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Part III. — Ninth Annual Report 
SECTION B.— BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS, 
I._ON THE FOOD OF FISHES. By W. Ramsay Smith, B.Sc. 
The following pages embody the results of a third year's observations 
on the food of fishes, carried out by Mr Thomas Scott, F.L.S., on board 
the 'Garland.' The observations have not been made so uniformly as 
in the preceding two years, but the results are none the less instructive 
on that account. Speaking generally, one may say that the results point 
very emphatically to the same conclusion as those of the former years and 
confirm in a remarkable degree the view that the ' ground food ' of the 
various species of fish differs very little from year to year in the same 
locality. A statement of the food of the most important fishes in the 
Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay, where the records have been most 
complete, would add but little information to the brief resume given in 
last year's Report, and I therefore refrain from giving such a statement. 
I ought to say, however, that the results of the three years' investigations 
form a body of facts at the disposal of the Fishery Board that for extent, 
and completeness is, so far as I am aware, not only unequalled but 
likely to remain so for some time to come. An exhaustive treatment of 
these investigations would be no light task ; but considering its import- 
ance, it is one that deserves to be undertaken. Observations have been 
made by other naturalists in the service of the Board upon the food of 
fishes at various parts of the coast which are available for purposes of 
comparison, and from looking over these I gather that from all these 
investigations, one may confidently affirm that a good deal can now be 
definitely stated regarding the food of a number of species of fish at 
diff'erent seasons, and at different places, a subject regarding which very 
little was known. 
I. FIRTH OF FORTH. 
Plaice. 
(Pleuronedes platessa.) 
Of 236 stomachs examined 63 were empty, and the contents of 3 were 
indistinguishable:"^ 170 contained matter that could be identified. The 
following notes refer to these 170 : — 
Echinoderms were found in 23 stomachs (13 %). They consisted of 
(1) Ampliiwa, at Station V., in one in July ; and at Station VII., in six 
in July and in four in September : (2) Ophioglypha, at Station VI., in 
one in July, in three in September, and in one in February : (3) Amplii- 
dotuSj at Station VI., in one in September and in one in November ; and 
at Station VIII., in two in October: (4) unidentified sand-stars, at Station 
II., in one in October ; at Station IV., in one in July ; and at Station VI., 
in one in September. 
Annelids were found in 98 stomachs (57 %). They consisted of (1) 
* Those recorded as ' indistinguishable' generally contained some pulp or mucus. 
