>00 



MESSES. E. W. L. HOLT AND L. AV. BYENE— BISCATAN PLANKTON ; 



Syngnathid^. 



Nerophis iEQUOREUS, var. EXiLis, Holt & Byrne. 

 Occurred as follows : — 



21^. One, 12 mm. 



21 i. One, 13 mm. 



24 i. One, 8 mm. 



25 e. One, 8 mm. 

 25^. One, 72 mm. 

 30 6. Five, 9-15 mm. 

 30/. One, 97 mm. 

 30^. One small. 



30 /. One small and part of brood-matrix. 



31 b. Four, 100-108 mm. ; four, 7-1 7 mm. 

 33 a. One, 21 mm. 



33 Z». One, 11 mm. 



34 a. One, 90 mm. ; fifteen, 8-18 mm. 

 34</. Two, 8 and 11 mm. 



35 /. One, 7 mm. 



36 b. One, 15 mm. 



Here, as on the west coast of Ireland, common at or near the surface at all stages 

 (see Holt & Byrne, Fish. Ireland, Sci. Inv. 1905, ii.). We have little doubt that 

 the specimens taken by the ' Caudan ' further south in the Bay, and recorded as 

 Syngnathus, are also referable to tliis form (Koehler, ' Campagne de Caudan,' 1896). 

 We have no evidence of its occurrence, either at the bottom or as a pelagic organism, 

 below 100 fathoms. 



Carangid.^:. 

 . Caranx trachurus, L. 

 Once met with : 



34 d. One of 80 mm. 

 This capture rather suggests that the net encountered a straggler from the protection 

 of a Bhizostoma or some other large Medusa, which may have drifted seawards from the 

 place at which it collected its clientele, but little is really known of the movements 

 of either the ccelenterate host or the parents of its fish proteges. Scad appear near 

 the coast, in varying number according to the year, in summer and autumn, and 

 their presence in coastal waters may be occasionally demonstrated in winter by the 

 examination of stomachs of larger fish. 



Incert^ sedis. 



Long-anal " Larva. 



This larva was taken in the following hauls : — 



32;). One of 27 mm. | 35 c. One of 14 mm. 



but is chiefly known to us from other collections. Fragmentary remains in haul 32 i 

 may also be referable to it. It is an elongate form characterized by a long pointed snout, 

 very short abdomen, and by the very early development of an anal fin immediately in 

 front of the caudal. The sides of the abdomen are decorated by a series of large black 

 patches separated by narrow vertical unpigmented interspaces. A similar interspace 

 separates the black patches of each side. Towards the caudal extremity are a number 

 of small patches of internal pigment above and below the vertebral column. 



