274 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ON THE PELAGIC FISH-EGGS COLLECTED OEF 



THE SOUTH-WEST OF THE ISLE OF MAN 



IN 1914. 



By Andrew Scott, A.L.S. 



I hoped it would have been possible to continue the 

 report, commenced last year, on the pelagic fish-eggs 

 taken in the plankton collected by the Lancashire and 

 Western Sea-Fisheries steamer, but this has not been 

 possible. An accident to the ship in February laid her 

 up for* repairs during the most important month of the 

 spring. By the time the repairs were completed, and the 

 ship ready for sea again, the maximum spawning period 

 in 1914 was past. Later on in the year the ship was taken 

 over on Government Service, and the sea work brought 

 to an abrupt conclusion for the time being. Only 

 thirteen of the collections taken while the vessel was 

 carrying on investigations contained pelagic fish-eggs, 

 compared with eighty-three in 1913. 



The samples of plankton taken throughout the year 

 in Port Erin Bay, and on occasions outside, around the 

 south-west of the Isle of Man in connection with the 

 "Intensive Study" investigations, have been the only 

 means of obtaining continuous information regarding the 

 occurrence of pelagic fish-eggs in 1914. This in-shore 

 area, especially Port Erin Bay, is more liable to be 

 influenced by the action of winds and currents than the 

 open sea. The appearance of eggs in the plankton taken 

 in the Bay, then, will probably only give an approximate 

 idea of the spawning periods compared with the results 

 that might be obtained in the open water of the central 

 area. The central area may be regarded as the portion 

 of the Irish Sea extending from between Cumberland 



