114 THE director's EEPOET. 



summer montlis, did not make their appearance till the middle of 

 February, when larvas of Echinids, Asterids, Holothurians, Molluscs 

 and Worms began to make their appearance in great numbers. At 

 the same time many species of Copepoda were breeding, the females 

 carrying ovisacs, and the surface was swarming with the Nauplii of 

 pelagic Copepoda and Cirrhipedes. There can be no doubt that 

 these larval forms afford abundant food for young fish. At a 

 somewhat later date a gelatinous Alga made its appearance in the 

 sea, and proved a great hindrance to the investigation of pelagic 

 animals. With the appearance of the Algas the surface larvae began 

 to diminish in numbers, and towards the end of April we obtained 

 little else than Copepods and Alg^ in the surface-net. Similar facts 

 have been noticed by the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee off 

 the west coast of Lancashire and Wales. 



The temperature of the sea last February was higher than it 

 was in March, 1888, being 45° Fahr. on the 12th February, against 

 44-6° and 43-88° on March 8th and 16th, 1888. It is possible that 

 the somewhat higher temperature of the sea this year had some 

 effect in pushing forward the development of many marine animals, 

 and also in promoting the growth of the gelatinous algae, for in a 

 visit made to Plymouth in April, 1888, I do not remember to have 

 heard of any trouble from the presence of the latter. 



Up to April in this year the temperatures of the sea and the 

 water in the aquarium had been taken intermittently, but since 

 that date they have been kept regularly and entered in a book, and 

 will be published in a tabular form after a sufficient time has elapsed 

 for making comparisons of the seasonal variations. The water in 

 circulation in the tanks is naturally at a somewhat different tempera- 

 ture to that in the sea, and the following facts may be of some 

 interest. From April 2nd to April 11th the weather was fine and 

 warm, and the water in the tanks varied from 48° to 48'5° Fahr., 

 the sea temperature at the same time varying from 46° to 47° Fahr. 

 On the 12th April the temperature of the tanks fell to 47^ , and 

 remained at this till the 22nd, when it regained its previous tempera- 

 ture and rose to 49'6°, at which it remained till May 4th. During 

 this time the sea thermometers were under repair, and we were unable 

 to take observations. On May 7th the sea near the Shagrock was 

 50°, and the water in the tanks 50-9°. By the 15th the temperature 

 had risen to 52 3° in the tanks and 54° in the sea, whilst on the 

 23rd it was 53'6° in the tanks and 56° in the sea. The tempera- 

 ture of the sea rose to 57° on June 4th, 58° on June 8th, and 59 on 

 June 22nd, the tank temperatures for the corresponding days being 

 53-9°, 58'6°, and 58-8°. By July 1st the sea temperature had risen 

 to 60°, and that of the tanks to 60*8°. 



