the north of the Channel Islands, proves that the species has a much longer planktonic life than hitherto supposed.

The water circulation in the English Channel, as indicated by drift bottles, is admirably suited to the dispersal of larvae to our shores from breeding centres on the coasts of Brittany and the Channel Islands.

It is shown that the average number of embryos produced by a gravid oyster is approximately doubled each year until the oyster is 4 years old, when it may be regarded as adult. Estimates have been made of the quantities of embryos produced by one 1-year-old, eleven 2-year-old, fourteen 3-year-old and twenty-two adult oysters; the mean values for these year-classes are 91,600, 218,100, 462,600 and 902,900 respectively.

Since it is probable that the proportion of a population of oysters which matures in the female phase increases progressively up to the age of 4 years, it follows that adult oysters are for this reason superior to 2- or 3-year-old oysters as breeding stock, quite apart from the increased number of embryos produced by each oyster.

A large caprellid amphipod recently discovered at a salmon farm in the Lynne of Lorne near Oban, Scotland, has been identified as Caprella mutica, a species indigenous to north-east Asia. The caprellid population appears to have become established in the last four years at the site with a high abundance of animals occurring year round on the farm nets, mooring ropes and on artificial experimental structures located <10 m from the fish farm. This paper briefly describes C. mutica found in Scotland. Application of Chapman & Carlton's criteria for determining introduced species suggests that C. mutica is non-indigenous to the area.

The apparatus described in this paper was constructed for the purpose of sampling the zooplankton standing crop in the ocean in a quantitative manner.

A meter is described, which will record both the depth and amount of water which a net filters as it is hauled vertically through the water. The meter records on a smoked glass cylinder.

The meter is mounted in a brass drum which is positioned in front of the silk filtering section of the net. In front of the meter a long canvas sleeve carries the throttling rope which closes the net by the Nansen method.

Calibration of the meter for depth is done by using reversing thermometers and lowering to a series of suitable depths. Flow calibration is easily accomplished in the field by towing the canvas sleeve and meter without the silk net.

The method of smoking the glass cylinders and taking photographic records of them is described.

From the records it is possible to study the complete behaviour of the net below water—what depth range it has fished, how much clogging occurred, the depth of closure, etc