Clare Island Survey — Marine Mollusca. 22 3 



this department of marine research or actually investigating other depart- 

 ments for the purposes of the survey, and their volunteer gatherings con- 

 tributed not a little to the fullness of my collections. In this connexion I 

 would specially mention Miss Jane Stephens and Mr. A. E. Nichols of our 

 National Museum, Mr. A. D. Cotton of Kew Herbarium, and Mr. Praeger, the 

 Carnot of our various survey campaigns. 



It will be seen from this sketch of the shore-collecting operations that 

 large tracts of the eastern division of the area were left untouched. It may 

 be fairly assumed, however, that the two sections worked yielded collections 

 representative of the littoral mollusca of the area, and that an extended 

 survey of the complex network of creeks and islands stretching northward 

 from Donnish to Newport would have added little to the final result, 



(b) Dredging, 



Quite as important as the shore-collecting were the dredging operations 

 carried on during the four visits referred to. These operations would in all 

 probability have been confined to the inshore waters, and would consequently 

 have been hopelessly incomplete, but for the courtesy of the directors of the 

 Fisheries Branch of our Agricultural and Technical Instruction Department, 

 who arranged for several visits of their steamship " Helga " to Clew Bay 

 during her scientific cruises and while survey parties were at work on the 

 island. At each visit the " Helga," fully equipped for such work, made 

 numerous dredgings, especially in the off-shore and deeper parts of the bay. 

 On her first visit, May 22nd-27th, 1909, 15 effective hauls were made in the 

 bay in from 5 to 25| fathoms, and one in Inishlyre Boads at 5 fathoms. 

 The material taken in these dredgings (apparently the finer siftings were not 

 preserved) was examined by Miss A. L. Massy of the Fisheries Branch, and 

 yielded a list of 74 species, which was kindly placed at my disposal. On 

 the second visit, August 23rd-26th, 1909, only four effective hauls were made, 

 three in the bay in from 5 J to 14 fathoms, and one off Inishgowla in 4 

 fathoms. The material was handed over to me, and on examination proved 

 rather productive, giving a yield of 106 species. 



On the " Helga's " third visit, August 16th-18th, 1910, I enjoyed the 

 privilege of taking part in the dredging operations conducted under the 

 direction of Mr. G. P. Parran, and was thus enabled to select from the 8 

 effective hauls made, two in Inishlyre Boads at 2 f. and at 4 f. and six in the 

 bay in from 10 to 19 f., the material likely to yield the best results. On 

 careful examination this material gave me a total of 159 species. One 

 dredging in from 10 to 12 f. about a mile and a half N.E. of Old Head 

 gave 98 species, and another in 19 f. in mid-bay in a bed of shell drift 



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