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Appendices to Fourth Annual Report 



generally gradual. At the time Hyperia occurs in immense numbers 

 Nydiphanes does not appear to be common. As the Hyperix become less 

 frequent in the herrings' stomachs Nydiphanes is found in ever increasing 

 quantity until it has entirely, or almost entirely, taken the place of the 

 former. In short, the quantity of the one appears to be inversely propor- 

 tional to that of the other. This will be well seen from a comparison of 

 the statistics given for the Forth. This relationship appears to be carried 

 out still further. Just as Hyperia was found to be abundant south of 

 Peterhead and to diminish gradually in numbers further north, so the dis- 

 tribution of Nyctiphanes appears to be the very reverse. We have found 

 this species in greatest numbers in herring from the Wick district, while in 

 the more southern districts it is c3rtainly not so common. On the West 

 Coast Nyctiphanes has been met with from Stornoway to Girvan, but not 

 usually in large numbers. In the Stornoway district it is abundant in 

 April, but the number diminishes considerably in May and June. In the 

 Loch Broom district from October to December, and also in March, thfe 

 herring feed almost entirely on this and other Schizopods. We have no 

 information from that district in January and February. In Loch Fyne 

 this form does not appear to be abundant at any time. A few have been 

 met with occasionally in May and June, while the species appears to be 

 more frequent in the autumn. It should be stated that we failed to 

 recognise schizopods in the herrings' stomachs from Loch Fyne in 1885 

 until the autumn. The records of these forms for the summer were 

 obtained from material supplied by the Fishery Officer in 1884. In the 

 Girvan district Nyctiphanes occurs in about the same proportion during 

 the different months as on the East Coast. In November and December 

 it was found to be fairly common, the greatest numbers were met with in 

 February, while in May only very few were found. 



Boreophausia Raschii. — This species was not distinguished from the 

 preceding in the earlier part of our inquiry, so that it may possibly occur 

 more frequently than is shown by the statistics. It has been met with in 

 thefstomachs of the herring from the Stonehaven district in January and 

 June, in moderate quantities. In the Stornoway district it has occurred 

 in the month of June. In Loch Broom this species appears to be very 

 common, and has occurred in large quantities in the stomachs examined 

 during October and November. We have also found it in small quantities 

 in Loch Fyne. 



COPEPODS. 



As a general rule, it may be stated that the copepods supply the principal 

 food of the herring during the summer months. The herring caught 

 during the summer fishery on the East Coast are usually ripe fish which 

 take little or no food. The proportion of stomachs containing food varies 

 considerably from day to day, and the contents usually consist of copepods 

 in small quantities. On the West Coast, however, most food is taken 

 during the summer months, when the herring gorge themselves with cope- 

 pods. It thus happens that as the herring take more food during the 

 summer in some districts than in others, the relative abundance of the 

 different forms cannot be accurately estimated from a study of the 

 stomachs. 



The contents of a large number of the stomachs examined from the 

 Berwick district, in July, August, and September, consisted chiefly of 

 copepods. 



The statistics for the Anstruther district refer only to the winter and 

 spring months, during which time copepods do not occur in great quantities. 

 On the 27th of December a large number of copepods are recorded as 



