100 ME. I". DAT ON THE MARINE FAUNA 



Trawl uo. 3 was put down from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., in lat. 57° 7' 

 N. and long. 0° 37' W., in forty fathoms water having a surface- 

 temperature of 59"^, and 32° at the bottom, which was sandy and 

 shelly. There were taken one pogge {Agonus catapTiractus) , four 

 soles {Hippoglossoides) . One hundred and seventy-five purple 

 heart urchins, some being of a large size ; a few other urchins. 

 Annelids were numerous, as also were the sea-anemones {Ac- 

 tini(s), sponges, corals, and Polyzoa generally. 



Of stalk-eyed Crustacea there were 4 Hyas coarctattis, 2 Por- 

 tuniis pusillus, 9 Pagurus BernTiardus, 2 P. Prideauxii, 4 Gala- 

 thea squamifera, 2 Hippolyte Tliompsoni. 



Of Mollusca examples were taken of Fecten tigrinus, P. 

 opercularis, Lucina flexiiosa, Cardium fasciattom, G. ecliinatum, 

 Mytilus modiolus, Cyprina islandica, Mactra elliptica, Venus 

 casiiia, V. striata, Saxicava arctica, TrocTius tumidus, Natica 

 catena, Fttsus gracilis, F. propinquus, and Defrancia linearis. 

 Several fine whelks {Bii^ccinum undatwm) were also secured, and 

 the mollusks used as bait. Some sea-anemones were found 

 adheriug to valves of Cyprina islandica, Mytilus modiolus, Oar- 

 dium ecMnatum, and JKactra elliptica. 



At 6 P.M. a shoal of mackerel midges came close to the vessel, 

 and one was obtained in the tow-net. At about 8 p.m., when 

 probably fifty miles from shore, many herring-boats were passed 

 fishing. At 9 P.M. another shoal of mackerel midges passed the 

 vessel, playing round a piece of sea-weed. 



July 12th. When about four miles from shore, some young 

 crabs and shrimps were taken in the tow-net ; and at 10.30 we 

 arrived at Aberdeen, where the herring-fishery had not yet 

 commenced, although boats were almost daily going out herring- 

 fishing, and returning with more or less good cargoes, some 

 consisting of fine full fish, others of matties. 



Nature of Q-round traversed and Temperatures 8fc. — It has 

 almost invariably been observed that waters which do not ex- 

 ceed a hundred fathoms in depth, termed by some naturalists 

 the littoral zone, usually contain a large amount of life. It 

 did not seem to me that the portion of the North Sea over 

 which we steamed, and where we tried the dredge and the trawl, 

 was so rich as localities I have examined elsewhere. 



The nature of the ground we traversed in the ' Triton,' 

 Captain Tizard observes, was fairly well defined, as we found a 

 considerable area (nearly 1500 square miles) of sand and shells 



