LIVERPOOL MARINPJ BIOLOGY COMMITTEE. 213 



now for three seasons, and the practical part of the work has 

 consisted of dredging expeditions, lasting in some cases for 

 several days at a time, tow-netting expeditions in small boats, 

 and shore expeditions for the investigation of the littoral 

 Fauna. A considerable extent of the large quadrangular 

 area* of the Irish Sea extending around Liverpool Bay, and 

 bounded by the Isle of Man and the coasts of Anglesey, 

 North Wales, Cheshire, and Lancashire has now been 

 explored, large collections have been made, and a first 

 volume of reportsf has been published consisting of twenty- 

 nine articles written by twenty-one biologists and illustrated 

 by ten plates and two maps of the district. These reports 

 record the occurrence of 913 species,{ of which at least 235 

 had not been found previously in this neighbourhood. Six- 

 teen of these species have not been previously discovered in 

 British seas, and at least seven species and three varieties 

 are new to science, so that a considerable measure of success 

 has already attended the efforts of the Committee. It is 

 evident, however, that such work must be a matter of time, and 

 that every additional year's records will add to the value 

 of any conclusions that may be drawn in regard to the Fauna 

 under consideration. 



The records already made have attracted attention to 

 several general questions which are now being investigated. 



One of these is the detection of changes in the local Fauna 

 which have taken place, or may take place in the future. 

 Some of the rarer Nudibranchs, such as Emhletonia pallida 

 and Antiopa hyalina, formerly found on the shores of Hilbre 

 Island at the mouth of the Dee, have probably disappeared 

 entirely from that locality. On the other hand, the rare 

 Hydroid Garveia nutans seems to have migrated lately into 

 Liverpool Bay, and to be spreading there with rapidity. It 

 was first noticed in this neighbourhood on May 9th, 1885, 

 while dredging in Hilbre Swash, and since then has been 

 found at Hilbre Island, Colwyn Bay, off Pufiin Island, and 



* Generally called for short in the Reports, the L. M. B. C. district. 

 + 'First Report upon the Fauna of Liverpool Bay,' &c., Longmans, London, 

 1886. 



X Since increased to over a thousand species. 



