I TO The Irish Naturalist. June, 



In this part of the river we found the common sponge, 

 Halichondria panicea^ in great abundance and luxuriance, just 

 as it was in September, 1843, when Alder and Hancock worked 

 over this ground. Our dredge came up filled with it, clinging 

 in large 3'ellow masses to seaweeds, especiall}' Halidjys sili- 

 qiiosa. A fine specimen of Doris pilosa was captured here, 

 measuring fully li-inch by i-inch, along with three specimens 

 of Goniodoiis nodosa from J-inch downward, and three of 

 Lamellaria perspicua, the largest ^-inch, and all dirty yellow 

 in colour with small black points. Along with these were two 

 live specimens oi Lacuna crassior. 



A jarful of sponges and zoophytes was carried home, and 

 examination of these yielded me two opisthobranch mollusca 

 new to Dublin and to East Ireland, Elysia viridis and ^olis 

 ccsrulca. Both of these came from quite shallow water, not 

 more than two fathoms. The Klysia was yVi^ch long and 

 the ^olis 1 i-inch when in motion. The coloration of the 

 ^olis was strikingly beautiful. The cylindrical papillae, dis- 

 posed in about seven rows transverse to the bod}^ were indigo 

 black below, brilliant blue in the centre^ and bright orange 

 red at the tips. The black ej^es were conspicuous, the body 

 was translucent, displa3dng the dark viscera within, and the 

 rhythmic beating of the heart was distinctly visible behind 

 the dorsal tentacles. The onl}- previous record I can discover 

 for this species is one for Valentia Island. ^ 



September 7. — Five members of the committee, Messrs. 

 Buller, Colgan, Halbert, Hinch, and Southern, set sail from 

 Kingstown in the "Kmma Mary" at 9 a.m. for a two-daj^s' 

 cruise to the northward. Our plans were ambitious. We 

 hoped to run straight for Lambay Deep, a long trough-like 

 depression in the sea-floor Ij-ing some eight miles eastward of 

 Lambay, and giving soundings of from 40 to 70 fathoms. 

 Here we were to make a few scrapes before sunset, and then 

 standing in to Lambay Sound, anchor there for the night and 

 dredge the deep water to the east of the island on the follow- 

 ing da3\ But once again we were baffled by the failure of the 

 wind. It was 11.45 before we found ourselves off the Bailey 

 I,ight ; it was half-past two when we got full}^ round it, and 



' Irish Xaiuralist, vol. v., 1896. p, 135. 



