On October 28th, 1920, a conjoint meeting was held by representatives of the Development Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Oyster Merchants and Planters Association to institute investigations into the cause of the abnormal mortality which had occurred among oysters in the oyster beds in the Thames Estuary during the summer of 1920. As a result of this meeting investigations were begun under the general direction of the writer. On the completion of the work a full report of the results obtained was forwarded to the Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The more important parts of that report will be published as follows: Part I, Main Report, Fishery Investigations, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, London, Series II, Vol. VI, No. 3, 1923; Part II. containing the more important Appendices, will appear later.

During a study of the fauna of the level sea-bottom off Plymouth on which a report has already appeared in this Journal (Ford, 1923), the samples taken in the Petersen bottom-sampler and in the conical dredge were preserved in alcohol and retained. A subsequent re-examination of the accumulated material has provided information on the growth of a number of lamellibranchs, which forms the subject matter of the present paper. As the samples were collected according to a programme arranged expressly to determine the animal communities represented, it was not to be expected that they would yield complete data on the growth of a particular species, but the results are interesting and useful when considered in their relation to the food supply of our food-fishes. I must again acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. R. Winckworth of Brighton for his continued assistance in identification and measurement of specimens. Such expert confirmation of identification was naturally desirable’ in dealing with the growth of species from the earliest stages. Throughout the paper the term “length” is adopted, meaning the greatest antero-posterior dimension of the shell. This term was used by Weymouth (1923) who gave a figure on page 20 which shows clearly the measurement to which the term is applied. I have also used “length” as a measure of growth-rings on the surface of shells. In Fig. 7 on Plate III, I2 is the length of the second ring on a shell of Spisula solida. Thirty-three genera of lamellibranchs are represented in the material of which all but nine appear among the records compiled by Todd (1907) and Blegvad (1917) of the contents of the stomachs of fishes which include dab, flounder, long-rough dab, plaice, sole, cod, haddock, whiting, cat-fish, viviparous blenny, fresh-water eel, herring and mackerel.

1. Measurements of hydrogen ion concentration, of phosphate concentration, and of temperature all show at certain seasons a well-marked gradient from surface to bottom. The upper 10–20 metres is more alkaline, notably depleted of phosphates and warmer.

2. Settled summer weather and deep water, free from irregularities of the bottom, favour the formation of such a gradient. Its breaking up is occasioned by wave action and the cooling of the surface water in autumn.

3. Thermal stratification in the English Channel arises at each station, and is not due to the inflow of warm over colder water.

So large a demand has been made for copies of the recently published paper on the effects of legislation on the crab fisheries of the East Coast that a new paper is necessary. A summary is given of the previous paper and the figures have been reproduced. For convenience of reference they are arranged and numbered as before. The opportunity has been taken to give a review of the attempts to improve the lobster fisheries by legislation.

1. The food of the bottom fauna of the Plymouth fishing-grounds, at an average depth of 27 fathoms, lias been investigated. This has been done by the examination of the stomach contents of animals, both fresh and preserved, and supplemented by observation of living animals in aquaria.

2. The sources of food have been discussed. Attention is drawn to the importance in these regions, not so much of organic detritus, which is considered by Petersen and Blegvad to be the only important ultimate supply in Danish waters, but of the contributions from the plankton itself and from the considerable microflora and microfauna inhabiting the bottom deposits.

3. Petersen and Boysen Jensen have stated that the detritus present in Danish waters can be traced almost entirely to the annual decay of the Zostera beds. The area occupied by Zostera in Plymouth waters is very smalLin.comparison with that in the Danish fjords and the detritus found here, though considerable in quantity, and in appearance much as described by Petersen, must originate largely from other sources. The possible1 sources of origin apart from land-sources are the coastal Algse and the plankton. A consideration of the annual production of each of these' suggests that the plankton is the more important factor.

4. Blegvad has classified marine animals according to their food into Herbivores, Carnivores, and Detritus-eaters, but this classification does not fit the conditions in the area here studied and is not therefore of general application. Herbivores are absent from these grounds, and few of the animals could be described strictly as detritus-eaters. The animals fall into the following natural groups, according to their food and the mode and location of their feeding:—

A. Carnivores—Animals which feed mainly upon other animals, either living or as carrion.

B. Suspension-feeders—Animals which feed by selecting from the surrounding water the suspended micro-organisms and detritus.

C. Deposit-feeders—Animals which feed upon the detritus deposited on the bottom, together with its associated micro-organisms.

5. Following the preceding classification the food of the common animals of the Plymouth fishing-grounds has been described briefly.

The Herring season of 1923–24 was a peculiarly good one, the fishery continuing from the end of October into the beginning of February.

Newly hatched Herring were first observed on December 17th, 1923, and post-larvæ were abundant up to March, 1924, in the neighbourhood of Plymouth.

Investigations were made into the food of these young Herring, and the probable depth at which they were feeding. Hauls with Young Fish Trawl were made near the surface, midwater, and near the bottom, and tow-nettings were also taken. It has, however, now been found by Mr. Russell that the samples assumed to be near the bottom were possibly in reality some distance above it.

INTRODUCTION.

1. A series of hauls with the ring-trawl were made at five depths in water 50 metres deep, so that samples were obtained approximately in daylight, at dusk, at midnight, at dawn, and again in daylight.

A depth-recorder was used with the net giving a graphic record of its path through the water.

2. Examination of the catches demonstrated the diurnal changes in vertical distribution of the species caught by the ring-trawl.

3. Four types of behaviour were shown:—

(a) A definite migration to the surface in the dark hours of certain forms living in the deeper layers in the daytime.

(b) An expanding of the distribution of other organisms, that in the daytime had a zone of maximum abundance in the deeper layers, so that they were evenly scattered from the surface downwards.

(c) Certain animals showed no or very little change in their vertical distribution during the dark hours.

(d) A movement up to the midwater region by those forms that during the daytime adopt either a truly benthic existence or are congregated in the water layers immediately adjacent to the sea floor.

(Lists of species grouped under their respective types of behaviour are to be found on page 780.)

4. Many such observations are required before conclusions can be drawn as to the normal diurnal behaviour of plankton animals: this is a definite record of what occurred in this locality in mid-July at a period of full moon in fair weather.

Of the relation of amœboid movement to other forms of contractility, very little is known at present. Hypotheses have been advanced to explain the movement, but they differ widely among themselves, and are founded almost entirely on direct observations of the normal activities of amœba. More recently Loeb (24) (25) and others have tried to determine the rôle of various environmental factors, such as the presence of certain salts, in amœboid activity. It is on these lines that the present work is being conducted.

The present paper is a continuation of last year's work on the Euphausiidæ in the neighbourhood of Plymouth (Lebour, 1924), in which the early larval stages were described of Nyctiphanes Couchii, Meganyctiphanes norvegica and, less fully, those of Thysanoessa inermis and T. neglecta. These two last-named forms are reserved for a detailed description in another paper, only Nyctiphanes and Meganyctiphanes being dealt with here. The first paper described these as far as the last Calyptopis stages, and it was shown that they were much alike although perfectly distinct, especially as regards colour. The nauplii and metanauplii were easily distinguishable. The whole of the remaining life-history of Nyctiphanes Couchii has now been elucidated and also that of Meganyctiphanes norvegica, with the exception of a few late larval stages. The absence of these, however, does not materially affect our knowledge of its life-history.

The Ciliates described in this paper were mostly found living in the tanks at the Plymouth Laboratory, which are supplied with a constant circulation of sea-water from two large storage reservoirs. Most of them came from a large shallow tank standing in front of a south window, which is referred to in the paper as “Drake's Island Tank.”

(1) The effect of temperature on the viscosity of the protoplasm has been determined in the unripe eggs of Nereis diversicolor by the centrifuge method.

The viscosity rises as the temperature falls, the rise becoming rapid near 0°C.

(2) These changes of viscosity with temperature are similar to those described by Weber (21) in the protoplasm of certain plant cells.

(3) Attention is drawn to the fact that the temperature coefficients of biological processes should be corrected for the viscosity of the protoplasm in which they occur.

(4) It is shown that the relative changes of protoplasmic viscosity with temperature are probably of the order required to make the temperature coefficients of biological processes constant when corrected for the viscosity factor.

(5) The magnitude of the temperature coefficients of biological processes when corrected for viscosity changes is probably of the same order as that of the temperature coefficients of a chemical process when corrected for changes in the viscosity of its medium.

Last year preliminary results on the feeding of some of the commoner plankton organisms were published (1922). Further progress is made this year, more especially on the living animals, chiefly cœlenterates, kept in the plunger jars. The results of these experiments, specially undertaken to find out whether medusæ naturally caught and ate small fishes, answer the question undoubtedly in the affirmative. A large number of the smaller medusæ were kept alive, and most of these were seen to catch and eat fishes. The usual method of catching the food is with the outstretched tentacles, which, drawn out to very fine threads, react when anything living touches them, stinging the prey with their stinging cells; the tentacles then contract and helped by others, and often also by the lips and sides of the umbrella, manage to convey the food to the mouth, from which it reaches the stomach and is digested. A certain amount of selection is apparent, for the tentacles often reject food. Moreover, medusæ of one species do not as a rule eat one another, although taking other species voraciously. If many small fishes are available the smaller crustacea are neglected by many of the medusæ, although these may be taken when other food is searce. Sagitta bipunctata and Tomopteris helgolandiea are popular with nearly all those that can eat fishes. Certain medusæ, e.g. Sarsia tubulosa and S. prolifera, have never been seen to eat anything but crustacea (copepods or decapod larvæ), and fishes have not been seen inside them.

Many of the difficultics found in naming and classifying Crustacea are due to the extraordinary modifications caused by growth and sex, and the confusion arising from our lack of knowledge of these developmental stages has led to many errors.

In the first publication under the above general title the seasonal changes in sea water were studied, but as explained previously it was not possible to regard all the data as of an equal degree of accuracy. For this and other reasons the seasonal changes were further traced in the hydrographical cruises up to October, 1922, when the approach of the winter equilibrium made it profitless for some months to continue. Since, however, at times from April to September the changes are relatively rapid it may be advisable to follow up the matter during the period mentioned at shorter intervals.

During the last three years further evidence has been obtained that water of relatively high salinity, from the Atlantic to the south-west of the entrance, enters the English Channel past Ushant (1).

It is of interest to summarize this evidence in view of the suggestion (2) that the English Channel is cut off from the Atlantic for considerable periods.

The surface samples of very high-salinity water, collected in the Channel by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, suggest the possibility of masses of oceanic water moving into the Channel past Ushant from time to time; and they further suggest that this oceanic water divides in the western end of the Channel, one part moving direct into the North Sea, through Dover Straits, and the other part turning and passing out northward between Land's End and the Scillies. This is discussed by Mr. J. R. Lumby (see p. 670 of the present number of this Journal).

At the end of June, 1924, a female of Typton spongicola, dredged by the Salpa, bearing eggs, was taken from the sponge Desmacidon fruticosus in which it lives, and given to me alive. This was placed in a Plunger Jar in the Laboratory, and on July 8th most of the eggs hatched out. The larvæ did not live long, and never sloughed the skin; but several were preserved, and the following notes on these are of interest, as very little is known of the development in the Pontoniinæ to which subfamily of the Palaemonidee in the Caridea, Typton belongs (Gurney, 1925). The female continued to live for some months at the bottom of the Plunger Jar without any sponge shelter. It ate any dead plankton, and was a useful scavenger. This is interesting, as its ordinary food is the Desmacidon in which it lives (Hunt, 1923).

The following short paper is based upon the results of very extensive experiments made with both surface-floating and bottom-trailing drift bottles, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries during 1920–21.

An investigation into the euphausiids in the Plymouth waters was undertaken on account of the fact that on examining adult Herring for food it was found that Nyctiphanes Couchii (Bell) was of great importance, and occurred in enormous numbers in a large proportion of the Herring caught in the earlier half of the period of the Herring fishery.

On account of the minute quantities in which they are present and of the fact that they are considered of secondary importance as indicating sewage contamination, phosphates are not usually estimated in analyses of natural waters. The tediousness of the determination also militated against it in the past. As a result, of the numerous analyses recorded by Clarke (1920), but few mention phosphates. C. H. Stone's analysis of the Mississippi in 1905, carried out upon a sample above Carrolton, Louisiana, shows 0.27 per cent of phosphate (PO4) with a total salinity of 146 parts per million, or 0.39 mgrm. PO4 per litre, corresponding to 0.29 mgrm. P2O5.

During the winter of 1924–25 some living specimens of a terrestrial sand-hopper were sent by Major A. A. Dorrien-Smith, D.S.O., Governor of the Isles of Scilly, to Mrs. E. W. Sexton of the Plymouth Laboratory. The specimens, which were handed over to the writer by Mrs. Sexton, have proved on examination to belong to a new species, which is described below and given the name Talitrus dorrieni.

According to information received with the specimens the species has a truly terrestrial habitat: it is found living among the moist humus and under dead leaves in the gardens of Tresco Abbey.