PELAGIC FAUNA. 45 



fishes. The larval and post-larval forms comprised herrings, 

 sprats, gadoids of various kinds, gurnards, swarms of sand-eels, 

 besides suckers, long-spined Gotti and others. The appearance 

 of multitudes of sand-eels in the bottom-nets, as well as by and 

 by at the surface, was a characteristic feature. 



While the Appendicularians occasionally showed themselves 

 in February, yet their enormous numbers daring April and at 

 the beginning of May far surpassed the earlier period. The huge 

 mid-water net was filled like a balloon with them and their 

 gelatinous " houses," so that the patience of the boatman was 

 well-nigh exhausted by the constant and heavy strain, as well 

 as the frequent ruptures of the net. It was a relief when they 

 disappeared. There could be little doubt that like other ascidians 

 they were eaten by fishes, and from their prodigious numbers 

 they were thus important. They have long been known to 

 occur in Scottish waters, for Edward Forbes in 1845 found 

 that the cloudy patches of red colouring matter in the sea 

 off the north of Scotland consisted almost entirely of them. 

 They were also frequently met with all along the eastern 

 shores during the work for the Trawling Commission, but 

 their prodigious numbers were only clearly made out at St 

 Andrews. Their food apparently consisted of the peculiar gela- 

 tinous algoid masses and similar structures, and many were ripe. 



Of pelagic shell-fishes the most remarkable was the graceful 

 pteropod, Clione, hitherto considered one of the rarest British 

 marine animals, indeed the late Dr Gwyn Jeffreys, long the 

 authority on the group, could only quote Dr Leach, who 

 found in 1811 several mutilated specimens on the rocks of 

 the west coast, and a single living one off the coast of Mull. 

 It forms a prominent part of the food of the right whale in 

 the Arctic Sea, and is a prize for any food-fish, though the 

 size fell considerably short of the northern examples. 



Crustaceans were represented by vast multitudes of Schi- 

 zopods, which were occasionally stranded like lines of chaff 

 along the beach, or made the littoral pools semi-solid. They 

 were eagerly eaten by most food — and other fishes. Larval 

 cirripedes in various stages and allied forms — with mjrriads 

 of Copepods and other minute crustaceans besides larval stages 

 (Zoece) of the higher forms, still further augmented the list. 



