of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 261 
dark blotches and streaks on its integument, which is other- 
wise pellucid and almost transparent. There does not seem 
to be any previous record of its occurrence in the Forth 
(S.F.B.). 
Padnalus annulicornis, Leach. 
Pandalus annulicornis, Bell, Brit. Stalk-eyed Crust., p. 297, 1853. 
A common species throughout the Forth ; frequently observed 
in the stomachs of the haddock and eod. 
Pandalus brevirostris, Rathke. 
Pandalus brevirostris, Norman, Mus, Nor., pt. i. p. 8, 1886. 
Hippolyte Thomsoni, Bell, Brit, Stalk- eyed Crust., p. 290, 1853. 
Firth of Forth (F. M. Balfour; L. & H.). (em specimen 
dredged in deep water a little west of Inchkeith, October 1887 
(S.F.B.). This appears to be a rare species in the Forth. 
(?) Palemon squillu (Linné). 
Palemon squilla, Bell, Brit. Stalk-eyed Crust., p. 305, 1853. 
Frequent in rock pools near the mouth of the Firth (L. & H.). 
_ Remarks.—The Decapod Crustacea here recorded as having been 
observed in the Firth of Forth, amount in number to nearly a half of the 
whole British species. Scarcely a third of them, however, are of frequent 
or common occurrence, and of several only a few specimens have as yet 
been noticed in the estuary. The common species of the Decapods are 
frequently observed among the contents of fishes’ stomachs, and form a 
considerable part of the food of those fishes that feed at or near the bottom. 
It does not appear that the species of Crustacea belonging to this group 
are to any appreciable extent more abundant at one season than another, 
although some are found to frequent the littoral zone during the spring 
and summer months more than at other times, and Hyas araneus may be 
cited as an example of this. It is rather curious that this spider crab, 
though not confined so exclusively to deep water as the other species, 
Hyas coarctatus is yet frequently captured by the dredge in water of 
10 or 15 fathoms depth, it is nevertheless very rarely found in the stomachs 
of fishes, even of that omniverous feeder the cod; whereas Hyas 
coarctatus is of common occurrence, especially in cods’ stomachs, six, 
eight, and sometimes a dozen or more specimens being found in a single 
fish. 
That Hyas araneus is more a littoral species cannot be given as a satis- 
factory reason for its practical exemption; that it is larger is a reason 
hardly more tenable, for cuttle-fish, Norwegian lobsters, and even sea- 
fowl are devoured by cod; nor are they so active in their movements as 
to be able to escape by that means more readily than other crabs. What- 
ever the reason is, it seems evident that fishes, as well as fishermen, have 
a decided dislike to Hyas araneus. 
The common food fishes, throughout all stages of their growth, feed 
very generally and largely on species belonging to nearly all the orders of 
Crustacea, both in their young and mature conditions. Where Crustacea 
are abundant, it may reasonably be expected that fishes will be more or 
less numerous. It goes without saying, then, that the study of the 
Crustacea,—their distribution, habits, and development,—forms by no 
means an unimportant part of fishery investigations. 
With comparatively few exceptions, the various species of Decapods 
frequent the bottom, seeking shelter under stones, among sea-weed, 
Loophytes, or, as is the case with some, burrowing in the mud or sand, 
and sometimes to a considerable depth. The Cumacea seem also to fre- 
quent the bottom. ‘The Schizopoda, or at least very many of them, are, 
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