SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 145 



REPORT ON THE PLANKTON OF THE PERIODIC 



AND OTHER CRUISES OF THE " JAMES 



FLETCHER" DURING 1913. 



By W. Riddell, M.A. 



The present report deals with all the plankton 

 collected in the course of the work of the " James 

 Fletcher " during the whole of the year 1913. It thus 

 overlaps slightly the period dealt with in the Annual 

 Report for last year, but I think it desirable to give, so 

 far as possible, a picture of the course of events during 

 one complete year, and the calendar year is the most 

 convenient division. 



During the year, vertical hauls were made on each 

 monthly hydrographic cruise at Stations 5, 6, and 7, and 

 on the quarterly cruises at Station 14 also. (See Chart, 

 p. 146). These hauls were taken with the Nansen net 

 (diam. 35 cms., silk number 20), each haul being from a 

 depth of 20 fathoms to the surface. As the weather 

 during the quarterly cruise in February, 1913, did not 

 permit of any plankton work being done, I have included 

 the gathering from Station 14 in February, 1914, so as 

 to give a picture of the plankton in this region during 

 one year. 



During the year surface tow-nettings have also been 

 taken as a matter of routine wherever the steamer was 

 engaged in trawling. Captain Wignall and the crew of 

 the " James Fletcher " have attended to this matter very 

 diligently and carefully, and there are thus a large 

 number of samples available. 



Further, a few special fish-egg cruises were made 

 during the spring, the eggs from which are being reported 



