442 AN afternoon's dredging off ctjllercoats. 



XVII. — An Afternoon s Dredging off Cullercoats. By Professok 

 G. S. BRADr, M.D., F.E.S., &c. 



The President of the Northumberland Coast Club (Alderman 

 Dent) having kindly lent his steamer "Livingstone" for the 

 purpose, a pai'ty of some thirty or forty members of the Club 

 set out for a short dredging excursion from Cullercoats on the 

 afternoon of the 24th of July last. The weather was delight- 

 fully fine and the sea smooth, and the results of the afternoon's 

 work were, if not very wonderful, at any rate interesting enough 

 to deserve record. The ground dredged over was not of the best 

 or most productive character, the most conspicuous contents of 

 the net being generally a few of the commoner Echinoderms 

 with masses of Dead Man's Finger (^Alcyonium digitatum). But 

 in the washings from the debris were afterwards found a con- 

 siderable number of interesting Crustacea, lists of which are here 

 given. I have to thank our old friend the Rev. Canon E'orman 

 for having kindly examined and named the Cumacea,. and the 

 Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing for a similar service as regai'ds the 

 Amphipoda. All tlie specimens were taken in a depth of about 

 twenty fathoms. 



The tow-net captures were also of great interest. Those 

 which call for special notice here were Actinotrocha, and the 

 small flagellate Infusorian, Ceratium tripos, which was ex- 

 tremely abundant, — also a few specimens of Cyphonautes^ - the 

 free-swimming larva of a Polyzoon, Memhranipora pilosa. 

 Actinotrocha, the larval form of Phoronis, a beautiful tubicolous 

 "worm" of uncertain affinity has not been previously noticed 

 in our district : it has indeed been recorded from only a very 

 small number of localities on the British coasts. It may be inter- 

 esting to note that whereas both Mr. Meek and myself had tow- 

 nets overboard, Mr. Meek captured only one Actinotrocha, whilst 

 I had a very large number, the reason, probably, being that my 

 net was sunk to the depth of a few fathoms, whereas Mr. Meek's 

 was worked close to the surface. 



CrtistaceAo 

 AnvpJtipoda. Melphidipella macra, Norman. 

 Ericthonius abditus, Tempi. 



