of the Fishery Board for Scotia luL 



249 



report on the results obtained so far until the experiments are finished, 

 when a full report on all the lochs under special examination will be 

 prepared and submitted to the Board. 



But though it may be desirable at this stage of the special inquiry to 

 defer the preparation of a report on any results obtained, it may not be 

 out of place to state that a few interesting facts bearing on the distribu- 

 tion of fresh-water Entomostraca have already been secured. In Loch 

 Doon, for example, a Copepod (Diaptomus laciniatus) was discovered 

 which has not previously been known to occur in Britain, and which has 

 been found in only a few places on the continent of Europe, as at Kola 

 (within the Arctic circle) in Lapland ; near Bergen in Norway; in the dis- 

 trict of Schwarzwald, Germany ; and in the Lake of Geneva — a distribu- 

 tion which tends to show that [>robably the normal habitat of this species 

 is in the lakes of alpine or sub-alpine regions. The occurrence of this 

 species may also have some bearing on distribution in reference to surface 

 changes, with which only the geologist can deal. Another Copepod 

 {Diaptomus wier/.ejslcii), hitherto comparatively rare in lakes on the 

 mainland of Scotland, was found in Loch Achray; and a third member of 

 the same genus {Diaptomus hircus) was moderately frequent in some tow- 

 net gatherings from Loch Lochy and Loch Xess, which extends the dis- 

 tribution of these species considerably. Moreover, a member of the Har- 

 pacticidae {MarcBnohiotus vejdovsl-ei) that has once before been recorded 

 for Britain was found moderately frequent in Loch Doon in December. 



Besides the discovery of rare forms, certain points of interest bearing 

 on seasonal variation in the number of male Daplinia, and on some 

 aspects of the" question of the reproduction of the Entomostraca in rela- 

 tion to the different seasons of the year, are also being noted, and will be 

 discussed in the report that deals with the results of this series of special 

 observations. 



I pass on now to give an account of the examination of several fresh- 

 water lochs of Scotland, apart from those referred to above, that have 

 been investigated during the past year. They are described in the 

 same order that was observed in a somewhat similar paper on inland 

 waters prepared for last Annual Report. The description of the lochs 

 is arranged under two divisions. The first division includes descrip- 

 tions of a few lochs (other than those of Shetland), whilst descriptions of 

 a number of the Shetland lochs are contained in the second division. 



DIVISION 1. 



Description of some Lochs (other than those of Shetland) 

 examined during the past year. 



(1) Sma^ll Loch near the Village of Lochranza, Arran. 



This small loch, or tarn, which appears to have been at one time con- 

 siderably larger than it is now, was examined last year on the 19th of 

 May, and at that time tadpoles were exceedingly numerous in the water, 

 consequently Entomostraca, as might have been expected, were scarce — 

 indeed there was little else besides tadpoles to be seen. It is probable 

 that but for the presence of these hungry, ravenous creatures, the number 

 and variety of smaller organisms would have been considerable, for, not- 

 withstanding the conditions referred to, sixteen species of Crustacea were 



