of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 515 



Ninety-seven specimens of Whitings from the Firth of Forth collected 

 during April and May of the present year (1901) included the following : 

 — A sample of twenty of medium size, measuring on an average about 25 

 centimetres (or 10 inches) in length, and collected in April, had com- 

 paratively little food in their stomachs, and what was of it was much 

 decomposed ; but so far as it could be identified it was found to consist 

 for the most part of Gixmgon. allnianni, with occasionally the remains of 

 Pandahix inontagui and small fishes. Two small Npphro/»:, i^^ centi- 

 metres in length (measuring to the end of the claws), were found in one 

 of these stomachs. A sample of smaller Whitings — sixty- two in 

 number — collected in April, and ranging from 12 to 15 centimetres in 

 leugtl), appear to have been feeding largely on small Crustacea at the time 

 they were captured ; every stomach was found to contain food, and some 

 stomachs were well filled ; Cnimjon was, as usual, one of the organisms 

 most frequently observed, and specimens suflaciently perfect to be identi- 

 fied were found to belong to Crangnti alhnanni ; Paudalus montagui 

 was also occasionally noticed. The Schizopoda were represented by 

 Erijtlirops goesii, which was the only species observed, and it was one 

 which occurred very often amongst the contents of the various stomachs. 

 The Sympoda was represented by several species, such as Leucon 

 ncmca, Eudorella truncatula, Diasfylis rosfrafus, and others ; the Leucon 

 was, however, the most common form. The Isopoda were apparently 

 rare, only one — Astarilla sp. — being obtained. The Amphipoda were 

 represented by a number of forms, the following being the most frequent : 

 — Ampelisca axsinulis, spimpes, and ^narrocej/hcda, Profo/nerJeia fasciata, 

 DidicJiia porrecfa, and others. The most common species of the Cope- 

 poda observed was Temora longicornis ; but CaJanus Jinmarchicus, 

 Pspudocalamis elongatus?, Longippdia coronata, and Rohertaonia tenuis 

 were also noticed. The parasitic Copepod — Caligus rapax — was found 

 mixed up with the other things in one or two of the stomachs. I do not 

 remember having previously observed Crdigus amongst the food of fishes, 

 but perhaps these specimens had been conveyed into the stomachs in 

 which they occurred from adhering to some object which the fish had 

 captured. Larval Balani (cypris stage) were not uncommon, and the 

 Ascidian — Odiopleura — was also found in nearly all the stomachs ; 

 Annelids, on the other hand, were rarely obtained. I give the following 

 as examples of the contents of some of the stomachs, in order to show the 

 variety of organisms sometimes found in them ; — 



(1) Grangon allmanni, Erytlirops goesii, Ijeucon nasica, Diastylis (1) 

 lucifera, Diasfylis rodraf a, Ampelisca^^., Periocidodeslongimamis, Melita 

 sp., Pfotomedeiafasciata (male and female), Temora longicornis, Longi- 

 pedia coronata, and lioberfsonia tenuis. 



(2) Crangon allmanni, Leucon, Diasfylis, Ampelisca sp. (1 spinipes), 

 Calafiu^ Temora (male), Oikopletira, 



(3) Eryfhrops goesii, Leucon, Diasfylis, Eudorella emarginata, Ampe- 

 lisca, Dulichia falcafa, Pseudocalanus, and Longipedia coronata. 



A considerable difference, when compared with the sample just referred 

 to, was observed in the food of some Whitings from the Firth of Foith, 

 collected on May 13th, 1901 ; the average length of these specimens was 

 about seven inches (17g centimetres). The food of this sample consisted 

 largely of Schizopods (^cliif<fovi!/.-<is siyirifux and ortmfns), and Oikopleura 

 was also abundant in several of the stomachs. A specimen of Gohius 

 minufm was found in one stomach, and a y o\m^ Eupaguru^ s\). and a speci- 

 men of Metopa alder i in another, but otherwise the food, so far as it could 

 be identified, consisted almost entirely, if not altogether, of Schizopods 

 and Oikopleura. From the occasional frequency and even abundance of 



