312 Part III. — Eighth Annual Report 



VII.— ADDITIONS TO THE FAUNA OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 

 By Thomas Scott, F.L.S. (Plates XII., XIII.) 



In the present paper there are recorded over 90 species not previously 

 recognised as belonging to the fauna of the Firth of Forth. A few of 

 these are now recorded for the first time for the east of Scotland, one or 

 two are additions to the British fauna, and one or two new to science. 



Most of them were obtained last year, during the investigations carried 

 on on board the ' Garland,' since the publication of the Seventh Annual 

 Report, only a few having been obtained earlier, but not determined in 

 time to be included in either of the two previous papers on the Forth 

 fauna.* 



The forms here recorded belong exclusively to the Invertebrata, arid 

 comprise 23 species of Foraminifera, 61 species of Crustacea, and 7 species 

 of Mollusca. Other invertebrate groups are being studied, and informa- 

 tion as to their distribution, &c, collected with a view to publication later 

 on. 



As was pointed out in a previous paper, the study of the marine In- 

 vertebrata, from a fishery point of view, is of considerable interest and 

 importance. As regards the Crustacea, the Rev. A. M. Norman says 

 {Museum Normaniarum, part 3) : — ' I venture to prophecy that when the 

 1 Crustacean Fauna of the Arctic and Temperate regions shall have been 

 ' thoroughly investigated, it will hereafter be found to embrace not less 



* than 5000 species. It was little suspected a generation ago that the 



* Crustacea is the class which undoubtedly embraces more forms than any 

 ' other outside the Insecta.' The scientific investigations carried out under 

 the directions of the Fishery Board have helped very much to prove that 

 the Crustacea is also one of the most important groups — if not the most 

 important of the Invertebrata — that constitute the food supply of fishes. 

 The movements of fishes are also undoubtedly partly influenced by the 

 prevalence in particular localities of invertebrate forms which they, for 

 the time being, may be partial to as a source of food. The study there- 

 fore of the distribution, habits, and life-histories of the Invertebrata 

 should hold a place next in importance to the study of the food, distribu- 

 tion, habits, spawning, and development of the fishes themselves. This 

 study has been and is being earried on from year to year on board the 



* Garland,' along with the other and more important fishery investiga- 

 tions, as opportunity offers, and the present and previous similar papers 

 are the results of an attempt to collect all the information within reach 

 bearing on the distribution and habits of these lower forms of life, 

 especially within the area of the Firth of Forth. 



The information contained in these papers, especially in the present 

 one and in the one published last year, is mainly the outcome of a 

 personal examination of the various organisms referred to in them ; and 

 though the restricted area to which the information principally applies 

 imparts to it a value which is perhaps chiefly of local importance, yet the 

 more thorough and accurate the information relating to the fauna of 

 separate areas becomes, its value will increase tenfold, because reliable 

 comparisons of various kinds will become possible, and from these com- 

 parisons theories and principles of great importance may be worked out. 

 There has also resulted a wider acquaintance with, and greater certainty 



* Sixth Ann. Report, Part iii. p. 235, 1888 ; Seventh Ann. Report, Part iii. p. 

 311, 1889. 



