490 Part III. — Tweniieih, Annual Report 



captured in Sinclair Bay, Caithness-shire, and the Sapphirine Gurnards in 

 the IMoray Firth, June 29th, 1901. 



Grey Gurnard. Trujla <jurnardu>>, L. 



Of the seventy-nine Grey Gurnards examined, five of them, which 

 were from Annan (Sol way), collected in May, 1900, and measuring about 

 14|- to 15| cm., had their stomachs filled almost entirely with the frag- 

 ments of Crustacea — Crant/on cuhjaris being the most common. Some 

 specimens of Mysidje and of Galanus fimnarcMcus were observed, and 

 also a single specimen of Mo7iondodes carinatuif. 



In the stomachs of ten specimens from the Clyde, collected on October 

 4th, 1901, and which measured from 14| to 19i cm., C'rantjon was again 

 the prevailing kind of food observed ; the species observed was Granr/on 

 allmanni, and it occurred in eight out of the ten stomachs examined. 

 Pandahcs vio?da(jui was observed in two stomachs, SeJiistomysis ornatwi 

 in one, and Haliiiiedon parvi)nanu>i (an Amphipod species) in two. A 

 small round fish was observed in one of the stomachs, and was the only 

 organism other than Crustacea obtained. 



In twenty-four stomachs of Gurnards from the Moray Firth, seven of 

 which were examined in June, 1900, and the others in June of the 

 present year (1901), Grant/on formed a smaller proportion of the food 

 observed than in those just referred to, especially in the specimens 

 examined this year. The stomachs examined last year were not in very 

 good preservation, and only one contained food that could be identified, 

 and which consisted of the remains of Cramjon sp. ; the examination of 

 further specimens belonging to this sample was therefore discontinued. 

 In the stomachs of those examined this year small Decapods were found 

 in four {Nika edulis in one and Gramjon sp. in three) ; Erijthrojjs elegans 

 occurred in one, Srltistomysis sp. in one, and Pseudocuma cercaria in 

 one ; several Amphipods were also observed, but no Copepods or other 

 minute forms. One stomach contained only the remains of Annelids, 

 while similar remains, along with those of Crustaceans, were found in 

 another. These Moray Firth Gurnards ranged from about \0h to 30 

 cm. in length, and it was in the stomachs of the smaller specimens — 

 from lOj to 20 cm. — that the most of the Crustacean species were 

 obtained ; the food in the stomachs of the larger specimens was for the 

 most part indistinguishable. 



Seven specimens collected in Aberdeen Bay on June 10th, 1901, and 

 fourteen captured oft" Collieston on July 5th, had all, without a single 

 exception, been living to a greater or less extent on SclmtomijMS xpiritus 

 (Norm.) ; some other things, including a small Grangon, a few young 

 Pandahi-^, a few Amphipods, the ear-stones of a small flat-fish, and the 

 remains of other small fishes and fragments of Annelids, were also 

 noticed, but the Schidomyds sinritm appeared to be the favourite food of 

 these fishes at this tim?. These two samples of Trigla (jurnardus 

 ranged from 11 cm. to 20 cm. in length. It may also be stated that, 

 besides the fourteen specimens from Collieston specially noticed here, a 

 considerable number of others from the same locality were examined, 

 though perhaps not so carefully, and all were found to have been feeding 

 largely on the same kind of Schizopod. This Schizopod, which is some- 

 times abundant off the Aberdeenshire coast, is almost transparent ; there 

 is a faint tinge of red on parts of its body, and its eyes are intensely 

 black, so that to one looking into the water from above the creature 

 would be invisible were it not for its prominent and intensely black eyes. 



Nineteen specimens of Gurnards from the Firth of Forth, captured in 

 April and May, 1901, were also examined; those captured in April 



