Marine iauiia oj Oreat Britain. 401 



Without further introduction, therefore, we shall at once 

 proceed to examine the conditions at St. Andrews, which 

 during the present generation has come to be a zoological 

 centre for the east coast, though in former years other places, 

 such as the Forth in the days of Professors Forbes and 

 Allman, Berwick-on-Tweed in the time of Dr. George 

 Johnston, and the northern shores of England under the 

 fostering influence of Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock, 

 attained great prominence. 



If we take a general glance between tide-marks at St. An- 

 drews the great abundance of the crumb-of- bread sponge 

 (^Halichondria panicea) is noteworthy, covering as it does 

 several square feet in certain places, and it is equally abun- 

 dant in the Laminarian region. Where an admixture of 

 fresh water, moreover, occurs, as in the estuaries of the Forth 

 and the Tay, the growth of this species is remarkable. With 

 the exception, perhaps, of Chalina other sponges are not 

 conspicuous, though they are by no means absent. 



Of zoophytes we have GJava multicornis under stones and 

 on Cynthia, and Gonothyrcea Loveni in vast profusion on the 

 finely grown submerged mussels of the Eden, forming a net- 

 work upon which the pelagic young mussels settle as minute 

 points or grains in summer, and, after growing a little, are 

 swept off by the annual decay of the zoophyte at the end of 

 autumn. The frequency of Sertularia jmrnila and of Sertu- 

 larella rugosa near low-water mark is another feature, as also 

 is the occurrence of large Corymorphse in a limited inshore 

 area, and of large Lucernarige on Fuci ai the tidal rocks. The 

 striking pelagic members of this group are Halistemma and 

 Lesueu7'ia^ while the common Bero'e and Pleurohrachia are 

 very abundant amidst swarms of Hydromedusas, including 

 Aglantha and Hyhocodon. The common sea-flowers {Actinia 

 mesemhryanthemum and Tealia crassicornis) are plentiful, or, 

 rather, 1 should say, were plentiful, for the fishermen have 

 found them so attractive as bait for cod that they have in 

 several places almost exterminated them. The sandy bay is 

 likewise the home of Peachia and its allies — Edwardsia and 

 Ceriantkus. The deeper water, again, is characterized by 

 the rare Hormathia and by the sea-pens Pennatula and 

 Virgularia. 



The most interesting starfish between tide-marks is the 

 little Asterias Miilhri^ which is found under stones in pools, 

 and in the early months of the year it carries its eggs over 

 the mouth and hatches them there, as does also the purple 

 Cribrella which accompanies it. Larval starfishes are plen- 

 tiful in summer and autumn, including the remarkable one of 

 Luidia. 



