226 Part II. —Twenty-first Annual Report 
All these Dog-fishes were females. On the gills of several of them 
Ludactylines were moderately frequent, while Tetrarhynchi were observed 
in the stomachs and intestines of all but a few of those examined. 
Scylliorhinus canicula, Lin. 
The following three specimens of Lesser Spotted Dog-fishes were 
obtained among the Picked Dog-fishes just referred to. The food observed 
in their stomachs consisted entirely of fishes as under :— 
SIZE oF FisH. CoNTENTS OF STOMACH. 
2 feet 44 inches. | A Herring 8? inches in length. 
Dee aes Fragments of a Herring apparently of moderate size. 
Vision me ae Remains of fishes too imperfect to be determined. 
~~ 
A number of other fishes have been examined, including the Greater 
Fork-Beard Phycis blennoides (Brun.), the Twaite Shad, Clupea finta, 
Cuvier, and the Conger Eel, Conger niger (Risso), but as their stomachs did 
not contain any matter that could be identified they are not specially 
referred to in this paper. It may be remarked also that several fresh- 
water Perch, Percu fluviatilis, Rondeletius, kindly sent to me by Dr. 
Williamson from Marlee Loch, Forfarshire, and which were examined to 
ascertain the nature of their food, were found to have been living almost 
exclusively on insect larve. No parasites were observed on the gills of 
these fishes, but roundish sacs were frequent on the wall of the body 
cavity and appeared to contain encysted Cestoids. 
Note on THE FOOD OBSERVED IN THE STOMACH OF A COMMON 
PoRPOISE. 
The following description of the contents of the stomach of a Common 
Porpoise captured in the Bay of Nigg in the vicinity of the Laboratory 
may be of interest, as serving to show how destructive these Cetaceans 
may be when they get among a shoal of fishes. 
The specimen referred to had become entangled in the nets of the 
salmon fishers at the Bay of Nigg, and having in this way been prevented 
from coming to the surface for respiration had been suffocated. It was 
captured on the 18th of June 1902, and measured about 3 feet 9 inches 
in length, and it appeared to be healthy and in good condition, except 
that some of the passages of the liver were crowded with brownish- 
coloured thread-worms ; what appeared to be the same kind of worms were 
also found encysted in various parts of the liver, while many of them, ina 
‘free ” condition, were found in the stomach. 
The only food found in the stomach consisted of the partly digested 
remains of fishes which, for the most part, appeared to be Whitings. 
Besides the remains of the soft parts of the fishes, no fewer than two 
hundred and eighty earstones (or otoliths) were obtained ; fully two 
hundred and forty of them were almost certainly those of Whitings, the 
majority of which represented fishes of moderate size—probably about 
eight inches or so in length. Twelve other otoliths were small and of an 
oblong form, they were not so attenuated at the ends as the 
typical Whiting earstone, and appeared to belong to the young of 
some other Gadoid ; the remainder—about twenty-two in number—were 
extremely small, and somewhat resembled the earstones of Sand-eels. 
