of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 48f) 



the internal muscular structure; Aphrodita, Arenicola, and a few others 

 d(t not, however, appear to be so readily acted upon as some others. 



The Starfish remains observed in the stomachs of fishes are usually 

 very fragmentary ; they consist of the disks and pieces of the arms, while 

 sometimes plates and spines are the only evidence that Starfishes have 

 been taken by the fish. 



An interesting fact, brought out by the examination of the fishes men- 

 ti(»ned in the sequel, is that Sagitta and the tadpole-like Ascidian, 

 Oikopleura, sometimes form a considerable portion of the food of certain 

 kinds of fishes; and it is also shown that the smaller Cidenterata, 

 Pleuruhrachia and others, are at times moderately abundant in the 

 stomachs of the common Lumpsucker. 



Before passing on to describe the food observed in the stomachs of the 

 fishes belonging to each of the particular species mentioned in the list, I 

 would remark, although it is hardly necessary to do so, that to ol)tain a 

 fairly accurate knowledge of the food of the smaller and immature fishes 

 which feed largely on the minute Crustacea requires careful and patient 

 research — it is work which cannot be done in a hurry. It frequently 

 hapi^eus that minute organisms are so covered with mucus that they must 

 be cleaned ere they can be identified, and sometimes they can only be 

 identified by dissection. 



The food of the various kinds of fishes will be described in the order 

 in which their names are given in the list. The measurements are in 

 centimetres (cm.) unless otherwise stated. 



The Nokway Haddock. Sebade^ norceyicii't (Ascan.). 



^ine specimens were examined, their measurements being — one at 10 

 cm., one at 11 cm., one at 12i cm., one at 12| cm., one at 14 cm., 

 three at 20 cm., and one at 34 cm. They were captured to the east of 

 Fair Island, October 16th, 1900. The stomach of one was empty, or 

 contained matter so much digested as to be almost indistinguishable, 

 while the food contained in the others consisted entirely of Crustacea, 

 chiefly Pandalus montayui and Cranyou (1) aUmanni. The C'ranyon 

 remains were too disintegrated to be satisfactorily identified. 



Sea Scorpion. Cotfu!< scvrjiim, L. 



In the stomachs of seven specimens, all from the Bay of Nigg, near 

 Aberdeen, the food observed consisted altogether of Crustacea, and 

 included larval Decapods, the fragments of a Hermit Crab (I'Ju2Ja;/ttras), 

 Porcellawa hjiKjiconiis, Lhttlwa halfica, the Cypris stage of Balanm sp., 

 and some fragments which could not be satisfactorily assigned to any 

 particular genus or species. Van Beneden states that he has observed a 

 young Gurnard, Trivia (im-nariJu>=, in the stomach of Caftus .■^corpiu^, but 

 otherwise the food recorded by him consisted entirel}'^ of Crustaceans, and 

 such as usually frequent shallow inshore water. The size of the fish 

 ranged from about four to seven inches (10 to 18 cm.). 



Red Gurnard. Triyla pint, Bloch, and 



Sapphirine Gurnard. Tr'ujla lurerna, L. 



One specimen of the former measuring about 24^ cm. in length, and 

 two of the latter measuring o2| cm. and .34 cm. respectively, were 

 examined. In the stomach of the first, two small Forfimm sp, were 

 observed, while the only food observed in the stomachs of the other two 

 consisted of fragments of Purl anus (?) hoUalii^. The Red Gurnard was 



