69 



Keport on the Investigations carried on in 1898 in 

 connection with the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries 

 Laboratory at University College, Liverpool, and 

 the Sea-Fish Hatchery at Piel, near Barrow. 



Drawn up by Professor W. A. Herdman, F.E.S., Honorary 

 Director of the Scientific Work ; assisted by Mr. Andrew 

 Scott, Eesident Fisheries Assistant at Piel, and Mr- 

 James Johnstone, Fisheries Assistant at Liverpool. 



With Plates I. and II. 



[Read March 17th, 1899.] 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 69 



Fish Hatching Work at Piel ...... 80 



Observations on Leptocephalus 85 



Observations on Habits and Food of Young Fishes - 90 



The Plankton Work 93 



Experiments with Weighted Drift Bottles .... 98 



The Spawning of the Mussel 104 



On Sea-Fish Hatching 122 



Oysters and Disease - - 130 



Iron and Copper in Oysters 135 



Mussel Beds and Mud Banks 147 



Report from Messrs. Keeble and Gamble on Work done at Piel 149 



Appendix : — Laboratory Regulations at Piel .... 154 



Introduction. 

 This is the first complete year of Mr. Scott's work at the 

 Piel Hatchery and of Mr. Johnstone's work at the 

 Liverpool Laboratory, and a glance merely at the above 

 table of contents will show the extent and variety of the 

 investigations that have been undertaken. 



Mr. Scott's work has been in the main economic — the 

 hatching of eggs of marketable fishes and the improve- 

 ment of apparatus and fittings so as to carry on such 

 work more efficiently in the future. He has also, however, 

 examined many tow-net gatherings and other samples of 

 the organisms in the waters and on the shores of our 

 district, and has carried out a further series of experi- 



