ZOOLOGY 



MARINE ZOOLOGY 



The unique geographical position of Cornwall as the most southerly as 

 well as the most westerly county in England, and the consequently genial 

 temperature of its waters, its form as a long irregular wedge projecting out 

 into the Atlantic, its two hundred and fifty miles of much indented coast 

 line and the possession of the largest amount of southern 'sea frontage' of 

 all the Channel counties naturally create the highest expectations as to the 

 richness and variety of the marine life in its coastal waters. In spite of the 

 barren character of almost the whole of the north coast with its long sea 

 walls of seamed and fissured cliff and its desolate surf-beaten beaches, first 

 expectations are more than realized in the wealth of species not only in the 

 large sheets of enclosed and sheltered sea like Mount's Bay, Falmouth Bay, 

 Mevagissey and St. Austell Bay and Plymouth Sound and the many land- 

 locked coves and tidal estuaries, but also in the long stretches of coastal 

 waters exposed to the full force of the Atlantic storms. To the great variety 

 of littoral and of sea bottom as well as of exposure are due that delight- 

 ful diversity of fauna that makes both shore hunting and dredging along this 

 southern coast so full of interest. Fine sand, coarse sand, friable shales, 

 slate rock and granite are all abundantly represented in the happy hunting 

 ground between tide-marks, and on many parts of the coast rock pools are 

 plentiful. The rocks are in places densely covered with Fucus, Pehetia, and 

 other brown sea-weeds, frequently arranged in definite zones, and the cracks, 

 crevices, and overhanging ledges of the rocks themselves are often thickly 

 tenanted. The characteristic laminarian and coralline zones are in places 

 extensively developed, and the zostera beds occasionally yield an exciting 

 harvest. In deeper water shell sand alternates with gravel and with stones, 

 and there is in places an admixture of mud with the former. Many of the 

 trawling grounds contain a rich and varied population, which is naturally 

 increased by the frequent patchy character of their deposits. Though the 

 difficulties of dredging on some of the stony bottoms are at times consider- 

 able, the results on the average are more than proportionate to the trouble 

 involved. 



The richness of the Cornish marine fauna has naturally attracted a 

 large number of enthusiastic local observers, as well as many eminent 

 naturalists from without. Jonathan Couch of Polperro, his son Richard 

 i 113 15 



