marine biological station on tuffin island. 21 



Faunistic Work at Hilere. 



As usual members of the Committee and others have 

 tried to go to Hilbre Island at the very low tides as often 

 as possible during the year. On a visit in April Mr. 

 Christophers, a student of the Biological department of 

 the College, found a species of sponge (Baspailia sp.) 

 which is at least new to the district. We also on that 

 occasion obtained various Nudibranchs, some of them 

 spawning. The starfishes w^ere very abundant on the 

 rocks, and seem to be yearly increasing in number. 

 Young mussels were also at this time very plentiful all 

 over the rocks. Later in the year we found that the 

 mussels had entirely disappeared. To some extent no 

 doubt they are eaten by the starfishes and other animals, 

 but we have reason to believe that their disappearance as 

 they get large is chiefly due to the fact that on account of 

 the layer of fine mud which covers all the rocks at Hilbre 

 they are unable to attach themselves firmly to any solid 

 support and merely cling together by the interlacing of 

 their byssus fibres, so that when they come to be of appre- 

 ciable size and offer resistance to the sweep of the waves, 

 they are readily detached from the surface of the rock in 

 large sheets a j^ard or two in length. We have seen this 

 process going on on more than one occasion — the sheets 

 of half-grown mussels being rolled up by the waves, and 

 then washed about the sands. 



On November 14th some of us went to Hilbre Island 

 with Professor Howes (S. Kensington), Mr. Garstang and 

 Mr. Bles (Owens College) and some others, when we 

 found 8 species of Nudibranchs, Garveia nutans, a SipJioii- 

 ostomiun, the Nemertean Ampliiporus lactlfloreus, and 

 other interesting forms. 



The amount of Zoophytes and Polyzoa found cast up 

 by the recent gales was most astonishing. A few hand- 



