500 Part III. — Tvxntieth Annv.al Report 



by Professor van Beneden, who remarks that " On trouve rarement 

 des traces de pature dans les poissons adults,"* Avhile the only food 

 observed by him that could be identified consisted of small Mysidaj and- 

 Crangon, and these occurred not in the stomachs of adults but of 

 young specimens measuring from 1 to 3| centimetres in length.? 



The following is a list of s[)ecies obtained in the stomachs of the 

 Lumpsuckers examined : — 



List of Species Found in Stomachs of Lumpsuckeks. 



Cat or Wolf-Fish. Anarrhiclms lujnis, L. 



Only one or two stomachs of Cat-fishes have been examined; they were 

 collected in the Moray Firth, and the food observed consisted chiefly of 

 lamellibranch shells (Cardium echinatum, etc.) in a very fragmentary 

 condition and of Crustacea. The only Crustacean that could be 

 identified was Atelecydus sejjtevidentatus, and only the claws of this 

 were available for identification. 



Butter-fish. Pliolis gunnelhis, L. 



The stomachs of fourteen specimens of Pliolis gtmnellus, sent from 

 Annan (Solway Firth) in April and May, 1900, were examined, but the 

 food they contained, besides being small in quantity, w.os not in very good 

 preservation. Three of the stomachs contained Mussel fry ; eleven 

 contained small or young Crustacea, comprising young Idothea, Gaynmarus 

 locusta (and perhaps one or two other Amphipods), and Ostracods 

 belonging to the two species Gytliere viridis and Cytherura similis. 

 Four contained specimens of marine Acarides, while in another a few 

 insect larvae were observed. These Annan Butter-fishes ranged from 7f 

 to 15 centimetres in length, but though there was a considerable 

 difference in size between the smallest and largest, there was no 

 appreciable difference in the nature of their food. 



The stomachs of seven specimens from the Moray Firth, which were 

 collected on May 18th, 1901, and measured from 10 to 16 centimetres 

 in length, contained very little food, and so far as it could be identified 

 it consisted almost entirely of small Crustaceans (Amphipods chiefly). 

 In the stomach of one of the smaller fishes several insect larvae were 

 observed. 



The food observed in the stomachs of nine Butter-fishes collected in 

 the Firth of Forth on May 13th, 1901, comprised a much greater 



* Les Poissons des Coies de Belgique, p. 51. 

 t Op. cit, p. 



