218 IRANSACTIOXS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



suftice to put on record a few of the more exceptiuiuil 

 hauls. jS'early 130,000 young Polychaet larvae were 

 takeu in Port Erin Bay on February ITth, and over 

 33,000 on March 11th, 8,000 Lamellibranch fry on May 

 4th. 11,000 Gastropod larvae on July 18th, over 2,000 

 Echinoderm larvae on August 7th, over 5,000 on 

 September 4th, and 4,700 on September 11th, over 4,000 

 young Medusae on September 4th, and over 5,000 

 " Mitraria " on December 26tli. In the later part of 

 the year the following large liauls of Lamellibranch 

 larvae were taken: 35,000 on September 25th, 17,000 on 

 October 2nd, 19,000 on October 27th, 15,000 on November 

 1st, 11,000 on November 10th, and 22,000 on December 

 2()tli. It is probable that the large scallop bed {Pectcti 

 opercular is) lying outside Port Erin Bay to the North 

 accounts for many of the young Lamellibranch fry that 

 are so abundant from time to time. 



Fisii Eggs. 



Itockling eggs continue to be abundant, and have an 

 extraordinarily wide range through the year, as they are 

 only absent in October and November. The maximum is 

 in March, with an average of 49 })er haul. The eggs of 

 one of the species of Rockling occurred in a sample of 

 Plankton collected on December 29t]i, which is unusually 

 early, as these eggs are not often found in our seas before 

 the end of Januiiry. The " mackerel midge " (a little 

 narrow silvery fish about an inch long), which is a young 

 stage of one of the Ilocklings, is of economic importance 

 as it sometimes forms a considerable part of the food of 

 the Mackerel visiting the Irish Sea in summer. The 

 young T^xkliiig live ncai- ihe surface and are frequently 

 tiiken 1)1 the low-nci between -Time and August. 



