264 THE PLAGUE OF OCTOPUS ON THE SOUTH COAST, 



other forms on the south coast, as well as in an usually heavy fall of 

 oyster spat. 



The same conditions must have also affected the octopus, and the 

 abundance of full-grown specimens which was first noticed off our 

 coasts in January, 1899, appears to me to be attributable to that 

 oricrinal cause. The warm summers and mild winters which we have 

 experienced during the past few years have also provided the conditions 

 most suitable to a warm-water animal, and have favoured its residence 

 in our inshore waters. In Mr. Allen's paper on the fauna of Salcombe 

 it will be seen that we found the grotto-like nests of the octopus, 

 together with their inmates, in considerable numbers on the shore of 

 Salcombe estuary this year, and others have come across these un- 

 pleasant intruders when bathing inshore in Whitsand Bay and else- 

 where. I myself found a minute octopus, scarcely larger than a grain 

 of rice (3-5 mm,), when fishing with a muslin net in Salcombe Harbour in 

 August. This shows that the creature is already established, and 

 reproducing its kind, in our inshore waters, and augurs ill for the 

 shell fisheries during the next few years unless, as we may reasonably 

 expect, a severe winter during the coming season may drive the octopus 

 off shore to deeper water,* or, again, unless remedial measures can be 

 devised for exterminating the animal. 



II. Effects on the Shell Fisheeies. 



The extent of the injury caused by the hordes of octopus now infesting 

 our shores may be gathered from the subjoined table. It represents the 

 actual catch of an experienced Plymouth fisherman (Mr. Wm. Eoach) 

 during a single week of October, and shows the total number of baited 

 pots put down daily on the grounds, and the catch of crabs, lobsters 

 and octopus. The number of crabs and lobsters killed in the pots by 

 intruding octopus is distinguished from the number of uninjured shell 

 fish. It should be borne in mind that until the last two years the 

 entrance of an octopus into a fisherman's pots was a most exceptional 

 occurrence, and did not happen, as I am credibly informed, more than 

 once or twice a year. Several years might pass before the individual 

 crab fisherman would take a single specimen in his pots. 



• Postscript, Nov. 15th. The trawling smacks are now catching large numbers of 

 octopus both off Plymouth (5 miles from shore) and in Start Bay (20 miles S.S.E. of Berry 

 Head). As many as 100 have been taken in one haul in tlie latter locality. 



