SEA FISHERIES LABORATORY. 91 



ground outside Morecambe Bay and off the Cumberland 

 coast, and also off some parts of the Isle of Man. It is 

 not yet known whether these are of much use as food to 

 the fishes but so far they have not been taken in the 

 stomachs of the large fish examined. 



Aphrodite aculeata : — This characteristic worm, well 

 known to many as the " sea mouse," is always to be taken 

 in large numbers off the mouth of the Kibble, the Gut Bar, 

 in about 5 fathoms. Here again we are unable to say from 

 our own statistics whether it is used as food, but on other 

 parts of the coast it is of frequent occurrence in the 

 stomachs of cod. 



A number of Echinodermata, viz., Ophioglypha albida, 

 and 0. texturata, Spatangus pitrpureus, Brissopsis lyrifera 

 and Echinocardium cordaticm have been taken in numbers, 

 but as yet we have not got sufficient evidence to show 

 that they are important articles of food for our fishes. 

 The two species of Ophioglypha have been taken in im- 

 mense numbers in every haul of the trawl off the Eibble 

 Gut Bar usually in 5 fathoms, and associated with Aphro- 

 dite aculeata, Philine aperta, Mactra stultorum and M. 

 elliptica. Spatangus purpureas, Echinus esculentus and 

 E. miliaris are usually associated together with Pecten 

 opercularis on the deep water ground off the northern 

 portion of our district. Brissopis lyrifera has been taken 

 in immense numbers in the deep water on the mud to the 

 western side of the Isle of Man, and at times constitutes 

 the main portion of the invertebrate fauna brought up in 

 the trawl. Echinocardium cordaticm is taken off the 

 Blackpool closed ground in large numbers. 



In regard to Crustacea, Garcinus moenas (shore crab), 

 Portunus depurator (swimming crab), Pagurus bernhardus 

 (hermit crab), are widely distributed all over the district in 

 the shallow water ; the two former do not go much beyond 



