494 Part III. — Twentieth Anmial Report 



elongafus, Temora lonykomix, Gentropanes tjjpiru'<, and Alefridia sp. 

 Fragments of Schizopods were noticed in some of the stomachs, but were 

 too much broken for certain identification. No remains of fish were 

 observed in these stomachs from the "West Coast, but in the stomachs of 

 a few specimens captured off Aberdeen the remains of small fish, probably- 

 young Clupeoids or Sand-eels, were observed, in addition to the usual 

 pelagic Copepods. A quantity of Mackerel stomachs were sent to me 

 some years ago from Stornoway, and the food in these was found to con- 

 sist almost exclusively of young fishes. They appeared to be for the most 

 part the fry of herrings or sprats, but in some cases they consisted of the 

 young of their own kind ; so extensively do they at times feed on small 

 or young fish that Yarrel, referring to the food of the Mackerel, remarks : 

 — " Their principal food is probably the fry of other fishes." * Professor 

 P. -J. van Beneden, who devoted considerable attention to the subject of 

 fish food, had evidently a somewhat difl;erent experience, for he states that 

 the food of the Mackerel consisted of Ceforhilus septentviojialis 

 ( (?) Oalamis finmarcMcus), and adds : — "Ce poisson est tres-vorace, mais 

 son estomac est generalement vide." t 



The following is a tabulated list of the organisms observed in the 

 stomachs examined : — 



Organisms Observed in the Stomachs of IMackerel, 



HoRSi-; IMackerel. Carmj.r frarhnrux (L.). 



A specimen of Caran.r tmcJmru.^, 18 cm, in length, captured in Aber- 

 deen Bay, July 30th, 1901, had its stomach filled with Copepods, and, so 

 far as could be made out, they all belonged to the one species — Temora 

 longicornis. This fact is not without interest, as it seems to suggest that 

 the Garanx had either fallen in with a shoal of Temora and had thus no 

 choice but to feed upon them, or, being able to discriminate between one 

 kind and another, it chose this particular form in preference to others. 



Speckled Goby. Golnvs minutus, Gmelin. 



A considerable number of Speckled Gobies have been examined, but 

 those specially referred to here number fifty-one, and include samples 

 from Annan (Solway), the Firth of Forth, and the Moray Firth. In the 

 stomachs of a sample of fourteen Speckled Gobies sent from Annan in 

 May, 1900, the food consisted largely of Copepods, all of which belonged 

 to the genus Kurytemora, the species which was not satisfactorily 

 made out appeared to be Eitrytemora relo.r. These Copepods were 

 fairly numerous in some of the stomachs examined. Mysidae were 



* Bntish Fishes, vol. i., p. 140. 



■f Les Poissons des Cotes de Belgupw, ji. 136. 



