16 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



JANUARY 5, 1870. 

 W. Andrews, Esq., M. E.I. A., Vice-President, in the chair. 



The Minutes of the previous Meeting having heen read, compared, 

 and signed, donations announced, and thanks voted, 



Mr. "Wrn. Andrews read the following communication " On the In- 

 habitants of the Rock-pools and Caves of Dingle Bay," during the read- 

 ing of which, the Chair was occupied by the Eev. Dr. Haughton : — 



Recollections of past years, had often brought to mind, when visit- 

 ing the beautiful caves of Ballybunnion, on the south side of the mouth 

 of the Shannon, the multitude of forms of Invertebrate life that were 

 massed together on the shelving rocky ledges, and in the deep pools of 

 the caves. It was here that I first noticed the varied forms of that 

 beautiful Zoophyte, Virgularea mirabilis, at a very low spring tide, ap- 

 parently imbedded in soft sand. 



When contemplating the host of observations that naturally would 

 present themselves for the paper of this evening, "Notes on the Inhabi- 

 tants of Rock-pools and Caves of Dingle Bay," the selections would be 

 so varied and extensive that many evenings would be o id. I 



•therefore will confine myself to a few of the most remarkable of those 

 beautiful tribes of Sea anemones or class Zoophyta, which careful in- 

 vestigations have noted, 



From the entrance of Dingle Harbour, both easterly and westerly 

 in the bay, are a series of caves and rocky ledges or islets, exposed at 

 low tides. The caves are more or less deep and tortuous, and their 

 examinations are difficult to attempt, from the constant prevalence of 

 westerly winds, which generally send a rolling swell through them. 

 The innumerable and brilliantly coloured objects of animal life that 

 have existence there, can rarely be seen in their developed beauty but 

 at low tides ; and many at only the lowest springs. It was therefore 

 that during those equinoctial low tides, in the month of October, 1868, 

 that I was enabled fully to appreciate the countless forms of interest 

 that everywhere presented. 



I shall now merely give a few extracts from my notes. 



Anthea cereus. — The two varieties occur most abundantly in Dingle 

 Harbour, attached to zostera marina and chorda filum. The deep-nosed 

 pipe fish, Syngnathus typhle, was noticed to feed on the young state of 

 anthea, and the grey mullet (Mugil capito) also feeds on the full-grown. 

 Anthea is also attached to rocks at the entrance of the caves. 



Aiptasia couchii In a large and beautiful cave westerly of Dingle 



Harbour, when collecting fine specimens of the Sponge Pachymatisma, 

 I was surprised at the singular appearance of this actinia, so nearly 

 allied to anthea. It was at an extremely low tide, and the Pachy- 

 matisma was barely covered by the water, but in most instances Pachy- 

 matisma was many feet below the surface — in fact the sponge in that 

 locality is not attainable but at low tides. 



