422 TRANSACTIONS LIVEEPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Larval Forms. 



As one of the principal objects of the examination of 

 these catches has been the identification of the Decapod 

 Crustacean larvae contained in them, these will be dealt 

 with in detail below, and the various other larval forms 

 passed over with a note of their occurrence. 



Veliger larvae of Gastropods occurred in the surface 

 nets at intervals in the irregular fashion characteristic of 

 plankton organisms. 



Polychaet larvae were similarly distributed, but more 

 frequently found. 



Fish eggs were abundant in nearly all the gatherings, 

 whether surface or deep, but the larval fish were rarely 

 found above a certain depth, and were almost confined to 

 the shear and " weight " nets. 



Echinoderm larvae were of infrequent occurrence ; the 

 Brachiolaria occurred in three hauls, the Pluteus in two, 

 and once only a post-larval stage of an Echinoid was 

 taken. 



Crustacean larvae were abundant in every netting. 



Balanus nauplii seem to be present in enormous 

 numbers at all depths. 



Copepod nauplii, larvae, and young stages were 

 found in very many of the surface gatherings, but very 

 few of the deep ones. 



Decapoda. 



We now come to Decapod larvae, which show 

 interesting features in their vertical distribution. By far 

 the most abundant larva was the zoea (in various stages) 

 of Hyas araneus. This occurred in thousands in some of 

 the surface catches, but it is interesting to note that it 



