aa 
of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 229: 
of the herrings’ stomachs from the Stornoway district collected in April, 
May and June, Schizopods were more or less abundant in twenty-eight, 
and Copepods in sixteen, of the samples examined ; and in those from 
Loch Broom district, collected in March, October, November and 
December, there were no Copepods at all. This, again, shows a prepon- 
derance of Schizopods over Copepods as constituting the food of the 
herring ; so that, with the exception of the Loch Fyne district, it would 
appear from these statistics that on the West as well as on the East Coast 
of Scotland Schizopods are at least of no less importance than the Cope- 
pods, as forming part of the food of the herring, even during the summer 
months. 
Another point relating to the herring and its food may be noticed here. 
The experiments with the tow-net round a considerable part of both the 
East and the West Coasts of Scotland, carried out by instructions from the 
Fishery Board during recent years, have shown that the young Euphau- 
side and the pelagic Amphipods and Copepods are not nearly as plentiful 
in deep water as they are near the surface, or at least within a few fathoms 
of the surface; and these being the organisms that the herring almost 
exclusively feed on, it follows that when herring are feeding they do not 
go into deep water, but keep near the surface where their food is most 
abundant. 
An interesting fact brought out by the published statistics already 
referred to, is the total absence of the Hyperiide in the stomachs from 
the West Coast—not a single specimen of these Amphipods being observed 
among the contents of any of those examined ; and in the table given here 
these Amphipods are also equally unrepresented. Why they should be 
so frequent on the East Coast, and so very rare on the West, is a rather 
puzzling question. 
Another fact perhaps worth noticing, is that in all but one of the 
stomachs which came from King’s Cove, Arran, and which were distended 
with food, the lower part (nearly half) was filled with Copepods only, while 
the upper part was exclusively filled with Schizopods. This abrupt and 
complete change in the nature of the food is interesting, for from the well- 
preserved condition of the organisms, little time can have elapsed between 
the relinquishing of the one, and the taking to the other kind of food. <A 
possible explanation is that the Copepods were being attacked by a shoal 
of Vyctiphanes when the herrings fell in with them, and that the latter 
after passing through among the Copepods met with the Schizopods, 
feeding freely on each in turn. 
Dr Mobius has suggested ‘that the herring does not discriminate 
‘between one form of food and another when feeding on the more minute 
‘species, but that the swarms of microscopic animals which are diffused 
‘through the sea are drawn into the mouth along with the water of 
‘respiration, and are retained while the water passes out through the 
‘ opercula.’ While it is quite possible that some of the organisms observed 
in the stomachs of herrings may be captured in that way, yet there can 
be no doubt that herrings intentionally pursue and feed on such minute 
creatures as the Copepoda. I have frequently seen over 200 herrings 
feeding freely on them, pursuing and capturing them. I have also on 
inany occasions, when at Rothesay, gone out with the tow-net and col- 
lected such forms for the purpose of feeding the herrings kept alive in 
the tanks ; and it was interesting to observe how quickly they noticed the 
presence of the minute Crustaceans, even though transferred to their tank 
with as little disturbance as possible, and how after all the organisms 
seemed to have been captured, a few herring, possibly more hungry than 
the others, would continue to search about the tank, and eagerly pounce 
on any Copepod that had_ previously escaped notice. 
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