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Part III. — Ninth AnnM Report 
counted in a single haul. The trawling interest, that has been shut out 
from these narrow seas, need not feel aggrieved, as there are few stretches 
of ground where an ordinary beam-trawl could safely run for any time, even 
if the fish supply were such as to warrant the attempt. It seems useless 
to think of stocking these waters; artificially until the conditions are such 
as to provide food for the young. These conditions being annual, and 
meteorological, cannot be calculated upon. The whole fisheries of the 
West Coast are really dependent upon the herring, at least inside the 
Outer Hebrides. 
It is interesting to note that the small Cephalopod, Rossia macrosoina, 
till recently deemed rare, was a constantly recurring capture in the trawl- 
net, as well as in the dredge. Its ova in course of hatching out was also 
found on several occasions ; the eggs lying amongst the roots of tangle, or 
in some old shell. The localities noted for this cuttle fish cover all the 
ground traversed by the expedition, and indeed we rarely had a haul of the 
trawl-net without some specimens. Besides the ordinary echinoderms, we 
had a most remarkable haul of what we formerly considered a rare form of 
heart urchin, Bi'issopsis Iprifer, completely choking our net, which hung 
like a huge bag of potatoes, and could not be lifted. We calculated the 
quantity of these urchins as representing not less than 3 tons weight. Our 
object being defined, we could not give special time to investigations of 
the minuter fauna, more especially as our staff was also too limited to 
work and preserve it, but we gave what time could be spared to sampling 
the most likely grounds. We got no specimen of the rare Astronyx 
loveni (Mtiller), which we took from the Sound of Sleat, in 90 fathoms, 
in 1886. But from the opposite side, off Dunvegan, we obtained a 
specimen of BaJanoglossuSy the only one hitherto obtained in the Scottish 
seas. This came up from 100 fathoms, along with a very interesting 
collection of invertebrate fauna. 
The enormous quantities of rich specimens of Pavonaria quadrangularis 
that reached us in the trawl from Loch Linnhe made their preservation 
impossible ; and although we did not obtain any quite so large as the fine 
specimen, 6 feet 6 inches long, obtained by Professor Milnes Marshall, 4 
feet long examples were quite numerous. But what seemed most sur- 
prising, considering their rarity in collections, was the fact that, if not 
quite so large, they were still very fine and very plentiful in Loch Sunart, 
Loch Scridain, Loch-na-Keal, and near Stafifa, off Mull, as well as in Loch 
Snizort in Skye. Although not quite so numerous as the above, Penna- 
tula phosphorea was still plentiful also, over most of the West Coast. 
Of Mollusca, the magnificent Isocardia cor was found alive in some 
numbers in Loch Sunart, proving their presence still in the vicinity of 
Loch Linnhe, and possibly also alive in Loch Creran, whence I have 
taken some fine large double valves. The habitat of this shell seems to 
be in deep, soft mud, whence an ordinary dredge cannot remove it. The 
depth of water at which it lives is also commonly considerable. A large 
fragment of Pinna was brought up from 136 fathoms off Canna, where, 
or in the vicinity, this largest of British shells may yet be found. In 
Loch Harport three very large horse mussels, Modiolus modiola. Each con- 
tained specimens of Pinnotheres pisum, females heavy with ova, while on 
the surfaces of each a very large Capulus hungaricus was seated, the 
curve of the shell fitting the curve of the mussel. The same attendance 
of the Capidus upon the Modiolus — as if sheltering among them — was 
found to exist in those brought from 136 fathoms off Canna, only these 
were smaller, as were the mussels also ; and not a single Pinnotheres was 
found inside any of the many mussels opened from thence. The ground 
in these cases, even at this great depth, proved to be hard, and conse- 
