Thorny Lobster {Palinurus vulgaris) in British Waters. 71 



(Derrynaue, where it is not uncommon, Fisheries Branch ; and Valentia, 

 Kinahan) ; 3 and from G-alway (Gal way Bay, rare, Melville ; i Oranmore, 

 Galway Bay, rare, Fisheries Branch; Ballynakill Harbour, uncommon, 

 Fisheries Branch) ; on the north Kinahan records a specimen in the Ordnance 

 Survey Collection from Magilligan, in Londonderry. 3 



These records indicate that Palinurus vulgaris occurs all round the Irish 

 coasts, but, according to Mr Kemp, " it is never found commonly, and in my 

 experience it is always scarcer than the lobster." 



Note. — I have to thank Dr Caiman for drawing my attention to the fact 

 that the most northerly record in Europe is that of a single specimen from 

 near Bergen, of which Professor Appellbf says, that if, indeed, it has not been 

 thrown overboard from a ship, it is, at least, a zoogeographical abnormality. 

 The occurrence of the Thorny Lobster at places all along the west and also 

 on the north of Scotland renders the Norwegian record — in almost the same 

 latitude as the Orkney localities — less abnormal than would at first sight 

 appear, for it is well known that southern species found on our west, but 

 not on our east coast, frequently reappear on the shores of Norway. 



Summary. 

 Palinurus vulgaris has been recorded from various localities along all 

 the coasts of the British Isles, except from that portion of the east coast 

 which lies to the north of Flamborough Head. It is most abundant in the 

 south-west, becoming scarcer northwards, although the apparent scarcity 

 may, in part, be due to its long and unyielding antennas which, Couch states, 5 

 frequently hinder it from entering crab pots. This extended British dis- 

 tribution makes more intelligible an isolated Norwegian record from almost 

 the same latitude. 



1 K, Ball, in J. R. Kinahan. 3 



2 Harvey, Humphreys, and Power, Contributions to the Fauna and Flora of Go. Cork, 

 1845. 



3 J. E. Kinahan, Nat. Hist. Review (Dublin Nat. Hist. Soc. Proc), iv., 1857, p. 68. 



4 A. G. Melville, Nat. Hist. Review (Proc. Dublin Nat. Hist. Soc), iv., 1857, p. 153. 



5 J. Couch, Cornish Fauna, 1838, p. 77. 



(Issued separately, 19th February 1910.) 



