DUBLIN NATTTEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. 61 



Mr. Andrews said that the thanks of the Society were due to Dr. 

 Farran for his perseverance in following out the important discovery of 

 the late William M'Calla, and for the very beautiful series of Portunus 

 marmoreus he had brought before the meeting. Mr. Andrews was not 

 at all surprised at Dr. Farran' s meeting with that beautiful crustacean 

 in such abundance on the west coast ; it was only confirmatory of the 

 identity of many other marine animals of that coast with those of the 

 shores of Spain and the Mediterranean. But a very superficial research 

 had as yet been made among the Crustacea of the coasts of Ireland, es- 

 pecially those of the west coast, where by far the greater proportion of 

 species of British marine animals were doubtless to be met. This dearth 

 of information was chiefly owing to the few trials of the dredge in deep 

 water ; for the rarer animals might be taken there, and, even at the 

 depths of eighty fathom, some of the most delicate crustaceans would 

 be found. 



In eighty-four fathoms, off the Tiraght Rock, in fine gravelly 

 soundings, Pandalus annulicomis and Palcemon serratus had been taken ; 

 they were particularly abundant in the stomachs of the cod-fish; species 

 of Hippolyte and of Mysis, Pirimela denticulata and Hyas coarctatus, 

 were also taken. In Dingle Bay, in twenty-five fathoms, on the trawl- 

 ing ground, on fine sand, Corystes cassivelaunus and Maia squinado are 

 constantly taken up with the trawls. Mr. Andrews begged to present 

 to the Society some specimens of Portunus puber and Portunus holsatus, 

 taken in Dingle Bay. A specimen of the latter so closely approached 

 in distinctive characters P. marmoreus as scarcely to be distinguishable 

 from it. Associations ought to be formed for exploring more effectively 

 the marine productions of the west coast, as off the bays of Galway, 

 Dingle, Ballinskelligs, and Kenmare, in soundings of from forty to sixty 

 fathoms, good dredging ground would be met on fine gravelly bottoms, 

 fine sand, and soft sand and mud. It was in eighty-one fathoms he 

 had taken the living specimens of Eunice tubicola. 



Dr. Kinahan stated that the addition of this species to the Irish 

 list was not the. least interesting among the many additions made by 

 the late M'Calla. It was most gratifying to have M'Calla' s locality for 

 this interesting species placed thus completely above suspicion, and Dr. 

 Farran doubtless deserved a great deal of credit for his perseverance in 

 endeavouring, in spite of unfavourable circumstances which he had de- 

 tailed, to prove this point. 



From a careful examination of Dr. Farran' s beautiful series of spe- 

 cimens, he felt no hesitation in venturing to dissent altogether from 

 both Bell and Milne Edwardes as to the specific identity of P. mar- 

 moreus and P. hotsatus; no one who examined these beautiful specimens 

 could for one moment imagine that the species were identical. The 

 distribution of the species was distinct too, for P. holsatus was much 

 more generally diffused and more northerly in its distribution than P. 

 marmoreus, which as yet had been only found in the southern parts of 

 Britain. 



