32 



Part III. — Twenty-eighth Annual Report 



them, 6 inches. This Eledone, therefore, would have measured over all fully 

 12 inches in length — a fairly big mouthful to swallow even for a moderate- 

 sized halibut. 



Cetera 



Some odd things observed included Crangon allmanni, discs of starfishes 

 (Ophiura), small Echinocardium, fragments of Zoophytes, a small univalve 

 shell (Fusus), and a few small stones. Most of these small things, however, 

 were probably derived from the stomachs of the haddocks, whitings, &c, 

 which the halibuts had swallowed. 



May. 



The number of halibut stomachs examined in May was 95, and of these 

 60 contained food which could, to some extent at least, be identified. The 

 size of the halibut from which these stomachs were removed ranged for the 

 most part from 30 inches to 42 inches in length. A few were from halibut 

 under 30 inches, and a few others between 48 and 60 inches. The food 

 found in 54 of the stomachs examined consisted entirely of fishes, chiefly 

 Gadoids. Two contained Crustacea only, and two the remains of cuttlefish 

 only, while in two others were found the remains of fishes and shell-fish 

 (Buccinum, sp.). From the results stated above, it would appear that in 

 May halibut had been feeding more exclusively on fishes than during any of 

 the previous monthly periods. Whether there is any natural cause for this 

 change — whether, for example, it is due to seasonal influences affecting the 

 supply of food, or merely to some accidental change — there is scarcely 

 sufficient data to show. 



The Fishes Observed. 



The fishes met with in the halibut stomachs examined in May included, 

 as usual, haddocks, whitings, sand-eels, and very rarely flat-fishes. Herrings 

 were occasionally observed, a few of which were of fairly large size. In one 

 stomach, for example, a herring of about 10 inches in length, and in another 

 a specimen about 8 inches, were obtained. A witch sole about 12-i- inches 

 long was also found in one of the stomachs examined on May 6th. Some of 

 the Gadoids were tolerably large ; a whiting 15 inches long and a brassie 

 (Gadus luscus) 13 inches were among some of the larger specimens met with. 



The fish food in a considerable number of the stomachs examined in May 

 was so much digested that if the earstones were absent the species was 

 practically unrecognisable. 



Crustacea, Cuttlefishes, &c. 



Crustacea and cuttlefishes were both very sparingly met with. Hyas 

 coarctatus was almost the only crustacean observed, and the cuttlefish remains 

 consisted chiefly of their dark-coloured horny jaws. 



June. 



The halibut stomachs examined in June numbered 119. Fifty-seven of 

 them were empty or contained food that could not be identified, while the 

 food in the remaining 62 consisted largely of gadoids. In 47 of the stomachs 

 examined the food consisted entirely of fishes, and in fully 50 per cent, of 

 them the food was so much digested that in many cases only a few bones 

 were left, so that even the species could not be determined. The following 

 Gadoids were recognised, viz.: — The remains of a codfish about 15 inches in 



