172 Oysters (Osirea edulis). 



unusually abundant ; but complaints were made (Field, 

 January, 1882) that the fish seldom got further than Teddington, 

 the fishermen there having a complete monopoly in numbers 

 and prices, to the disadvantage of their Chertsey brethren. 

 Females have been said to preponderate in mid- April ; fish 

 ready to deposit roe the end of that month, and all spawned by 

 the middle of May. 



Finally, we have observed in the Buckland Museum, 

 S. Kensington, a bottle labelled Lampern Oil. This appears of 

 a dark amber colour, but there is no information of whence 

 obtained or of its use and market value. 



SHELL FISH (MOLLUSCA). 



The marine molluscan fauna of our District to a considerable 

 extent bears relation to the nature of the shore, to whether 

 within the influence of the English Channel tidal phenomena 

 or that of the North Sea, and to the amount present of brackish 

 water in the estuaries. Contrast the chalk-cliff and seaweed 

 rock pool shore of S.E. Kent, say with the Shoebury and 

 Maplin Sands, and distinction is apparent. Even the muddy 

 estuarine reaches present their quota of special residents. 

 Among the innumerable invertebrate animals, i.e., mollusks, 

 crustaceans and other lower forms, including plant life, of our 

 shores, it is deemed expedient in what is to follow only to 

 refer to such few of them as directly bear on fishery questions. 



EDIBLE SHELL FISH. 



Oyster Family (Ostreidce). The OYSTER (Ostrea edulis) 

 deservedly takes front rank as the bivalve of most importance 

 within the Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries area. The Thames 

 estuary's fame for its oysters still holds good, though the 

 original natural beds have at times dwindled to the vanishing 

 point. Probably the bank of oysters at the mouth of the 

 Blackwater, so-called " Pont," dredged chiefly by the Tolles- 

 bury and Mersea fishermen, and the large area known as the 



