SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 197 



Tailing in abundance in one area, may be very scarce, or 

 altogether absent, in another. Their habit being strictly 

 limited to particular regions, even in such a comparatively 

 small area as the Irish Sea. To give one example. The 

 protozoan, Noctiluca miliaris, is found year after year, 

 sometimes in enormous numbers, especially during the 

 summer months, in the in-shore waters along the Lanca- 

 shire and North Wales Coasts. In some years it extends 

 as far out as the Morecambe Bay and the Liverpool North- 

 west Lightships. Notwithstanding this abundance in the 

 in-shore waters, the organisms does not appear to reach 

 Port Erin, nor can we find any record of its occurrence in 

 the Clyde. 



It has been found convenient in the present report to 

 group the in-shore collections made by the steamer into a 

 number of sections. Each section represents a definite 

 portion of the territorial waters. The gatherings made on 

 the off-shore fishing grounds are classed under stations 

 I., II. and III. I. and II. are the stations shown on the 

 sketch chart of the district prepared by the late Mr. 

 Dawson ; III. is marked by the position of the Liverpool 

 North-west Lightship. The Port Erin tow-nettings form 

 a group by themselves. 



Section I. — Blackpool Closed Ground. 



Characteristic Organisms. 



February .. Sagitta, Copepoda and Copepod nauplii. 

 April ... Copepoda, Isopoda, larval shrimps, Barnacle 



nauplii, and two species of fish eggs. 

 May . . . Copepoda, larval shrimps, " Ostracod " stage 



of Barnacle, and five species of fish eggs. 

 Tune ... Pleurobrachia, Sagitta, Copepoda, Crab 



Zoea and Megalopa, " Ostracod " stage of 



