96 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



FISHEBIES COLLECTION. 



Most of the animals in the sea which form the object 

 of our Local Fisheries belong to one or other of three 

 great groups, viz. : — 



I. Pisces. — Fishes properly so-called (Cod, Her- 

 ring,, &c.)— Vertebrate or Back-boned animals 

 with fins and scales, but no shell. 



II. Mollusca. — Shell-fish — (Oyster, Mussel, &c.) 

 — Animals with no back-bone and no limbs ; 

 the soft unjointed body is enclosed in a hard 

 shell. 



III. Crustacea. — Legged Shell-fish (Lobster, Crab, 

 Shrimp, &c.) — Animals with no backbone, 

 but with legs, feelers, and other limbs ; the 

 jointed body has an outer hard covering. 



In addition to these direct objects of the Fisherman's 

 work there are many other groups of animals in the sea 

 which, although not themselves edible, are of very great 

 importance to the Fishing industries, and must not be 

 neglected by those who would form a correct opinion on 

 the feeding and breeding of our marketable fish. Many 

 of the inedible lower (invertebrate) animals are of immense 

 importance as the food, or the food of the food, of edible 

 fish. Others are parasites or act injuriously, directly or 

 indirectly, at some time in the life-history, upon food 

 fishes — this includes such cases as the competition between 

 non-marketable fish such as the Solenette and marketable 

 fish of similar habits. 



