5-2 INLAND FISHERIES. 



there were millions of the larv;e of the aunelid worm Syllis, and 

 other organisms. The night was clear, with bright moon, and the 

 tide was rising. The next morning, June 28th, was cloudy, with 

 some rain, and large numbers of the larvje were taken in the nets, 

 between 8.30 and 10 o'clock. In the evening of this day, between 

 9 and 11 o'clock, they were even more abundant than during the 

 day. The evening was calm and cloudy, with a little rain. After- 

 ward I met with the same experience on several occasions. 



Another question in respect to the movements of the free-swim- 

 ming larv?e is of practical importance, inasmuch as they are thou- 

 sands of times more numerous than the adult stars. To w^hat dis- 

 tances may the larvte be carried by the tides and currents in our 

 Bay ? I cannot answer this question directly, but there are cer- 

 tain facts which have an inportant bearing upon it. 



Although the purple stars (Asterias vulgaris) are common in 

 the lower portion of the Bay in the vicinity of Newport and Sea- 

 connet, they seem to be totally absent from the upper parts, 

 although the adults, at least, can live in these waters. I have 

 kept them for a long time in Kickemuit river. This would seem 

 to indicate that the larvre of the purple stars are not transported 

 by the tides from the lower to the upper portion of the Bay. It 

 may be, of course, that the larvse, unlike the adults, cannot abide 

 in the upper portion, or that the young stars, as soon as they can 

 crawl, return to the southward unnoticed ; this seems to me, how- 

 ever, to be improbable. 



The distribution of some other marine animals whose habits 

 are similar to those of the brachiolaria is of interest in this 

 connection. At Waquoit, about ten miles northwest of Woods 

 Holl, on the Vineyard Sound side, the water was fairly alive with 

 the young of a certain species of jelly-fish, which could be taken 

 from this locality in immense numbers at any time for several 

 weeks during the spring. At Woods Holl, however, these speci- 

 mens were comparatively rare. 



Again, later in the summer, at Menemsha Bight, near Gay Head, 

 another small jelly-fish was found in such great abundance that 



