of the North of Ireland. 57 



1859 Eeport. An annotated list of additional species and additional localities, 

 and a few corrections. 



The Stations above are conveniently arranged in four groups, viz : — 



1. Belfast Lough. This signifies the waters lying west of a line drawn 

 from Orlock Point, in Co. Down, to Black Head, in Co. Antrim, and not 

 exceeding 10 fathoms in depth. 



2. Entrance of Belfast Lough. Under this head come a number of dred- 

 gings made around the entrance of the Bay, from Donaghadee on the Co. Down 

 shore, northward as far as the great cliff-range of The Gobbins, in Island 

 Magee, Co. Antrim. By far the most important of these, as far as results are 

 concerned, are those made on the Turbot Bank, "a great submarine bank lying 

 a short distance out from the cliffs called The Gobbins, and extending from the 

 Isle of Muck across the entrance of Belfast Bay towards the Copeland Islands."* 

 On this bank, which lies in from 25 to 30 fathoms of water, a number of rare 

 and interesting species have been obtained, but almost all in a dead state, and it 

 is to be noted that some of the Turbot Bank shells are very doubtfully recent, 

 while a few are certainly fossil. Mr. Hyndman expresses the opinion that the 

 majority of the shells are derived from the deep recess lying near the Maiden 

 Eocks, a few miles to the northward, which will presently be mentioned ; but 

 it would appear probable that some submarine pleistocene deposit in the neigh- 

 bourhood has also contributed to the rich store of Testacea which the Turbot 

 Bank yields, f 



3. Lame Lough. Mr. Hyndman's party made but one haul of the dredge 

 in this lough ; it yielded so little that apparently the scientists never revisited 

 waters that gave so poor a return for their labours. This poverty in shells is 

 the more remarkable when we take into consideration the extreme richness in 

 Mollusca of the Estuarine Clays in that vicinity. 



4. Off Larne. This term embraces a large number of stations, from Isle of 

 Muck northward to Bally galley Head, and out eastward to beyond the Maiden Rocks . 

 The latter consist of a group of rocky islets lying some six miles from shore ; 

 on their seaward side the water deepens rapidly, and over a limited area a depth 

 of 90 and 100 fathoms is reached. This abyss, which is very difficult to dredge 

 on account of the rocky nature of the bottom and the strong currents that sweep 

 over it, is the home of many rare species, and those who have successfully faced 



* Hyndman, 1867 Beport. 



t The question of the origin of the Turbot Bank shells is one of much interest, and has 

 not been satisfactorily settled. The opinion of the compilers of the Naturalists' Field 

 Club "Guide to Belfast and the adjacent Counties," is worth recording:— "About 200 species 

 of Mollusca have been enumerated from the Turbot Bank, many of them being of extreme 

 rarity; but the majority occurring as dead shells only. It has been suggested that this 

 bank is only a submarine fossil bed, and that a great portion of the shells are really relics 

 of the glacial epoch. It is, however, quite as likely that they are accumulated on this bar 

 by currents, and that they belong to species still living in the vicinity, on rocky bottoms 

 where the dredge has little chance of picking them up." 



