448 Fart III. — Tirentieth Annual Repoit 



naturalists to study the invertebrate fauna of the Forth estuary, and a 

 considerable number of species of Crustacea, including several Schizopods, 

 w^ere made known to science, yet none of these investigators appears to 

 have noticed Erythrops goesii, G.O.S. (= E. erytJirophthcdmus, Goes). 

 Now this Schizopod, though probably one of the largest of the 

 species belonging to the genus Erythrops, is under half an inch 

 in length, and might on account of its small size be overlooked 

 by an ordinary observer, but, like its confreres, it possesses eyes 

 of such a brilliant red colour as to make the little creature quite conspicu- 

 ous even in a crowded tow-net gathering, especially if the gathering be 

 examined soon after it is collected ; it is therefore scarcely likely that this 

 ErytJu'Oj^s would have escaped being noticed by naturalists so experienced 

 as Goodsir, Henderson, Leslie, and others, had it been present in any of 

 their collections. Other and less conspicuous 'Schizopods were recorded 

 by these early investigators : then why not this one? When, on the other 

 hand, we turn to the work of the Fishery steamer "Garland," as described 

 in the various Annual Reports of the Board, we find that mention is made 

 of Erythrops as early as October 3rd, 1888, when it was obtained in a 

 bottom tow-net gathering collected at Station V.,* while in a paper on 

 the fauna of the Firth of Forth published in 1889 Erythrops goesii is, 

 described as " frequent all over the Forth from Inchkeith to May 

 Island, "t and as being new to Britain ; but since that time it has been 

 found to be of moderately common occurrence, especially in the part of 

 the Firth described above. The question which naturally suggests itself 

 here is — Was the recognition of Erythrops in the Firth of Forth in 1888, 

 and every year since, the result of a recent migration of the species, or 

 had it simply been overlooked by former observers ? 



The second example is even more interesting than the one just referred 

 to — viz., the occurrence of Calocaris macandrecs in the Firth of Forth. 

 Calocaris was for a long time considered to be a rare species and to have 

 a very limited distribution ; subsequent investigations have shown, how- 

 ever, that its distribution is not so restricted as it was formerly believed 

 to be ; but till as recently as the past summer it had never been known 

 to occur in the Firth of Forth, notwithstanding the fact that the Crus- 

 tacean fauna of that estuary has been very carefully examined by the 

 various methods of tow-netting, dredging, and trawling, as well as by the 

 examination of the organisms contained in the stomachs of fishes captured 

 within its limits. About the end of May of the present year (1901), when 

 the Fishery steamer " Garland " was engaged in carrying on some special 

 work, a number of specimens of the Crustacean referred to were obtained, 

 along with several other organisms, at Station II I. — to the east of Inchkeith 

 — in a small-mesh net which was being employed for the capture of small 

 fishes ; and it was also about the same time obtained in the stomach of a 

 Long Ptough Dab, Drepauopsetta platessoides, from about the same place. 

 Other specimens of Calocaris were obtained by Mr. Pearcey, the JSTaturalist 

 on board the " Garland," in the stomachs of large Witch Soles, 

 Pleuronectes cynoglossus, captured on the 28th of June and 15th July at 

 Station V. — to the west of May Island — in 25 to 27 fathoms. These 

 various captures of Calocaris within such a short time would almost 

 warrant the belief that this Crustacean was not uncommon in the Firth of 

 Forth ; and should that be found to be really the case, the fact that no 

 trace of the species had been noticed by any previous observer is of con- 

 siderable interest. Of course, if the species be of true fossorial habits — 

 and any evidence we have concerning it seems to support such a con- 



^ Se.'enth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland (1889), Part III., p. 57. 

 fOp. cit., p. 322. 



