THE MARINE FAUNA OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 3 1 



might be expected to yield good results, but in reality it is 

 distinctly disappointing". The boulders of which it is com- 

 posed are small, very few measuring- a foot in diameter, and 

 at its lowest horizon, i.e., on the south-west side, it is only 

 a broad shingle beach. There are few anemones ; Vesicularia 

 spinosa grows in large tufts on Funis, with some Mem- 

 branipora pilosa; the ragworm, Nerine coniocephala, and 

 two nemertines occur under the stones ; and the limpet and 

 the dogwhelk have here their only station on the north shore 

 of the Humber. But it is worth a visit, if only to see the 

 tubes of the "sand mason" and the masses of Corallina 

 officinalis, where the water drains off from the pools on the 

 top. Several other seaweeds grow here, but Chondrus crispus 

 is the only one identified at present. 



Dredging in the Humber has been limited to excursions 

 in August with the Paull shrimpers. There is not much 

 variety in the rubbish ; Portunus depurator, the cleanser 

 crab, comes up occasionally ; the hermit crab (Eupagnriis 

 bernhardus), Pandalus annulicornis, and Pectinaria belgica, 

 were dredged off Trinity Sand ; and Hydractinia echimita, 

 Clytia johnstoni, Clava mnlticornis, and Sabellaria alveolata 

 were found on empty whelk-shells. Tellina balthiea, a 

 common Humber bivalve, is often found in the stomachs of 

 plaice caught in the trawls; the thick shells are evidently 

 broken by their mutual pressure. 



On the outer coast there are few permanent abodes for 

 zoophvtes or worms, since the whole beach is continually 

 moving southwards. On the Binks, where the shingle is 

 temporarily brought to rest, we find nothing, for, judging 

 from its state at low water when one usually plunges knee- 

 deep into the gravel at every other step, the upper strata of 

 this immense deposit must be in motion when submerged ; 

 consequently, it offers no attractions except to the student of 

 ripple marks, and he will find admirable examples, ten yards 

 long with a fall of two feet on the steeper side. Proceeding 

 northward, the groynes on the Spurn shore furnish several 

 mollusca and polyzoa, especially Gibbula cineraria adorned 

 with living Membranipora pilosa; and a large patch of 

 boulders and clay pools between Kilnsea and Easington — 

 Kilnsea Skerries — still awaits careful examination ; I have 

 never been fortunate enough to obtain the desired coincidence 

 of favourable tide and favourable weather. Tubularia larynx 

 grows here, sometimes on the large boulders, but more often 

 in small tufts on the clay in the corners of the pools. 



In August 1900, a pool outside the sea-bank at Easing- 



