74 Millport Marine Biological Station. [Sess. 



that matter, along the east side of Scotland, although I have 

 searched very diligently for them. Then Pasifhcea sivado, 

 Eisso, which I have found in quantity near the mouth of 

 the Clyde estuary, and odd specimens in other parts, has 

 not once been seen in the Forth. 



" The schizopod fauna of the two estuaries are pretty much 

 alike, but there is one notable exception, viz., the great 

 abundance of Nyctiphanes norvegicus in Loch Fyne, and oc- 

 casionally in other parts, while in the Forth I very seldom 

 obtained it. About twenty years ago, or perhaps a little 

 more, Dr Henderson said of this schizopod species that the 

 young are not uncommon in the Forth at the surface, es- 

 pecially in winter and spring. I am afraid he made a mis- 

 take, just as I did sometime afterwards, by confounding it 

 with the adult stage of another species. The species were not 

 so readily distinguished at that time as they were later, — at 

 anyrate, I can say that, after becoming familiar with the 

 various forms, I did not find Nyctiphanes common in the Forth, 

 either in the old or the young stage ; but a closely allied 

 genus, Rhoda (or, as it was then called, Borcoj^hausia), was, 

 and is, common during winter and spring." Passing over 

 the Sympoda or Cumacea, as well as the Amphipoda, the 

 Cladocera, and some other of the minuter crustaceans or 

 Entomostraca, as being alike found in the two sea-areas, Dr 

 Scott goes on to notice, among the Copepoda, a curious differ- 

 ence as regards Bicchceta norvcgica, which, he says, " is ofttimes 

 very abundant in Loch Fyne, and is also found in other parts 

 of the Clyde area, but not a trace of it has been seen in 

 the Forth. Bradyidius armatus is also common in the Clyde, 

 but I have no record of it as yet from the Forth. On the 

 other hand, Acartia longiremis is moderately frequent — some- 

 times common — in the Forth, but I have never found any 

 satisfactory evidence of its occurrence in the Clyde." 



These curious examples of unequal distribution might easily 

 be added to, but enough has been said to emphasise the 

 fact that in the sea as on land, and in animals as amongst 

 plants, we are often confronted by what seem to be strange 

 anomalies. To the elucidation of some of these we may look 

 with confidence to the work now being done at the Millport 

 Biological Station. 



