29 



SiC. — when the}' first appear on the sandy shores, feed 

 ahnost entirely on these minute crustaceans. The species 

 usually found in tlie stomachs of tlie young fishes, between 

 half-an-inch and an inch, are chiefly littoral, such as 

 Eurytemora, Ectinosoma, Tachidius, and Junesiella. Al- 

 though the Copepods at particular stages form a food 

 supply for the fishes, it is just possible that the fishes 

 themselves, when they are newly hatched, may be eaten 

 by the Copepods. Instances of this were demonstrated 

 during our feeding experiments, and a species of Copepod 

 (Centropages) was seen to capture one week old Flounders 

 and eat them. 



" Other invertebrates, such as Sagitta, Medusae, Cteno- 

 phora, and Oikophura occurred very sparingly in the 

 local gatherings. 



The eggs and larvae of fish were very plentiful in tow- 

 nettings taken in the open sea, but very few eggs and no 

 larvas occurred in the local collections. The first collec- 

 tion in which fish eggs were observed were those taken 

 by the steamer on January 27th, at the " Top end of 

 the Hole." None were found in local gatherings until 

 February 4th. 



Amongst the surface material collected by tow-net when 

 the steamer was in the Clyde on April '21st, were three 

 large fish eggs, measuring fully three millimeters in 

 diameter. The larvae were well developed, and hatched 

 out a few days later, but did not survive. There was one 

 large and one small amber-coloured oil globule present, 

 but no space between the embryo and the egg membrane. 

 The species of fish to which these eggs belonged is still 

 uncertain. The only eggs corresponding to them in size 

 are those of the Halibut ; but the eggs of this fish have 

 apparently not yet been taken in surface nets. The 

 newly hatched larvae had a large yolk sac and very short tail. 



