196 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORT SOCIETV OF GI-ASGOW. 



On some Recent Marine Ostracoda dredged 

 IN Granton Harbour. 



[Head 2atli January, 1890.] 



The followiii}? List of Ostracoda appears to be un- 

 usually full, when we take into account the nature of 

 the locality where they were dredged twenty-one 

 years ago. The place was a small sheltered bight on 

 the west side of the Granton Railway Station, opposite 

 a joiner's workshop, where we hired a small boat 

 which was not very suitable for dredging purposes. 

 The day was windy, and we could not venture outside 

 the harbour in such a boat. As we did not wish to 

 spend time in so unpromising a place, we contented 

 ourselves with one haul of a small seven-inch dredge. 

 It sometimes happens that good results are obtained 

 where least expected, and such was the case with our 

 dredging experiment. 



The List contains 47 species, and two or three others 

 were not satisfactorily identified. There are a few 

 fi-esh and brackish water species, and probably some 

 othefrs, which do not strictly belong to the locality. 

 It is most likely that these organisms are carried by 

 currents into such sheltered places, where they settle 

 down and remain, although the habitat may not be 

 the most favourable for them. 



There is a small hfiy at Roundstone, Ireland, called 

 " Dog's Bay," where Foraminifera, Ostracoda, and 

 small shells are so abundant as to lie in small wreaths 

 on the beach ; but that abundance is confined to a 

 very small portion of the bay, not more than a few 

 yards in extent, while the other parts are almost 

 barren. Ostracoda are rather poorly represented in 

 the beach gatherings, but Foraminifera and shells are 

 most abundant. These, being mostly dead, will 

 readil}'^ float on the rising tide from the neighbouring 

 shore, and probably be drifted by the wind into that 

 particular part of the bay where they are so abun- 

 dantly found. 



Such cases will account in some measure for the 



