[CEYLON PEARL OYSTER FISHERIES— 1903— SUPPLEMENTARY REPORTS, No. VII.] 



REPORT 



ON THE 



COPEPODA 



COLLECTED BY 



Professor HERDMAN, at CEYLON, in 1902. 



BY 

 ISAAC C. THOMPSON, F.L.S., and ANDREW SCOTT, A.L.S. 



[With PLATES I. to XX.] 



The Copepoda contained in the collections brought home by Professor Herd-man 

 may be conveniently divided into four sections, viz. : — (1) those obtained during the 

 voyages out and home ; (2) those collected by the tow-net around the Island of 

 Ceylon ; (3) those obtained by examination of washings from dredged material 

 (Ascidians, Sponges, Corals, Pearl Oysters, &c); and (4) the parasitic species found 

 attached to fishes. The collection was contained in 122 bottles, each bottle repre- 

 senting a gathering from one of the stations shown in the appended list. The free- 

 swimming species naturally form by far the largest part of the collection, although 

 they do not contain most of the novelties. Some of the gatherings were preserved in 

 formol, and others in alcohol. Out of the total number, those marked 1 to 41 were 

 collected on the voyages to Ceylon and home, and most of the others during Professor 

 Herdman's three months' work round Ceylon, while some have been sent since by 

 Mr. Hornell as the result of his further work. Professor Herdman's method of 

 collecting material from a fast steamer has already been described in the ' Transactions 

 of the Liverpool Biological Society.' The water containing the material enters the 

 ship some feet below the surface and is pumped into the tank from which baths, &c, 

 are supplied. On this occasion he was fortunate enough to have the entire use of one 

 of the bath-rooms, a tow-net being fixed to the tap so that sea-water was running 

 through it day and night. By this means it is practicable to collect material from 

 the whole of the route traversed, and mostly in good condition. 



This collection of Copepoda has proved to be exceedingly rich and varied, containing 



2 G 2 



