NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 197 



were either swimming freely, or, more frequently, resting on drift blades 

 of zostera. Many fragments of this were literally crowded by them, but 

 we saw no more young lobsters on this occasion. On the 23rd of the 

 same month the surface otter-net, which has a mouth about 15 or 20 feet 

 wide and about 6 feet deep, caught one larval lobster two or three 

 miles outside the breakwater of Plymouth Sound. The sea was calm, 

 with a long swell, and mackerel were schooling all round us. On 

 the following day, as we lay to taking temperatures, &c., about a mile 

 and a half outside the Breakwater, I noticed a lobster at the surface, 

 and in a short space of time we dipped up over two dozen as they 

 drifted alongside. They occurred singly, not in a shoal. The sea 

 was quiet, but not calm, as a fair breeze was blowing from the east. 

 On all occasions the larvpe were either newly hatched or had only 

 passed their first moult. 



Cepola rubescens. Li7i'}i. Two red ribbon-fish, 30"8 cm. (12| in.) 

 and 27"4 cm. (lOf in.) in length, were caught in shrimp-trawls in 

 Plymouth Sound on the 17th and 22nd December, 1897, and brought 

 to the Laboratory alive. Both proved to be females, the larger one 

 having the ovaries swollen but far from ripe. 



The red ribbon-fish can hardly be considered rare on the S.W. coast 

 of England and S. and W. coasts of Ireland, but it is not very often 

 caught. I have known or heard of several instances in which a 

 number of specimens have been caught at about the same date, none 

 having previously occurred. Day concludes that it occurs most 

 frequently on our own coasts after heavy weather, but its sporadic 

 appearances may really be due to some normal phase of its habits 

 about which little is known. 



Trachinus draco. Zinn. The greater Weever is said by Day to 

 reach a length of at least 17 inches. A specimen landed at Plymouth 

 on 20th November, 1897, measures 17^ inches, 4o'8 cm. ca. It is a 

 female, with ovaries rather enlarged. 



Trigla obscura. Linn. On the 2nd March, 1897, I saw a number 

 of specimens mixed up with young 2\ inni and 2\ gurnardus in the 

 Plymouth market. I was told that they came from the rough ground 

 oft" the Start, are locally known as " Offing Gurnard," and are not 

 uncommon in the district. None of these items of information were 

 derived from the actual captors, and may all be erroneous, though the 

 accompanying species suggest a British origin. I have never been able 

 to find any more specimens among the small gurnards brought in by 



