I. '08. 4 



The researches carried out by the Marine Laboratory, which 

 was stationed for some years in Bofin and Baliynakill 

 Harbours, Co. Galway, have probably provided a fairly com- 

 plete list of the fauna which exists in the shallow waters of the 

 bays and creeks facing the Atlantic, while Kinahan's Dublin 

 and Belfast lists give a good idea of the littoral east coast 

 species. 



Previous records of Natantia from Irish waters are not 

 numerous, and it has been thought best to incorporate in the 

 present paper all references to any of the scarcer forms. 



On the Helga the beam trawl was responsible for the cap- 

 ture of the vast majority of the specimens ; more especially 

 bags of sprat and mosquito netting attached to the back of the 

 trawl have proved invaluable for obtaining all except the very 

 largest species. If placed in the proper position, in the path 

 of the swirl caused by the passage of the footrope, these nets^ 

 invariably catch numbers of organisms which would otherwise 

 escape. The nets fish, though very inefficiently, while being 

 hauled to the surface, and it consequently happens that mid- 

 water species are occasionally caught. Errors arising from 

 this source have been obviated by the frequent use of large 

 midwater nets which secure only such forms as swim freely 

 at intermediate depths. In the case of species occurring in 

 both beam and midwater trawls, further evidence (such as 

 their presence in the stomachs of fish frequenting the floor of 

 the ocean) is necessary before they can rightly be considered 

 to be members of the bottom fauna. 



Pelagic species of Natantia seem to be active animals, and 

 townets of large size are necessary to effect their capture. A 

 net with a triangular frame, with sides 6 feet long, and a bag 

 of mosquito netting, has yielded good results on the Helga, 

 but in the last few years has been largely superseded by a mid- 

 water trawl designed by Dr. C. G. Johan Petersen. In this, 

 the bag is made of very stout cheese-cloth, supported by bolt 

 ropes down the seams ; it is kept open by means of a pair of 

 otter boards, which are attached by short bridles to the upper 

 and lower extremities of two poles forming the vertical sides 

 of the mouth. Two sizes of this net have been employed ; the 

 opening in one case is 8 ft. by 4 ft. , in the other lOJ ft. by 7 ft. 

 Both triangle net and midwater trawl fish while being hauled 

 to the surface, and consequently it is impossible to be certain 

 of the depth at which the specimens were actually caught. 



Dredges, although frequently employed, more especially on 

 rough ground, do not seem to be very efficient instruments for 

 the capture of the species here dealt with. 



The material taken by the Thor was for the most part col- 

 lected in a midwater trawl, but fine-meshed otter trawls work- 

 ing on the bottom were also fished. 



Tables have been provided which will, it is hoped, furnish a 

 ready means of determining the various families, genera, and 



1 In the lists of records tlieso nets are all inohifled under " trawl." 



