MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 47 



Fisheries Board to show that only 7 " 3 species of inverte- 

 brates and 8' 3 species of fishes are captured on the 

 average by the Fisheries steamer "Garland's" beam 

 trawl ; and he cites as an example of a large and varied 

 haul from deep water one taken by the " Challenger " at 

 station 146 in the Southern Ocean, at a depth of 1,375 

 fathoms, with a 10-foot trawl dragged for at most 2 miles 

 during at most two hours, when 200 specimens were 

 captured belonging to fifty-nine genera and seventy-eight 

 species. Murray then goes on to say : "In depths less 

 than 50 fathoms, on the other hand, I cannot find in all 

 my experiments any record of such a variety of organisms 

 in any single haul, even when using much larger trawls 

 and dragging over much greater distances." Now our 

 experience of dredging in the Irish Sea is that quite 

 ordinary hauls of the dredge or very small trawl (only 4-foot 

 beam) contain often more specimens, species, and genera 

 than the special case cited from the " Challenger " results. 

 On the first of our expeditions after the appearance of Dr. 

 Murray's volumes we counted the contents of the first 

 haul of the trawl. The particulars are as follows : — June 

 23rd, 7 miles W. of Peel, on North Bank, bottom sand 

 and shells, depth 21 fathoms, trawl 4 feet beam, down for 

 20 minutes ; 232 specimens were counted, but there may 

 well have been another 100 ; they belonged to at least 112* 

 species and 103 genera, a larger number in every respect — 

 specimens, species, and genera — than in the " Challenger" 

 haul quoted. The list of these species is here given, and 

 marine zoologists will see at a glance that it is nothing- 

 out of the way, but a fairly ordinary assemblage of not 

 uncommon animals such as is frequently met when 

 dredging in from 15 to 30 fathoms. 



* Really an under estimate, several other species have been identified 

 since from the same haul. 



