Herdm AN— i^rH/W(7 and Flora of Valencia Harbour, Ireland. 749 



[A single asexual form, about 10 mm. in length, with a yellow 

 " nucleus " was taken in the harbour on July 31st, 1896. No 

 more were seen until August 22ncl, when four small specimens 

 of the sexual form with a blue "nucleus " were found. Three 

 of these were joined together in a chain, and the*other was fi^ee. 

 On August 24th a dozen sexual forms and one asexual form 

 were taken ; three days later two dozen sexual forms were 

 found left by the tide in a rock pool. These individuals may 

 be regarded as the forerunners of an immense shoal which, 

 during this period, must have been some distance off the coast. 

 The shoal entered the harbour on August 31st, and consisted 

 of both sexual and asexual forms. Since August 11th there 

 had been a long spell of light north-westerly breezes, with an 

 occasional shifting towards the north. On August 29th the 

 wind backed to the west and south-west, and blew moderately 

 strong, but again returned to its old position for the two follow- 

 ing days. 



The Salps were usually seen quite close to the surface of the 

 sea, and it is probable that the long spell of north-westerly 

 breezes gradually brought the shoal towards the shore. On 

 the same day (August 31st) two other Atlantic forms came into 

 the harbour — a shoal of Pelagia perla and a solitary specimen 

 of Icmthina. 



The sho?-e in the harbour upon which the wind was blowing 

 was lined with blue Salps in chains of various lengths, and as 

 the tide receded the rock-pools were filled, and specimens left 

 stranded upon the brown seaweed glistened brightly in the 

 sun. 



On September 3rcl, we took a boat from Port Magee and 

 visited Puffin Island, about f oiu' miles south of Valencia Island. 

 The Port Magee Channel was crowded with Salps, and the 

 coves around Puffin. Island, viewed from the top of the clifc, 

 were of a beautiful dark violet colour, produced by living 

 masses of Salps. The Salps remained in the harbour in such 

 great abundance, until September 7th, that at times it was not 

 possible to use the tow-net near the surface ; for in a few 

 minutes the tow-net bottle became solidly packed, and delicate 

 organisms, like Medusae, were crushed almost beyond recog- 

 nition. The asexual forms were scarce compared with the 

 sexual or " aggregated " fonns, united in chains up to 6 inches 

 in length. 



