35 
eround outside Morecambe Bay and off the Cumberland 
coast, and also off some parts of the Isle of Man. It is 
not yet known whether these are of much use as food to 
the fishes but so far they have not been taken in the 
stomachs of the large fish examined. 
Aphrodite aculeata:—This characteristic worm, well 
known to many as the ‘“‘ sea mouse,”’ is always to be taken 
in large numbers off the mouth of the Ribble, the Gut Bar, 
in about 5 fathoms. Here again we are unable to say from 
our own statistics whether it is used as food, but on other 
parts of the coast it is of frequent occurrence in the 
stomachs of cod. 
A number of Echinodermata, viz., Ophioglypha albida, 
and O. texturata, Spatangus purpureus, Brissopsis lyrifera 
and Hchinocardium cordatum have been taken in numbers, 
but as yet we have not got sufficient evidence to show 
that they are important articles of food for our fishes. 
The two species of Ophioglypha have been taken in im- 
mense numbers in every haul of the trawl off the Ribble 
Gut Bar usually in 5 fathoms, and associated with Aphro- 
dite aculeata, Philine aperta, Mactra stultorum and M. 
elliptica. Spatangus purpureus, Hchinus esculentus and 
E. miliaris are usually associated together with Pecten 
opercularis, on the deep water ground off the northern 
portion of our district. Brissopis lyrifera has been taken 
in immense numbers in the deep water on the mud to the 
western side of the Isle of Man, and at times constitutes 
the main portion of the invertebrate fauna brought up in 
the trawl. Hchinocardium cordatum is taken off the 
Blackpool closed ground in large numbers. 
In regard to Crustacea, Carcinus moenas (shore crab), 
Portunus depurator (swimming crab), Pagurus bernhardus 
(hermit crab), are widely distributed all over the district in 
the shallow water; the two former do not go much beyond 
