Parean — Seventh Report on the Fishes of the Irish Atlantic Slope. lOl 



Kecorded range of temperature from + 8-07° C. {M. Sars) to + 2-0° C. 

 (Ingolf). 



Irish Distribution : — Ooi'yphaenoides riipestris was first trawled off the Irish 

 coast, 54 miles off Achill Head, Co. Mayo, during the Eoyal Dublin Society's 

 Fishery Survey in 1890 (Holt, 1892), and a detailed account of these specimens 

 has been given by Holt and Calderwood (1895). It was taken by the IJelga 

 in 29 hauls off the W. and S.-W. coasts of Ireland, its certain range being 

 509 to 775 fathoms, i.e. from the greatest depth recorded on the shallowest 

 haul to the lea.st depth recorded on the deepest haul. 



By taking the number of liauls between each successive depth of 100 

 fathoms, whether the species was present or not, and the total number of 

 specimens obtained in these hauls, and dividing the latl.er by tlie former, an 

 approximate average of the number of specimens per haul can be arrived at. 

 This method gives the following result in the case of C. nipe-stris. 



Deptli. 



400-500 

 500-600 

 600-700 

 700-800 



When a haul lies partly in one zone of depth and partly in another, the 

 specimens taken are apportioned between the two zones according to the 

 probable extent of the haul included in each zone. 



Though this method is a rough one, it probably gives a fairly reliable 

 picture of the vertical distribution of the species. It seems evident that the 

 lower limit of its range has not been reached by the Helga. 



The normal range of bottom temperature corresponding to a range of 500 

 to 700 fathoms on the S.W. coast of Ireland is approximately 9'^C. to 7'2°C, 

 The actual bottom temperatures on some of the stations where C. rupentrin 

 was taken are given in the list of captures at the end of this paper. They 

 range from 6-84°C. (700 fms.) to 9-19° C. (500 fms.) most of them being above 

 the highest previous record for the species, viz., 8-07"C. 



There appears to be no relation between the sizes of the specimens taken 

 by the Helga and the depths at which they lived. Thus the largest eleven 

 specimens, all over 80 em. in length, were taken at an average depth of 548 

 fathoms and the smallest twelve, all under 20 cm., at an average depth of 

 585 fathoms. 



Specimens per 



HiLUl. 



No. of Hau 



•6 





11 



4 





21 



4'8 





14 



4-5 





5| 



