ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 185 



Estuary. Both the Firth of Forth and the Moray Firth specimens 

 were alive when captured. 



Odostomia rufa (Philippi), var. rufa-cincta, was first recorded 

 for the Forth by Professor Henderson in the " Proceedings of the 

 Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh," vol. viii. p. 313 (1884-85). 

 He obtained one living, and several dead specimens somewhere 

 west of May Island, in 20 fathoms. Our specimens occurred, as 

 already stated, in the same material with the Ne<zra ; a few living 

 specimens were secured, all marked with the characteristic rufous 

 band. — Thomas Scott, Leith. 



The Water Spider (Argyroneta aquatica) in Inverness-shire. — 

 On 1 9th May last I captured about a dozen examples of this fine Spider 

 among sphagnum, growing in pools by Loch Phitiulais, near Aviemore. 

 The fact is interesting, inasmuch as it carries the distribution of the 

 species much farther north in central Scotland than hitherto ascer- 

 tained ; the only Scotch habitats on record, so far as I know, being 

 Luffhess and Balerno near Edinburgh, Possil Marsh, Glasgow, and 

 Scotston Moor, near Aberdeen. No doubt, when carefully looked 

 for in suitable localities, it will be found to have a much more general 

 distribution than we are at present aware of. — William Evans, 

 Edinburgh. 



Notes on Forth Annelida. — The Forth Annelids appear to have 

 received less attention than several of the other invertebrate groups. 

 This neglect is perhaps partly due to a certain feeling of repugnance 

 with which many people look upon these animals ; yet when this 

 feeling can be overcome, the study of the Annelida is found to be 

 exceedingly interesting. 



The curious Linens marinus, Mont. = Nemertes borlasii, Cuv., 

 though comparatively a common species, has not, so far as I can 

 ascertain, been recorded for the Forth. We occasionally obtain 

 specimens of this species measuring several yards in length : yet 

 these, though large, are but pigmies in comparison with the giant 

 described by Professor MTntosh in his valuable " Monograph of the 

 British Annelides." This specimen had been cast ashore at St. 

 Andrews during a severe storm in 1864; and when put into a jar S 

 inches wide by 5 inches deep, it half filled the vessel. At page 1 S3, 

 part i., of the work referred to, Professor MTntosh thus describes the 

 length of the specimen: •'Thirty yards," he says, "were measured 

 without rupture, and yet the mass was not half uncoiled." We 

 usually obtain J.ineiis marinus about the roots of tangles, among 

 which it winds itself in apparently inextricable confusion. 



Atnmotrypdne aulogaster^ Rathke — The only Forth record of 

 this s] seems to be that contained in the report <>t~ the German 



North Sea Expedition, where it is recorded by Professor Mobius from 

 the vicinity of the Bass Rock. We find Ammotrypane all over the 



Forth where there i> a muddy bottom, which seems to be the kind 



