22 
from the ocean up St. George’s Channel and along the 
west side of the Isle of Man (see map). This proved to 
be an important spawning ground for Plaice, Dabs, 
Flounders, Cod, Haddock and Whiting, as not only were 
fish distended with ripe ova brought up in the trawl but 
large numbers of transparent pelagic fish ova and embryos 
in various stages of development were obtained in the 
surface tow-nets. 
This was the first piece of actual evidence obtained as 
to the spawning place of the food fishes of this district. 
Subsequent trawlings and tow-nettings during the sum- 
mer showed that this is probably the great spawning 
eround for this part of the Irish sea, and it is noteworthy 
that zt 7s not a bank, but is actually a depression on the 
average 8 fathoms deeper than the neighbouring sea. This 
locality has a remarkably rich fauna. The small bivalve 
molluse Scrobicularia alba, which is a favourite food of 
various edible fishes, is very abundant, along with many 
rarer things, such as the beautiful Nudibranchs T'ritonea. 
hombergi, Holis tricolor, and Dendronotus arborescens, 
the crab Gonoplax angulatus and the Pennatuld Vor- 
gularia mirabilis which is constantly browsed on by 
fishes of the Cod tribe. The bottom here is a soft bluish 
black mud with which we find great numbers of the long 
spiral mollusc Turritella terebra, and the egg masses of 
this and other molluscs when brought up from the bottom — 
on long lines or in nets have frequently been mistaken by 
fishermen for the spawn of food fishes. It is well-known 
now that our ordinary food fishes, except the Herring, 
produce pelagic eggs which are not deposited at the 
bottom, but which rise to near the surface of the sea 
where they undergo their development while floating freely. 
Although it is obvious that there must be determining 
factors which attract fish from great distances to certain 
