Notes from the Gatlrj Marine Lahoratonj. 117 



Xr. — Notes from the Gatty Marine Laboratory , St. Andrews. 

 —No. XXXIII. By Prof. M'Intosh, M.D., LL.U., 

 F.R.S., &c. 



[Plates IV. & v.] 



1. On a White Porpoise. 



2. On tlie Spawning of the Hake {Merlaccius merluccius, L.). 



3. On Eteone depressa, Mgrn., var., a Species not hitherto found in 



Britain. 



4. On Nereis zonafa, Mgrn., in Britain. 



5. On the British C(q)itellid(P (Hahlininthidce). 



6. Oji the Capitellida; procured by H.M.S. ' Porcupine.' 



1. On a White Porpoise. 



For nearly a fortnight amateur fisliermen who used the 

 hand-lines at night were surprised to see about the beginning 

 of August a whitish porpoise, or, as some thought, a Beluga^ 

 disporting itself in St. Andrews Bay, and it was also ob- 

 served by the salmon fishermen early in the morning. It 

 was never in compau}'^ with its neighbours, but was always 

 solitary. On the morning of the 10th August it was 

 entangled in the salmon stake-nets off Kinkell Ness, about 

 two miles from St. Andrews. When brought to the 

 Laboratory it was found to be a j'oung female measuring 

 34 inches in length (PI, IV.) and was of a dull yellowish 

 white all over like that of Beluga, though when care- 

 fully examined a faint longitudinal band occurred along 

 the upper lateral region on each side. In front of the eye, 

 again, a curved band of a blackish hue passed from the 

 vertex forward, made a bold sweep forward, and then curved 

 backward to the angle of the moulh. The shape of the 

 entire patch was somewhat crescentic, the dark pigment 

 being toned off at the margin. The eyes had the normal 

 pigment, and thus differed from those of an albino. 



Tiiough it is rare to find any noteworthy change in the 

 blackish pigment of the dorsum of the porpoise, variations 

 occasionally occur in the hue of the latero-ventral and the 

 ventral surface in the form of pale or greyish pigment or 

 dull streaks. Again, in a foetal porpoise about 6 inches in 

 length (18th November, 1911) the anterior region of the 

 head, the vertex to a line with the perpendicular from the 

 anterior base of the flipper was dark, and the entire dorso- 

 lateral region to the tail was of a dull grey hue. The under 

 surface and the ventro-lateral regions were pale. The 

 flipjiers, dorsal fin, and the caudal Hukes were blackish, the 

 pigment on the latter being densest ventrally. In another 



