St. Andrews Marine Laboratory . 
175 
no group is more eagerly followed by the fishes than the 
marine Annelids. 
As in certain groups the spawning-period of the Annelids 
is considerably prolonged (though not necessarily in indi- 
viduals), that is, larvae of the same species are found during 
several months, a constant succession of young forms taking 
the place of those which have advanced to the later stages 
after undergoing changes more or less noteworthy, and many 
of which settle on new sites on the bottom or amidst the rocks 
to form fresh colonies. A large number of these young 
stages are caught near the bottom by the trawl-like tow-net*, 
and they are only occasionally to be found near the surface 
under favourable conditions of temperature and the sea itself. 
The great larval bristles so characteristic of the young of 
the Spionidae do not seem to prevent in all cases their being 
eaten by young fishes, though the observations are as yet too 
few to enable definite conclusions to be made on this point. 
These long bristles, however, may constitute an effectual guard 
from the attacks of the smaller predatory Invertebrates, which 
otherwise would prey on them. They certainly form a 
striking fringe in the early stages, and the metallic lustre in 
some species gives them no little beauty. 
Tomopteris , formerly considered somewhat rare, is a form 
which frequents the inshore waters from January to December. 
The enormous numbers of the Chaetognaths again almost 
throughout the entire year is a feature of moment in connexion 
with the food of fishes, which readily devour them. In some 
inshore areas the bag of the large mid water-net, after a brief 
haul in autumn, is distended with a semisolid mass of them. 
The activity of the post- larval Annelids is great. They 
glide rapidly through the water and often circle nimbly in a 
limited area and again shoot towards the side of the vessel 
next the light, where they collect like the Copepoda. They 
are also voracious ; for instance, a post-larval Nerine ( cirra - 
tulus ?) seized on the tail of a Scolecolepis a little less than 
itself, and it was only after a severe struggle, in which both 
exerted themselves desperately, that the latter managed to 
withdraw its tail — now considerably injured — from the eager 
mouth of the Nerine . 
In the beginning of January various marine Annelids 
present symptoms of maturity, such as the Polynoidse and 
* As formerly mentioned this net is invaluable in such investigations, 
bringing to light, for instance, such forms as Agalmopsis and llybocodon , 
which otherwise would have escaped notice. 
13 * 
