340 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION OF MARINE 

 DEPOSITS IN RELATION TO THE CONTENTS OF 

 FISHES' STOMACHS FROM THE IRISH SEA. 



By Robert Ray, B.Sc., 



Lecturer in Zoology in the South African College, 



Cape Town. 



Introduction. 



In February, 1913, I took up this line of research at the 

 suggestion of Professor Herdman, to whom I am greatly 

 indebted, not only for the idea itself, but also for much subse- 

 quent help and advice during the course of the investigation. 

 This work would have been entirely beyond my reach, indeed, 

 had it not been for his kindness in obtaining permission for me 

 to use the Fisheries steamer, " James Fletcher," to collect the 

 samples of bottom-deposits, gather data regarding the fauna 

 associated with these deposits, and obtain supplies of fish- 

 stomachs for examination in the laboratory. 



The title of this paper indicates an extensive investigation, 

 and when I took up the work it became clear that, to obtain 

 sufficient data for satisfactory conclusions, a considerable 

 period of time would be required. I therefore drew up a 

 course of work to cover at least two years, from which I hoped 

 to gather sufficient evidence regarding the types of food 

 consumed by the various food-fishes at different seasons of 

 the year, and the movements of the fauna on the sea-bottom, 

 to draw conclusions of a trustworthy and possibly important 

 nature regarding the feeding-migrations of fishes . In pursuance 

 of this plan I began, after the Easter vacation, the collection 

 of fish-stomachs from the various fishing-grounds of the Irish 

 Sea, and made a detailed examination of their contents in the 



