HARVARD UNIVERSITY. LiBRAKY OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. \W.250. AWA. NAO: ul, 2 he y : ‘= - a( Aa. JUL. 11 j9n¢ \ALAVO REPORT FOR 1892 ON THE LANCASHIRE SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL. BY Proressor W. A. HERDMAN, D.Sc, ERS. WITH ‘FIVE PLATES LIVERPOOL: T. Doss & Co., PrinrErs, 229, BRowNtow Hii. ~~. 1898. Report on the Investigations carried on in 1892 in connection with the LANCASHIRE SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY at University College, Liverpool. * By Professor W. A. Herpman, D.Sc., F.R.S. INTRODUCTION. In December, 1891, I was invited by the Technical Instruction Committee of the Lancashire County Council to submit to them a scheme for the instruction of the Fishermen of the neighbourhood in Biological matters having a bearing upon the fishing industries. In mem- oranda which I sent to that Committee in Dec., 1891, and Jan., 1892, I pointed out that lectures on the food, reproduction, and life history of food fishes, illustrated by lantern slides, specimens, and microscopic preparations, could be given at different centres; but that of still ereater value to the fisheries of the district would be the establishment of a small laboratory in which the investi- gation of biological problems involved in the fisheries could be carried on by competent observers; and that the results of the work done in this laboratory, and in similar laboratories elsewhere—in fact the additions to our exact knowledge of fishery matters during the year—might be communicated to the Fishermen, under the auspices of the Technical Instruction Committee, in the form of a few lectures annually. After some further correspondence and the elaboration of details my proposed scheme was adopted, and the first course of lectures was carried on, in the summer of 1892, as arranged by Mr. Bennion, Director of ‘Technical Instruction ; while the matter of the laboratory and the 2 investigations was handed over to be dealt with by the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Committee. At a meeting of the Sea-Fisheries Committee held in Preston on February 8th, I submitted a detailed scheme for the establishment and working of a Fisheries Labora- tory; and offered to give my services in arranging and supervising the scientific work provided the Committee established the laboratory in connection with the Natural History Department of University College, Liverpool, and found the necessary funds for the salary of an assistant and a small annual grant for apparatus and material. This was agreed to, and a sub-committee, consisting of Mr. W.5. Barrett, Alderman Grindley, and Mr. J. Vicars, was appointed to act along with me in making arrange- ments as to the laboratory with the Council of University College and to receive estimates for the erection of the building. A form of agreement with the College Council was drawn up and signed, a suitable position was obtained on the roof of the Natural History Department, and a wooden laboratory (20 X 10 ft.), with a small tank-room adjoining (see Pl. 1.) was erected by the wood-worling department of the College, under the direction of Mr. R. Garner, for the sum of £91 4 1. The necessary plumbing, gasfitting and plastering work cost £26 6 6, the tanks £30 10 0, and the other fittings and apparatus, and stock of bottles, spirit, chemicals, &c., up to the end of Decem- ber, 1892, about £30; while the salary of the assistant, and the current expenses up to the completion of the year will bring the expenses up to the full amount granted, £300. Along one side of the laboratory under the two larger windows is fixed a strong work-table for the dissection and microscopic examination of specimens, and provided with sink and gas and water fittings. The back of the room is provided with abundance of shelving for the 3 storage of specimens, while a large cupboard opens out of one corner. The tank room is provided with five slate and plate- glass tanks, made by Alfred Carter and Co., Liverpool, and arranged as shown in Pl. I. They are capable of holding in all 670 gallons, and ought to be very useful in experimental work, or in keeping fishes and other marine animals alive while making observations on their habits ; but it can scarcely be hoped that developmental work upon any scale will be possible in such small tanks and where the same water will have to be used over and over again. As yet these tanks have not been made any great use of. So much other work has been going on in the laboratory that the assistant has not had sufficient time in this first season to stock the tanks and get them into working order. But two of them are now being prepared for some contemplated observations on the habits and life history of Shrimps and Cockles. The laboratory was completed on April 16th, and I then chose as Assistant (with the approval of the Consulting Committee—Alderman Grindley, Mr. Vicars, and Mr. Barrett) young Mr. Andrew Scott of Edinburgh, son of My. T. Scott, A.L.S., Naturalist to the Scottish Fishery Board. Mr. Andrew Scott had been a student at Hdin- burgh University and a junior assistant to Professor Ewart, and more recently had been assisting his father in the work of the Scottish Fishery Board. He commenced work in our laboratory at the begimning of May, but unfortunately had to resign the post at the end of the month in consequence of the serious illness of his father which necessitated the return of the son to Edinburgh to help in carrying on the work there. I then appointed as Assistant (with the sanction of the Consulting Committee) Mr. P. J. F. Corbin, an advanced 4 student of the Zoological Department of the Royal College of Science, London, who came with strong recommenda- tions from his teacher Professor G. B. Howes, of South Kensington, and from Professor M‘Intosh of St. Andrews, where Mr. Corbin had done some work at the Marine Station in the previous summer. Mr. Corbin started work on June Ist, and is still here, and I hope we may retain his services for a considerable time. This is pre- eminently work where an assistant should become more and more useful, and able to work more rapidly, as time goes on, as in order to render efficient service he has to know as intimately as possible the details of the ground, and the fauna and flora of various parts of the district, all of which takes time to learn. I have much pleasure in testifying to Mr. Corbin’s intelligence and energy in his work, and in acknowledging his help in the preparation of this report. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATIONS. In the original scheme of these investigations which I submitted to the Sea Fisheries Committee on January 16th. I indicated some of the more pressing subjects requiring investigation, as follows :— (1.) Information in regard to the life-history, the growth, the reproduction, and especially the food of the Sole (Solea vulgaris) in this neighbourhood ; and also the life-history, and food at all stages, of allied fishes of similar habits which are found associated with the Sole, in order to determine to what extent these or other less valuable fishes compete with the Sole for the same food, and so injure it in the struggle for existence. (2.) The food, habits, enemies, life-history and growth of the Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris); the possibility of restricting the Shrimp fishery either in space or time on 5 account of the injury done to young flat-fish; and the practicability of artificial Shrimp culture in enclosed areas. (3.) Various questions in connection with the Mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the Cockle (Cardiwm edule), and the practicability of mussel-culture on various parts of our shores. Some of these, and various other matters connected with our fisheries, have been taken in hand during the summer and autumn, and a number of statistics and observations (dealing with over three thousand fish) have been recorded, in some cases leading to definite conclusions, in others still requiring further work. The subjects will be dealt with separately below. THE DISTRICT, AND ITS PHYSICAL CONDITIONS. The district under the control of the Sea-Fisheries Committee, and to which our investigations are naturally restricted, 1s practically the area known to Naturalists as the L.M.B.C. district, and which has been faunistically investigated for some years back by the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. It is the south eastern half of the Trish Sea bounding the Lancashire and Cheshire coastsfrom Haverigg Point southwards to the North Coast of Wales (see Pl. III.), measuring about 50 miles in length and 40 miles in breadth, to the Isle of Man. In no part of the district is the sea of any great depth, as the deep-water depression which connects the Clyde district deep-water area with the ocean by means of St. George’s Channel runs at the other (western) side of the Isle of Man. In no part between Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Isle of Man is a greater depth than 28 fms. found, and over the sreater part of the area the soundings are from 10 to 20 fms. (see contour lines on Pl. III.). Along the greater part of the coast (including practically all Lancashire and 6 Cheshire) the shores are sandy, and the in-shore waters are for the most part sandy and shallow, extensive sand banks abounding especially off the estuaries of the Mersey, the Dee, the Ribble, and in Morecambe Bay. Altogether it may be estimated that there is an area of about 800 square miles lying off the coast over which the depth is less than 10 fms., and an area beyond that of about 1000 square miles where the depth is from 10 to 20 fms. These shallow sandy bays, and channels between the banks, are probably of the very greatest importance as the feeding grounds and nurseries of our most valuable food fishes in their post-larval and immature stages; and I would urge that during the coming year an accurate survey should be made of these areas and a determination of their physical conditions and their fauna and flora. There are four impor- tant estuaries in the district, that of the Kent and the Leven conjoined at the northern end of Morecambe Bay, that of the Ribble at Preston, the Mersey at Liverpool, and the Dee between Cheshire and Wales at the southern end of the district. Some parts of the shores of these estuaries are already of value as cockle and mussel beds, but probably a great deal more use could be made of them as suitable erounds for edible Mollusca. Mussel culture should be started, Oyster culture might be worth trying in the estuary of the Dee, and Shrimp culture should be experi- mented on in some sheltered spot where an enclosure could be made of stakes and rough wattling. THe “Fauna” oF THE DISTRICT. The marine fauna and flora of this district, which are matters of the greatest importance in connection with the feeding of fish and edible Mollusca, have been systemati- cally investigated for some years back by the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. These investigations have fi shown that in some parts of our district, generally a con- siderable distance off shore, the fauna at the bottom is exceedingly abundant. Dredgings from depths of about 20fms., at 25 miles N. W. of the Bar Light-ship, bring up such masses of Ophiuroids (chiefly Ophiocoma nigra, and Ophiothriz pentaphyllwm), that the dredge net has more than once been choked to the mouth; and this has hap- pened on several successive hauls, showing that this astonishing abundance of life extends over a considerable area. This must be an important feeding ground for Haddocks and Dabs, as we know that Ophiuroids form a large part of the food of these fishes. Then in other parts of the area off-shore, and in some places between the banks the dredge brings up abundance of Lamellibranch Molluses—such as Scrobicularia alba, Tellina balthica, Mactra subtruncata, and especially Mactra stultorum; and these we know from our investigations in the labora- tory are a very important constituent ofthe food of Plaice, and to a less degree of the Haddock. Then again at a spot 25 miles N. W. of the Liverpool Bar, depth 21 fms., the dredge has brought up great numbers of the Annelid Onuphis conchilega, and this and other Annelids are a favourite food of Soles, Plaice, &¢. Amongst Zoophytes, Polyzoa, and Algz in shallow water we frequently find enormous quantities of Amphipoda and other smaller Crustacea which we know to be the food of young Cod, Whiting, and other valuable fishes. Another invertebrate which although not itself market- able is indirectly of great economic importance is the gre- garious annelid Sabellaria alveolata which builds up the loose sand grains into firm masses of adhering tubes known locally by the fishermen as ‘‘ross”’ and ‘‘knarrs.”’ These masses form hummocks, reefs or banks which extend for hundreds of yards or it may be even for miles 8 in some places. The action of this animal is of im- portance in the first place in forming a protection to the land by binding together the loose sand on the beach and in shallow water beyondit; and secondly the irreg- ular masses and reefs constitute a sheltering place, and serve as points of attachment for many kinds of animals and consequently as a favourite feeding ground for many others. Prawns there is little doubt are specially abundant and large in the neighbourhood of Sabellaria banks. They are said to hide in the crevices between the tubes. This may be so, but probably the food they get there 1s of more importance as an attraction; and I have little doubt that the great masses of Sabellaria tubes are an important feeding ground for various kinds of fishes, both in young and adult stages. SURFACE LIFE. The surface fauna of the sea in our district, as made known by the microscopic examination of the stuff caught in the tow-nets, has been specially investigated during the dredging expeditions of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, and is found to vary much both in nature and in amount from time to time and from place to place. Often for weeks together in spring the surface waters seem to contain very little but Diatoms. These however are in ereat profusion, and form the food of many animals which in their turn are eaten by fishes. Later on the Diatoms ceive place to swarms of Copepoda, and the larval stages of many invertebrates. Sometimes one particular species of Copepod will form almost the whole of the tow-net gather- ing in a particular locality. This is sometimes the case with the large forms Calanus finmarchicus and Anomalo- cera patersonw. Under such circumstances the very great abundance of the one form of animal is astonishing, the 9 surface layer of the sea being so thick with them that every bucket or. bottle of water drawn at random brings up multitudes. These swarms may be quite local, a few miles away there may be none, or the surface fauna may have quite a different constitution; and moreover they may disappear from a spot very suddenly, moving off to another locality or sinking to a deeper layer of water. In all probability these changes in the surface fauna have a good deal to do with the movements of fish as it is well known that the larger Copepoda are an important article of food to some fishes, and even to some whales. At other times—frequently in winter—the surface fauna in our district is chiefly composed of the crystalline worm Sagitta; and sometimes the sea over large areas is covered with one or more species of the minute Dinoflagellata be- longing to the genera Ceratiwm and Peridinium. These are known to serve as food for the Sardine off the French coast, as many as twenty millions of Ceratiwm tripos having been calculated as being at oncein the stomach of a Sardine; and no doubt they are equally important in connection with our fisheries here. These various changes in. the surface fauna which are indirectly of great economic importance are not matters of chance, but must all be due to a definite sequence of events; and the question is whether these events, 7.e., the con- ditions of the environment both animate and inanimate, are too complex for us to determine, or whether we can ever hope by accurate observations extending over some years to be able to account for, to predict, and even to regulate, the presence or absence in a particular locality of the food, or the food of the food, of fishes at any given time. At any rate the matter is well worth investigating, and I would propose that definite observations of the meteoro- logical conditions and the surface fauna be taken 10 systematically, and form a regular part of the work of the New Fisheries Steamer (for detailed plan see below, Appendix A.). Foop oF FIsHEs. In connection with all this the importance is obvious of determining in our own district the usual food of all of our valuable fishes, and even of other fishes which are not marketable but which are associated with the food-fishes on the same ground and may compete with them for sustenance. We cannot merely take the results obtained in other countries, as the marine fauna differs in different localities. Nor can we draw conclusions from a few cases. We do not wish to know what some individual fish had for a particular meal, but what that kind of fish is in the habit of eating, 7.e., what are the most important constitu- ents of its food without which it could not get on. In the Fisheries Laboratory, during the eight months from May to December we have examined the stomachs of 3266 animals of which 2087 were fishes, the rest being Shrimps, Cockles, &c., which will be dealt with separately. The circumstances of each case are fully recorded upon a printed form, the particulars noted being :—the species of fish, the date, the locality, &c., of capture, the size, sex, condition of reproductive organs, any other note-worthy point, such as parasites, &c., and the contents of the stomach. These forms are all filed for reference, but I shall only give here a digest of them showing the food of each kind of fish examined for each month in different localities, so far as our statistics give that information. The range in size of the fish in each case is also given. In those cases where the food was partially digested and it was only possible to say that it had once been part of an animal ‘ An, tiss.,’’ for animal tissues, is put. Size in iia Sole (Solea vulgaris). No. | : Month Locality. Food, inches. 7 | 48-62 | May | Rock Channel. | Empty. 3 | 6-104 | June | Crosby ,, Nereis, Crangon. 7 | 6-16 | July it aed Whaveee Bar Sagartia troglodytes in one. Rock Channel, Crustaceans, Annelids, 42 | 4-72 | Aug. |, Dee, and An. tiss., Scrobicularia, (Southport. Pectinaria, Crangon. 6 |10}-—14) ,, | Horse Channel Nereis, Pectinaria. 2 | 64-74 | Sept. | Morecambe. | Nereis, Pectinaria. 12 | 24-62 | Oct. | Fleetwood. An. tiss., Fish, Sand. Solenette (Solea lutea). 16 | 24-44 | May | New Brighton. | An. tiss., Sand, Ostracod. | Ribbl Copepoda, Cardium edule, Cypris, 40 | 22-33 | July Bla. ee 1 Eurydice, Mactra, Tellina, Pectin- | eM ehoaotel aria, Carcinus and Pandalus. 12 | 22-32 ‘(New Brighton, Amphipods, Copepods, Annelids, g - 38 | \ Southport. | Molluses and An. tiss. 1 28 Aug. | R. Dee. A Shell and a Copepod. An. tiss., Copepoda, Gammarus, and 39 | 28- 4} | Nov. 'R. Mersey. Mollgues. I ? Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). 2 | 7-74 | June | Crosby. Tellina balthica and Cardium edule. 121} 74—164| July | Horse Channel. ee cree Carcinus and Tellina | ( Scrobicularia, Nereis, Carcinus, Pec- : ' ( Horse Channel, | | tinaria, Mactra, Tellina, Copepoda 234|12-143) Aug. |\ River Dee.” |) Annelids, Mysis, Mollusca, Mytilus Lecialts 8 | 34-42 on Morecambe. Eurydice, and Lamellibranchs. - Annelids, Copepods, Cumacea, 69 | 12-74 | Sept. 3 eee ts Lamellibranchs. 39 | 2-54 | Oct. | oi Sponges, Cumacea and Copepoda, 13 Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). Size in ; NOn | Ges: Month Locality. Food { Shrimps and Atylus swammerdamii 44 | 12-6} »> | Rock Channel. Crustaceans, Annelids and Amphi- (pods. Sponge, Cumacea, Scrobicularia, 96 | 2-73 | Nov. | Garston. Amphipods, Mactra, annelid and | shrimps. 1¢| 12-9 (Morecambe. fTellina, Cardium, Scrobicularia \vemGares »» | (Heysham Lake. \ Cumacea and annelids. 9 | 44=9 », | Morecambe. | All empty. Dab (Pleuronectes limanda). 1 6g June { Crosby Tellina. ‘ 6 Mersey Ophioglypha albida, Pectinaria 20 | 74-10 | July Horse Channel. { eee Tellina balthica and Nereis Les Ophioglypha albida, Pectinaria 20 |1g-—104] Aug. ee re ira Portunus, Nereis, Mactra Copepods, Amphipods, An. tiss. 3 | 34-74 | Sept. | Morecambe. Mytilus edulis, Amphipods and Cu- macea, 6 | 14-34 | Oct. 0 An. tiss. Atylus swammerdamii, Gammarus 88 | 1¢-5 », | Rock Channel. {loca Ay Campania dots linearis, Cumacea and Donax. ; f Alge, Sponge, Cumacea, Copepoda FL es An. tiss., shrimps, Scrobicularia, U2 eae arg) Noval) Garston: Campanularia, starfish, Mactra, Ophiothrix, annelids. 9 | 32-64 3, | Morecambe. Crangon and Carcinus. Cod (Gadus morrhua). 8 3—4 | Aug. | Morecambe. Crangon, Mysis, Amphipods. 6 | 22-42 ag || dite 1D ieee Crangon, Mysis. Crangon, Carcinus, Shell and Fish 25 | 3—6% | Sept. | Morecambe. } Amphipo da, Mais, 31 | 3-62 | Oct. 7 Crangon, Carcinus, Mysis, Whiting, Amphipods and Isopods, 13 Cod (Gadus morrhua). Size in INO | a he Month Locality. Food Crangon, Pandalus, Mysis, Por- 71 | 34-16 Rock Channel, tunus, Ammodytes, Pagurus, Pleu- ! 4 oe Garston. ronectids, Gammarus, Idotea, Scro- bicularia, Carcinus, Annelids. Crangon, Carcinus, Mysis, Pagurus, 52 | 382-9 | Nov. | Rock Chonnel. Pandalus, Arenicola, Copepods, Cu- macea, Amphipods, Annelids. : é ; Crangon, Mysis, Carcinus, Portunus pean Oe J Oe Amphipods and Fishes, Whiting (Gadus merlangus). | Crangon, Corophium, Eurydice, 63 | 34-5 | Aug. | R. Dee. Mysis, Mytilus, Amphipods, Fishes, | ( Cumacea, Annelids, Copepods. Carcinus, Corophium, Pagurus, Am- 17 | 84-42 | ,, | Morecambe. 1 hipeds. Fish ye Seer td Crangon,Carcinus, Fishes,Shrimps 33 | 2§—5 | Sept. ” Amphipods. ; Crangon, Corophium, Eurydice 13 | 3-54 | Oct ” | Cardium edule, Algz, Amphipods. Pandalus, Crangon, Nephthys, /o : Mysis, Clupea harengus, Nereis “1 | 28-63 » | Garston. Pleuronectes limanda, Fishes and Amphipods. 10 | 3--74 | Nov 7 | Pandalus, Mysis, Crangon, Fish. Mysis, Crangon, Atylus, Fishes and 16 | 33 -44 |} ,, | Morecambe. y sephipods: tered ee Armed Bullhead or Pogge (Agonus cataphractus). 5 54-64 | May | New Brighton. | 3 Carcinus. 13 24-44 | June | Crosby Channel. | Crangon, Pandalus. 5 | 34-32 July | Morecambe. Crangon, An. tiss. 1 3g Aug. | R. Dee. Crangon. 2 32-48 | Sept. | Morecambe. Crangon. Crangon, Amphipods, Cumacea 14 | 24-48 | Oct. a Eurydice, An. tiss. : 4 | 28-33 | Nov 6 Cumacea, Carcinus, Amphipods. Mersey Crangon, Carcinus, Mysis,Alga, Am- 13 18-44 | 5 | Rock Channel. phipods. a 14 Spotted Skate (Raia maculata). No. Bue Month Locality. Food. inches. il 38 June | Crosby Channel. | Crangon. GP taser lope Horse Channel,| { Portunus, Crangon, Corystes, e owy | ( Ribble. Nereis, Mysis and Pleuronectes. 4 | 54-9 | Aug.| Horse Channel. | Carcinus, Crangon, Mysis 1 ie: Oct. i Crangon. Thornback (Raia clavata). 1 | 64 | July | New Brighton. | Crangon and Carcinus. | | Crangon, Carcinus, Portunus, Pa- 64 | 4—104 Aug. | Horse Channel. gurus, Pandalus, Mysis, Gadus | merlangus, Molluses. | | Oct. Rock Channel. | Mysis and Crangon. I submitted a number of the smaller Crustaceans taken from the fishes’ stomachs, and preserved in the laboratory, to the critical examination of my friend Mr. A. O. Walker who is an authority upon these animals and he has kindly indentified them all as follows :— FIsH. Foon. Solenette (July, Blackpool) Diastylis rathkev. Sole (July, New Brighton) Diastylis rathkev. Sole ( ,, me ) Diastylis rathket, Ampelisca levigata. Plaice (Sept., Morecambe) Pseudocwma cercaria, Bathy- poreva pilosa, Microprotopus maculatus. Plaice (Nov., Garston) Diastylis rathkev. Dab (Sept., Morecambe) Atylus swammerdamit. Herring (Sept.) Corophium grossipes. Cod (Oct., Garston) Gammarus locusta, Atylus swammerdami. 15 Cod (July, Piel I.) Gammarus marinus, Spheroma serratum, Corophiwm grossipes. Cod (Sept., Morecambe) Gammarus marinus, Bathy- poreia pilosa. Whiting (Aug., Morecambe) Jdotea marina, Bathyporeia pilosa, Corophium grossipes. Whiting (Aug., R. Dee) Diastylis rathker, Atylus swanvmerdamt. Whiting (Aug., R. Dee) Cuma scorprorides, Diastylis rathkew. Whiting (Sept., Morecambe) Bathyporeia pilosa (including B. pelagica and B. robert- sonit),A tylus swammerdamii, Microprotopus maculatus. Whiting (Sept., Morecambe) Bathyporeia pilosa, Atylus swammerdami. Whiting (Oct., Garston) Atylus swanmerdamit. Whiting (Oct., Morecambe) Corophium grossipes, Sphe- roma serratum. Pogge (Oct., Morecambe) Pseudocuma cercaria, Ponto- crates arenarius. Pogge (Oct., Rock Ch.) Atylus swammerdamii, and some young shrimps and prawns. Skate (Aug., R. Dee) Gastrosaccus spinifer. Mr. Walker adds that it is remarkable that all these Crustacea are shallow water forms. Most if not all of the species inhabit a sandy bottom. One, Corophium grossipes, inhabits mud banks which are bare for hours every day and sometimes for two or three days together during neap tides in the Dee, where there are several square miles closely perforated with their holes. It isa surprise also to find Diastylis rathket occurring so fre- quently. The absence of two of the commonest species 16 of shore-haunting Amphipoda on this coast, viz., Callio- pius leviusculus and Amathilla sabini is also interesting. SOLE AND SOLENETTE. One of the most important fisheries in this district is the Sole fishery, and this is probably one which might be considerably improved in the future by artificial fertiliza- tion and hatching. The Sole spawns. pring and early summer, and from our statistics in this neighbourhood I have selected the following as giving some idea of the erowth during the first year :— Aug., Horse Channel, 2 inches. Oct., Blackpool, Ribble and Hilbre, 2}—4 in. Nov., Blackpool, Southport and Rock Channel, 3—4 in. Dec., Liverpool Bar, 33 in. ; April, Horse Channel and Crosby, 5 in. May, Crosby Channel, 6 in. According to the observations of Cunningham at Plymouth the young soles do not there pass the first year of their lives (8 to 12 months old) in the shallow waters, but somewhere outside the 10 fm. line; but all the localities which I have given above for young soles from 2 to 5 inches in length are in shallow water, being on an average about 4 or 5 fms. Here, as elsewhere, we find the young soles in shallow water the following summer, when they are over a year old; but they probably do not become sexually mature until the end of the second year. There is appar- ently considerable individual variation in size, but at the end of the first year the young soles are on an average about 5 or 6 inches in length, and at the end of the second year are about from 7—9 inches in length. Every sole ought if possible to be allowed to come to sexual maturity and spawn before being caught. It is most desirable, as has been suggested in various quarters Ly lately, that a minimum size limit should be imposed so as to prevent fish which have not yet arrived at sexual maturity from being taken. We have lately commenced observations in the laboratory of the smallest mature and the largest immature individuals we can find of each species, in our district, and these will be carried on regu- larly through the coming breeding season. A good dealh» een said and written of late years about the destruction vu. young soles by shrimpers and by other fishermen ; and in this particular neighbourhood there has been a strong impression that much damage was being done to the sole fishery by the capture of immature individuals a few inches inlength. The general question of the destruction of immature fish by shrimpers I shall return to further on; but one of the first matters established in our Fishery Laboratory was that the capture of young soles here was happily not quite such a serious matter as had been supposed, for we found that a very large pro- portion of the so-called immature soles were not young edible or black soles (Solea vulgaris) at all, but were more or less full grown individuals of the Solenette (So/ea lutea) a totally distinct though closely allied fish which does not grow larger than about 5 inches in length and so does not become of economic importance. We find the solenette sexually mature in this neighbourhood at sizes of about 32% ins. and upwards in length, while the smallest sexually mature true sole is about twice that size. To give an idea of the relative abundance of soles and solenettes of about the same size, and to show what foundation there was for the supposed great destruction of young soles, I may quote an instance from the Labora- tory diary :—‘‘On May 9th, 1892, 20 specimens of small soles trawled from a sandy bottom, in shallow water, were sent by Mr. Dawson for examination. Of these 19 18 were Solea lutea and only one of them was a true sole (Solea vulgaris). It may be of service in helping others to distinguish solenettes from half grown soles, if I give here the chief distinguishing features of the two species. Good figures of them will be found in Day’s ‘‘ British Fishes,” Pls. CVI and CVIII, and in Cunningham’s “ Monograph on the Sole,’ Pls. I—VII. (1.) On the under side of the snout in Solea vulgaris the villi or little white tags are closely crowded together and irregular in arrangement, while in Solea lutea (solen- ette) the villi form fringes round the edges of quadrangular depressions of the skin, and so give rise to a reticulate pattern. (2.) The general colour is darker in S. vulgaris, more of a reddish brown in S. lutea; moreover in the latter the dorsal and anal fins are marked transversely by numerous narrow dark stripes, which are not present in the common sole. These stripes are caused by every 6th or 7th fin-ray being of a deep black colour, and this series of narrow bars across the fins is on the whole the most readily noticed reliable character by which the two species can be distinguished in this neighbourhood. (3.) In S. vulgaris the dorsal fin has from 83 to 90 rays, the anal fin has from 66 to 74, and the scales of the lateral line are from 149 to 166 in number. In S. lutea the dorsal fin has from 69 to 77 rays, the anal fin has from 53 to 68, and the scales of the lateral line are from 62 to 68 in number. These characters hold good for immature fishes as well as adults. (4.) In S. vulgaris the scales from any where about the middle of the body have from 10 to 16 radiating spines on their posterior border, while in S. lutea a scale from the same region has from 16 to 22 radiating spines (PI. IV.). 19 There is an impression among some fishermen who have noticed that S. lutea is a distinct fish from S. vulgaris, that the scales in the former are much larger and rougher than in the latter. This is only true if soles and solen- ettes of the same size are compared together. We have examined the scales carefully in the laboratory, and draw- ings of their appearance under the microscope will be found on Pl. TV. Figure 1 shows the scale of the adult solenette, and fig. 2, the scale of a sole (immature) of the same size; while fig. 3, shows the scale of an adult sole. It is evident then that if you compare adult sole (fig 3) with adult solenette (fig. 1) the former has a scale considerably larger than that of the latter, but if you compare the half grown sole with the adult solenette then the latter has the larger scale. These figures show also the more numerous radi- ating spines on the posterior border of the scale of the solenette, referred to above. The important question now arises—Does the solenette compete with the sole in the struggle for existence, and may we not be benefitting the sole and improving the sole fishery by killing off large numbers of the solenettes? The first thing to determine clearly is, are the two species ever found together on the same ground ? There is no doubt from the trawlings carried on by Mr. Dawson and the bailiffs that they are. On July 27th, in the Horse Channel, near Liverpool, 68 soles were taken along with 240 sol- enettes; on July 15th in the Ribble Gut 12 soles were taken along with 435 solenettes; on August 23rd in the Horse Channel 71 soles were taken along with 110 sol- enettes; on August 13th, same locality, 134 soles with 250 solenettes; on August 12th, in Welshman’s Gut, 38 soles with 9 solenettes; and on Sept. 5th, at mouth of Ribble, 9 soles with 135 solenettes. Hach of these cases is one haul, anda large number of other similar cases 20 might be cited from our statistics. On the other hand Mr. Ascroft and others who have an extensive practical acquaintance with the fishing of the district, seem to think that the two species are not found on the same ground, but that the sole is more abundant outside the banks and the solenette in the channels inside, and that the sole lives usually on a muddy bottom, and the solenette on sandy ground—the prevalent colours of the two species in our neighbourhood certainly favour this latter view. However there can be no doubt that for a considerable time in summer the soles and solenettes are to a large extent associated together in the Horse Channel, Welsh- man’s Gut, Ribble Gut, and other Channels where the sole fishing is prosecuted. As to their food, our statistics show that they feed together on the same forms, various Crustacea, Annelids and Mollusea—with the addition of Copepoda in the case of the solenette. Consequently it is my opinion that, as far as our investigations go, there 1s considerable ground for supposing that the solenette which is very plentiful in our shallower waters—and, it must be remembered, is a perfectly useless fish from the economic point of view— really interferes with the sole and is probably accountable for a good deal of the enormous mortality which must take place amongst immature soles. If there was much destruction of young fish by larger carnivorous fish in our inshore waters, if for example the Turbot was an abundant fish, then the numerous solenettes might be of great use in serving as food and so giving the young soles a better chance of escaping being eaten. But that is not the case here, so I think there can be no doubt that it would do no harm to the sole fishery, and might do zood, if the solenettes were killed off. We may regard with equa- nimity their capture in large numbers by Shrimp-trawlers 21 and others —so long as the men can be trusted to discrim- inate between the sole and the solenette—and while I would use every endeavour to get all the young soles returned to the water as speedily as possible in the hope of their recovery, I would allow the solenettes to be kept on board and made any possible use of. If, as those best qualified to judge all seem to think, the sole fishery is declining because of the increasing scarcity of soles in our inshore waters, I would urge most strongly that steps should be taken at once by artificial fertilization and hatching to add to the numbers of the young in the district, and so increase the chance of a fair number survi- ving to maturity. Itis undoubtedly more important in such cases of diminution to add to the numbers of the fish in the area than to put restrictions on the fishing. It may some- times be necessary to do both, but the former (adding to the numbers) 1s the most efficacious step and the latter (restrict- ing the fishing) taken alone may be useless if the fish population is much reduced. It probably holds good for all communities of animals that if they fall in a particular area below a certain level in numbers, and no fresh blood is imported, then they are doomed to extinction—the reason probably being that the number of young produced in each season is not sufficiently greater than the number killed off by normal (t.e., regularly acting) causes to allow of a sufficient balance being present to meet the action of any abnormal (?.e., unusual) causes, consequently at any time the existence of the reduced community may be threatened by some so-called accidental occurrence which would have comparatively little effect in a large community. I do not say that the sole fishery has arrived at this con- dition—it has happened with the Oyster fishery in various places—but the way to avert such a calamity is to meet it in time by artificial breeding and hatching, and so, 22 by adding to the number of young in the district, help the species to recover itself while it is still worth helping. I think it is worth pointing out also that if the average size of a species of fish caught in a particular district is decreasing, then that isa sure indication that the area is being over-fished, and that it is high time to take steps to increase the supply of young fish and so let the species in question have a fair chance of keeping pace with the destruction going on. The decrease in size of the average fish shows that a greater proportion each year of the pop- ulation is being prevented from becoming adult. In a fishery the aim should be, if it were completely under control, to adjust the deaths to the births, as you would the outflow to the inflow of a tank you wish to keep at a constant level. The argument, sometimes heard, that since a species of fish which is becoming scarce from over-fishing can produce a very large number of eggs, it will soon recover in numbers if left alone, 7.e., 1f restrictions are put upon the fishery, is not a sound one. It is not by any means the fish that pro- duce the largest number of eggs which are the commonest. The very abundant herring, which is perhaps the safest to last of all our fish, produces only about 30,000 ova as against the million of the very much rarer sole and the ten million of the comparatively rare turbot; while the dog- fishes which are apparently increasing very greatly in numbers and are said to be becoming a plague in some parts of the Scottish waters produce only a very few young at a time. The fact that a fish produces a very large number of ova indicates to the biologist that that species is exposed to very exceptional risks during its embryonic and other young stages, and that there is consequently such a great mortality that unless the huge number of ova started existence none would arrive at maturity. The 23 millions of ova then are no indication of abundance, but merely a provision against exceptionally adverse circum- stances: it is also, however, man’s opportunity. It gives him the chance of stepping in and by artificial hatching saving a large proportion of those that would otherwise be lost. This naturally leads to the subject of the DESTRUCTION OF IMMATURE FIsH, &c. There can no longer be any doubt that enormous numbers of young edible fish—especially valuable flat-fish —are killed every year by shrimpers. The matter has been a subject of controversy in the past. Prof. M‘Intosh* has drawn attention to the matter; but Dr. T. Wemyss Fulton of the Scottish Fishery Board was the first to attempt to give definite numerical statements as to the species, sizes, numbers, &c., destroyed in the year (see Scot. Fish. Bd. Rep. for 1890, and ‘‘ Nature” for Nov. 19th, 1891.), and the numbers he gave were not very great, é.g., one boat, in Solway, 110,000 plaice per year. But other investigators who have had much practical experience of trawling such as Mr. A. O. Walker and Mr. R. L. Ascroft consider that the numbers given by Dr. Fulton are much too low, or at any rate that destruction goes on in the southern part of our district to a very much greater extent. Walker quotes Ascroft (Natwre, Dec. 24th, 1891), as saying :—‘‘ Shrimping destroys more young fish than al- most any other agency. Ihave seen in Formby Channel 10 ewt. of young flukes destroyed, not one the size of half-a- crown, by one boat, and there were sixty boats there that day; and he (Walker) goes on to compute that these boats must have been destroying about twice as many young fish per week as Fulton gives for a year. From * See especially his valuable article in ‘‘ Nature”’ for Aug, 28th, 1890. D4 the differences of opinion expressed about that time it was evident that further exact statistics from different parts of the coast were badly wanted, and it should be remembered that at the London International Fisheries Conference in 1890 the following resolution proposed by Dr. P. P. C. Hoek the delegate from Holland (a well-known authority on fishery matters) was passed unanimously :—‘‘ This conference considers it desirable that before the official con- ference meets, the different nations interested in the Sea- Fisheries of Huropean waters will collect with as little delay as possible, sufficient information, scientific as well as statistical, with regard to the damage done by the capture of under-sized fish by their fishermen.” This is now being done in Scotland by the Scottish Fishery Board, at Grimsby by Mr. Ernest Holt, and in the south by the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth, and we shall naturally be expected to do our part here. Our shallow inshore waters here are known to serve as “‘nurseries”’ for young flat-fish, in fact the areas over which the shrimpers work are at certain times swarming with young fish from immediately after post-larval stages nearly up to maturity. Those interested in the fisheries elsewhere naturally look to us to give exact information as to the state of affairs in this district, and I would strongly recommend that a systematic survey of these ‘‘nurseries”’ and a determina- tion of the proportion of different species of young fish, and their sizes month by month, be made a regular part of the work of the new steamer. The valuable statistics which Mr. Dawson has already been able to take in the district give some preliminary idea of the immense numbers of these young fishes which are caught along with the shrimps. The following hauls will show that :-— July 27. -Burbo Bank. Shrimp trawl out 1} hrs. 5785 immature food fishes to 2 qts. of shrimps. D5 ae Aug. 18. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 1} hrs. 4616 immature food fishes to 5 qts. of shrimps. Aug. 23. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 2 hrs. 6827 immature food fishes to 5 qts. of shrimps. Aug. 25. Horse Ch. Shrimp trawl out 14 hrs. 5802 immature food fishes to 2 qts. of shrimps. Feb. 4. Blackpool closed ground. Shank net out } hr. 1199 immature food fishes to 33 qts. of shrimps. Altogether over the months from Feb. to Aug., Mr. Dawson’s statistics show that the number of immature fish to 1 qt. of shrimps caught by means of the shrimp trawl on our ordinary shrimping grounds varies from 87 to 687, the average being 310. Various suggestions have already been made as to a remedy for this most unfortunate and wasteful state of affairs. It has been proposed that the shrimp net should have at its extremity a light wooden frame bearing a wire sieve with long narrow meshes of such a size as would allow the small flat-fish to wriggle through while keeping back the full grown shrimps. This might do if it could be kept clear, but possibly it might be lable to get choked up and so do little good. Mr. Dawson has devised a modified form of shank net with a horizontal bar about 3 ins. off the bottom to which the lower part of the net is attached. The theory is that as the shank frame comes along and disturbs the bottom the shrimps will spring upwards above the level of the bar and so be caught, while the young fish will swim along nearer the ground and so escape under the bar. Mr. Dawson has had this form of shank net made and has used it in this district and he reports that it ‘takes a much less number of young sea- fish and quite as many shrimps as the old form. In fact, on dirty ground more shrimps were taken, owing to a large proportion of the debris passing underneath the net and 26 not choking it, as was the case with the old style of net.” Mr. Walker in a letter to ‘“‘Nature”’ (vol. XLV, p., 176) states that in his experience in the estuary of the Dee the shrimps are further inshore than the young fish and he proposes that in that locality shrimping should only be allowed within quarter of a mile of the shore. He further recommends the formation of young fish preserves on selected grounds along the shore by laying down large boulders which would effectually prevent trawling on that eround. ‘This may possibly be worth doing in a few special localities, but obviously cannot be generally adopted. The use of the Shrimp trap, as used on the French coast, at Croisic and elsewhere should be tried here; and I am inclined to think that Shrimp culture as detailed below (p. 35), might be carried on with success in our estuaries and if it proved remunerative, and was likely to give employment to a number of the present Shrimpers, that would make it easier to impose restrictions upon trawling in areas where, and at such times as, young fish are known to be present in large numbers. It is a much disputed question whether it is any use returning to the sea the young fish which have been brought up in a trawl-net and are emptied on to the deck in various stages of more or less exhausted vitality. If it is the least use, if even a small proportion of them will eventually recover, then very strict regulations should be made and enforced compelling the men to return the young fish to the sea at once. In a case like this where it must be very difficult to be sure that regulations are being strictly carried out it would be important to try and educate public feeling amongst the men by teaching them the vital necessity of letting the young fish have a chance of growing to maturity. The Scottish Fishery Board have been endeavouring 27 to determine practically whether the young fish brought up in the trawl-net are worth returning to the sea, and I hope that similar ‘‘ vitality investigations’”’ will be carried on on board the fishery steamer here. A large tub or wooden tank should be fixed on deck through which by means of the hose and a waste pipe a circulation of sea water can be kept up. Then after each haul of the trawl-net a few fish should be picked out and put in the tub, their species, size, and condition (e.g., ‘‘lively,” “exhausted,” &c.,) being noted on a form, along with a statement as to the time trawl was down and kind of net used. The fish should be allowed to remain a definite time, say 30 or 40 minutes, in the tub and then the result (e. g., ‘‘ recovered,” ‘dead,’ &c.) would be added to the form. Such statistics _ would give a definite idea of the proportion of fish caught under certain conditions which might be reasonably ex- pected to recover if returned promptly to the sea. In making any regulations in regard to immature fish the aim should be to allow as many fish as possible to spawn once at least before being caught. Hence it becomes of importance to know for owr district the size at which the various species become sexually mature. During this coming breeding season we shall record the size, and the condition as regards maturity, of all fish examined, with the view of arriving at the minimum measurement at maturity, and also the maximum of immaturity so as to fix upon a fair average size below which no fish should be taken. We want also to know for our own district (some of these things cannot be taken from elsewhere, such as the east or south coasts) exactly when (at what age) each species spawns, and what the rates of growth are,* and the average sizes in successive years, exceedingly difficult matters to determine, as artificially reared fish may be *See also Cunningham, British Association Report for 1891, p. 685. 28 misleading, and there 1s probably great individual variation. Such information as we want can only be got by con- tinuous work at sea, tow-netting and trawling periodically, as Mr. Dawson proposes to do with the new steamer, supplemented by work in the laboratory in determining the exact condition of the reproductive organs and in iden- tifying the ova and larvee of the fish. Another important matter is the movement of the fish throughout the year in our area, and the valuable statistics which Mr. Dawson has been able to collect already throw same light upon that. There seems no doubt that here, as they have found in Scotland also, the Plaice, and probably other fish, spawn at considerable distances from the land, well outside the 3 mile limit, on off-shore banks. The advantages to a species of fish producing pelagic egos in spawning over a bank far out from land are * obvious. There is less chance of the embryonic and larval stages being washed ashore; without being in too deep - water, they are removed from the many dangers of a coast; they are more likely to be in water of suitable and fairly constant specific gravity; and there is more chance of the larval stages finding suitable nutriment in the embryos and other young stages of the numerous inver- tebrata which frequent such banks, and which rise up from bottom to surface in their younger stages and sink down again to bottom in later stages, so giving the young fish in the intermediate waters two chances at their prey. It is only then at a somewhat later stage of the early life history that the young Plaice, &c., come into the shallow inshore waters which we talk of as ‘‘nurseries.”” There is then both a vertical circulation, from near the bottom (as ova) up to near the surface (as embryos and larvee) and then down again (as immature fish) to the bottom, and also a horizontal circulation, from the offshore spawning 29 ground (as ova and embryos, &c.,) in to the shallow bays and ‘“‘ nurseries’ (as Immature fish) and then out again (as adult or mature fish) to the offshore banks. From this it follows that we have not really command of the fish pop- ulation of a particular bay, or coast, unless we also have control of the off-shore waters to which the spawning fish from our bay migrate. It is possible that trawling outside amongst the spawning fish may do great damage to that fishery in the district. If it is impossible to restrict the off-shore trawling during the spawning season, at least perfectly mature fish on the point of spawning might be “stripped”? and the ova artificially fertilized and either returned to the sea or conveyed to a Hatchery. NEED OF A SEA-FiIsH HATCHERY. Complaints as to the gradual falling off of the more valuable sea fisheries come from various parts of the coast and also from other European countries; and the trawling statistics of the ‘Garland’ in the territorial waters, where the Fishery Board for Scotland has absolutely prohibited beam-trawling for some time back, show that little or no increase of flat fishes in that district has taken place. So they have now come to the conclusion in Scotland which had been arrived at previously in some other countries that the only thing that will enable a fishery to recover when once it has been over worked is artificial propagation, and rearing. Sea-Fish Hatching establishments have now been erected in the United States, Canada, Newfoundland, Norway, France, Italy, Denmark, and other countries, in all cases with satisfactory results. In the United States they consider the important Shad fishery to have been revived and greatly improved as a result of artificial cultivation. In Norway they hatch at Flédevig near Arendal hundreds of millions of young Cod annually. In 30 Newfoundland over 500 million of young Lobsters were hatched and set free last season, in addition to millions of Cod. Even the comparatively small hatchery just erected at Dunbar, and which I have had the advantage of visiting through the kindness of Dr. Fulton, will ac- commodate 80 million eggs at one time, and can of course by choosing the fish judiciously be used for many such batches in succession during a season—say from January to July. I would now strongly advocate the establishment of a small Sea Fish Hatchery for this district, such as I suggested in my memorandum to the Committee dated April 26th, 1892; and I am of opinion that by far the best situation for such a purpose would be Port Erin at the South end of the Isle of Man. The Liverpool Marine Biology Committee have erected at Port Erin a small Biological Station in which work has now been carried on since last June so I can speak with an intimate knowledge of the conditions there, and I can confidently say that there is no place on the Lancashire or Cheshire coasts which would present equal advantages. The sea-water at Port Erin is perfectly pure—a primary requisite—while along our own coasts the water seems not to be any where sufficiently pure and free from mud and decaying matters to be used for hatching purposes. At Port Erin there are rocky creeks which could be readily enclosed to serve as ponds for collecting the spawning fish in, and there is one large tidal pool on the shore close to the present Biological Station which might at very small expense, by the erection of small pieces of wall between the rocks (see Pl. V.), be enlarged to more than twice its present size so as to form a pond measuring about 40 by 20 feet and 6 feet in depth. Another decided advantage in having the Fish Hatchery at Port Erin would be that time, labour, and 31 expense might all be saved in the working of the concern if some arrangement could be made with the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee to put the two establishments under the charge of a joint curator and share the expense. The Biological Station would then be a most useful adjunct to the hatchery, and the benefit derived from the presence of the scientific specialists working at the station would be very great. It is scarcely necessary to point out that the young fish hatched would not be set free at Port Erin, but would naturally be taken across in tanks by the fishery steamer and set free on the Lancashire and Cheshire coasts upon suitable ground; so that this suggested erection of a hatchery at Port Erin would be no case of the application of funds to a foreign purpose or for the benefit of an area outside the Co.nmittee’s District, but would be merely the making use, for our own purposes, of a suitable spot on the nearest available rocky coast because we have no sufficiently good ground on our own shores.* In concluding this section of the report dealing with the fishes proper I would lke to quote, and endorse, the * In regard to the probable cost of a Sea-Fish Hatchery, Dr. T. Wemyss Fulton, scientific secretary to the Scottish Fishery Board, has kindly given me all possible information about the cost of the work and apparatus at Dunbar so as to enable me to put down the following figures as a rough approximation to the cost of a small establishment which would contain 10 hatching boxes, thus having a capacity altogether of about 40 to 50 millions of cod eggs at a time :— Wooden house, say 30 ft. by 25 ft., concrete floor ... es £50 10 hatching boxes at about £3 each ... as AE ec 30 Filtering apparatus. &c. ae oa: 400 200 abe 15 Steam Pump, to throw say 1000 gals. per hour, say ode 25 Boiler for this, say a - ae was oa ee 60 Piping Og SAY, visen . ott Sitis qlsitay! Gal peer Making pond, or enclosing creek for spawning fish, say... 50 If water power, or a windmill pump could be made use of, the total both of initial and working expenses would of course be greatly reduced, 32 following sentence expressing the opinion of the Fishery Board for Scotland :—* ‘‘ From this review of contempor- ary Sea Fisheries in other countries it appears that there is a general complaint as to the diminution of fish in the inshore waters; that measures for the prohibition of the landing or sale of immature fish have been adopted or are being considered in many countries; that the artificial propagation of sea fish is now being prosecuted with vigour by the fishery departments of several states; and that scientific investigations into the fisheries, by means of surveying expeditions, marine laboratories, &c., are being ereatly developed and extended.” EDIBLE CRUSTACEA—THE SHRIMP. The only edible Crustacea which are at present of economic importance from the fishery point of view in this district are the Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris), the Prawn, (Palemon serratus), and the Shank (Pandalus annulicornis); but if a hatchery were established at Port Erin, it would probably be worth while to hatch and rear there in the rocky creeks, the Lobster (Homarus vulgaris), Crab (Cancer pagurus), andthe Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), which latter is abundant in that neighbour- hood. The Prawn, with which the usually much more abun- dant Shank is commonly confused by the fishermen, has not yet been the subject of any special work in the laboratory ; but Shrimps have been largely investigated during the summer and autumn both in regard to their food and their reproduction. To take the food question first, the most varied opinions are current amongst the shrimp- ers as to what Shrimps feed upon (see L. M. B. C. Reports No. 4, p. 32, and No. 5, p. 24); but the result of our * See their Report vol. X., p. 21, 33 examination in the laboratory of more than 560 Shrimps is that they are chiefly carnivorous in their diet. We find in their stomachs :—Crustacean remains, such as Amphi- pods, small Crabs, young Shrimps, and Copepoda; also a considerable amount of Molluscan remains, such as small specimens of Scrobicularia alba, Cardiwm edule, and Tellina balthica. Annelids must also form a fair pro- portion of their food from the number of Polychete sete in the stomachs, with occasionally fragments of the tube of Pectinarta, and the horny jaws of a Nereid. More rarely the stomachs contain Foraminifera and small spines of Echini; and sometimes green seaweeds, minute filam- entous and microscopic Algze and Diatoms. We find from experiments on them in captivity that Shrimps will also eat practically any animal matters such as pieces of dead fish, other Shrimps, beef, &c. The male Shrimps are less numerous, and are much smaller than the females, and so are comparatively rarely caught in the nets. It is a difficult matter to determine the sex in small specimens, and we find that even in fully formed sexually mature individuals the inner branches of the first abdominal appendages, which are the only exter- nal sexual characteristics to depend upon, do not show the markedly different conditions figured by Ehrenbaum.* We give now on Plate II. some figures showing :—(fig. 1) the entire second abdominal appendage of a large female Shrimp (23 in. long); and (fig. 2) the entire first abdominal appendage of the same Shrimp to show the modification of the endopodite or inner branch (en.) which is shown more highly magnified in fig. 3, in the adult female; also (figs. 4 and 5,) the fully formed endopodites of the same appendage from two adult males (13 ins. long); while fig. 6 * Zur Naturgeschichte von Crangon vulgaris. Berl. 1890, Taf. II., figs. 15A & B. 34 shows the corresponding endopodite of an immature female of about the same size (12 inch) as the mature males. Figures 7 and 8 show the ovary and testis of the two mature Shrimps from which the appendages were taken. It will be seen on comparing figs. 5 and 6 that the only differences in this endopodite between male and female Shrimps of the same length are (1) the size, the female branch being decidedly longer, and (2) in the arrangement of the setze along the inner side. The female endopodite has only a small number (8—6) of short stout curved sete or bristles, while in the male the sete are more numerous, forming a continuous row, and are longer and more deli- cate and hair like. In this neighbourhood most of the large female Shrimps spawned in November. They appear to cast their cuticles just before spawning. Many of the Shrimps caught in the end of October have recently cast their ‘‘skins,” and the exuvie are frequently taken in the Shrimp nets about that time. A few Shrimps can be found at almost any time with ‘“‘spawn’’ (embryos) on the abdomen, but there seem to be two chief periods in the year here, just as Hbrenbaum found on the German coast. The times here seem to be late Autumn (beginning of November) and early Summer (April and May.) About 5000 eggs are deposited on the abdomen at a time by a fully mature Shrimp. It is very evident even from the few observations we have yet made that there are very many enemies to the Shrimp in all stages of its existence in this neighbourhood. We find it frequently in the stomach of Agonus cataph- ractus and Liparis montagui and many other fish. Skates eat it in enormous quantity, the large stomach of the fish being sometimes distended with a quart or so of Shrimps. The enormous variations in the catch of Shrimps from 35 time to time in the shallow waters of our district require further investigation. At times Shrimps are very scarce, having apparently either migrated to deeper water or buried themselves in the sand.* This seems to be largely the result of temperature variations. Periodic observations at fixed stations, the Shrimp trawl being down for the same time, and at the same state of the tide, say once a week, should, supplemented by our work in the laboratory, give us a good deal of information in regard to the life- history of the Shrimp throughout the year. I have suggested above, in connection with the des- truction of immature fish, that Shrimp culture might be carried on in our estuaries. At any rate the matter ought to be tried on a small scale experimentally. A sheltered creek or bend in one of the estuaries should be closed in by stakes and wattling, like a fishing weir, so as to keep out Skates, Codling, Crabs, and other enemies. This preserve could then be stocked with Shrimps—which might be fed with any fish refuse—and if it were found that the young stages when hatched out could be kept inside the enclosure and reared, the probability is that in the absence of enemies and with abundance of food the numbers would increase very greatly. EDIBLE MOLLUSCA. The edible mollusca of chief importance here are the Cockle (Cardiwm edule), and the Mussel (Mytilus edulis), and a certain amount of work has been done on both of these shell-fish in the laboratory. THE COCKLE. In examining for food, specimeus sent by the bailiffs the first thing noticed was the very large proportion of indi- viduals in which the stomach was quite empty, the reason * See Trans. Liverpool Biological Society, vol. V. p. 49; and vol. VI. p. 32. 36 no doubt being that such a long time had elapsed since the animal’s last opportunity of feeding that the contents of the stomach had been digested and had passed on. Consequently we found it important, in enquiries into the food, to state that, if the specimens cannot be exam- ined as soon as collected, they should be killed at once so as to stop digestion. The food of the Cockles examined in the laboratory consisted of spores and other young stages of lower Algze, filamentous Algz, fragments, and other vegetable debris, Diatoms, Foraminifera, Sponge spicules, fragments of minute Crustacean appendages, such as Copepoda, and of the larval stages of higher Crustacea, all mixed with sand grains. We have found that most cockles sent to the laboratory are infested by the minute Copepod, Lichomolqus agilis, recently described by Mr. Scott, but there is no reason to think that this commensal is in any way injurious to the cockle. There is also a similar Copepod in the mussel. Although there are five species* of cockle (the genus Cardiwm) which are found in this neighbourhood, still all the cockles sent to market belong to the one common species C. edule. Some of the men speak ot more than one kind, and of a smaller species, but although specimens from different beds may vary a little, in size, and colour, and thickness of shell, all that have been sent to the laboratory for examination, both large and small, are C. edule. Some specimens which were sent by Mr. Dawson on April 8th from one of the Morecambe Bay beds are very brown on the outsides of the shell and even along the inner edge of the valves and over part of the mantle lobes and siphons. We found that this staining is due to a deposit of amorphous oxide of iron, caused * See Fauna of Liverpool Bay, vols. I. and III. 37 probably by proximity to some iron-laden stream. These cockles seemed to be otherwise normal, and _ perfectly healthy. In some parts of the district there is usually a filamen- tous brown tuft appended to the posterior (upper) end of the animal, which the fishermen believe to be a part of the body, and to be, when seen projecting from the sand, a sure indication of the presence of the cockle. Mr. Dawson drew my attention to the matter during a visit in May to the cockle and mussel beds in Morecambe Bay, and on obtaining specimens and examining them [ found that the tuft consisted in many cases of the zoophyte Obelia flabel- lata and in other cases of a filamentous Alga (sea-weed— a species of Sphacelaria). Both Zoophyte and Alga are attached to the extreme posterior edge of the valves which is, in the natural position of the animal, the part which is highest or nearest to the surface of the sand. Of course the tuft of Zoophyte and Alga have no special connection with the cockle; and their fairly constant presence in some localities is merely due to the circumstance that the cockle shells are, compared with the sand grains by which they are surrounded, relatively stable objects to which the free swimming young stages have attached themselves as they would to a rock—and they have chosen the posterior end of the shell because that is the point nearest to the sea above, from which they came and into which they must project. There is absolutely no ground for the idea that the tuft is in any way injurious either to the cockle or to the person who eats the cockle. The cockle in our neighbourhood spawns in summer. The specimens dissected in the laboratory in June and July were many of them mature males and females with fully developed ova and spermatozoa. The number ot ova laid is very great, but of course a large proportion are 38 cut off in the early embryonic stages. Still there is prob- ably quite a sufficient supply of young each year to keep up our very valuable cockle beds if we act with ordinary prudence and common sense in regulating the fishing, and taking care of the young animals. Biological knowledge of the life of the animal suggests that cockles should not be taken from the beds until they are quite adult and of full size—about an inch in length; that the beds should be as little disturbed as possible; that the younger ones should as far as possible not be removed from the sand, and if young and old have to be collected together they should not be taken away to be riddled or sorted out else- where, or if riddled on the spot the young which pass through the riddle should not be left in a heap, as in these cases the majority of the young will probably die. The fisherinen ought to be careful to leave the young ones he rejects in-such a situation that they can readily regain their former position in the sand and live on uninjured, We must remember that the object of any regulations should be, not merely that the young cockles should not appear in the market, but that they should not leave their homes. THE MUSSEL. The Mussel requires still more attention than the cockle, because it is not protected by sand and because it requires something to hold on to; and I am persuaded that much could be done in this neighbourhood in the way of Mussel culture. Many parts of our shores, especially up the estuaries, seem well fitted for the growth of mussel beds if there was anything—such as stakes and wattling— for the young mussels to attach themselves to. The supply of embryonic mussels every year is abundant. At Hilbre Island and Caldy Blacks and other places in 39 the estuary of the Dee, as well as elsewhere, they settle down after the free swimming stages in such profusion that the rocks, seaweeds, zoophytes, and any other relatively solid objects are blackened with the minute shells. Practically none of these grow to maturity. Some have settled down on unsuitable objects, many are crowded out by their neighbours, the star-fishes eat enormous quantities, but the greater number on account of their not having been able to obtain a firm point of attachment for their byssus threads are swept off, by the waves, in sheets when they are from 4} to $ an inch in length and are rolled about in masses on the sands till they decay. This miserable waste could probably be prevented by providing fixed objects for the mussels to attach to, and by. taking care of the young beds when once they were estab- lished, by thinning out from some places and laying down in others, by keeping carts, &c., from going over the beds and crushing the animals, and finally by preventing the mussels from being collected until they are of a fair size—say 2} inches in length. We have examined a large number of mussels from various parts of the district in the laboratory in order to determine their food, spawning time, and anything else possible in regard to their conditions of existence. The stomachs generally contained plenty of food, cousisting entirely of microscopic matters, such as the spores of Algee, very many Diatoms of different kinds, fragments of Algz and vegetable debris, Sponge spicules, Foramin- ifera, remains of Copepoda and of Nauplei, and fragments of Zoophytes. A well established mussel bed usually supports large numbers of microscopic lowly plants and animals, which find shelter in the crevices between the mussels, and which supply with food not only the molluscs but also the young fish and the food of the fish of the neighbourhood. zt) CoNCLUSION. This first report* on the Sea-Fisheries Laboratory only deals with eight months work, and that work, commenced suddenly in the middie of the summer, with a new assistant strange to the ground, has been of necessity to a large extent tentative and introductory. We may reasonably hope that much more systematic work will be possible during the coming season, now that there is a permanent steamer suitable for work at sea, and that the bailiffs know what we want sent by them, and that we in the laboratory know better what the nature and products of the different parts of the district are; and naturally—as has been found in other places—the value of the work will increase year by year as the statistics are accumulated, and as the facilities for carrying on the work increase. For I hope this is only the beginning of a very much larger system of the application of scientific methods and knowledge to the investigation of the fisheries of our neighbourhood and of the country generally. When we consider what is being done elsewhere for the biological investigation of sea- fisheries, we realize what a very small beginning has been made, and how much more Lancashire ought to do. In America the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries have a number of laboratories, stations, and hatcheries, a large staff of Naturalists, and devote a large grant annually to the scientific work. Germany no sooner obtained possession of Heligoland than she established there a Biological Station with a staff of Naturalists to investigate the fisheries of the neighbouring German Coasts. France, Italy and other European states are devoting much time and money to the benefit of their fishing industries. Finally the Scottish Fishery Board has a Biological Station, as well as a Fish Hatchery, at Dunbar, another Biological Station (under Prof. M‘Intosh) at St. Andrews, a Lobster *In which, for brevity, much reference to published papers has been omitted. 41 Hatchery at Arran on the west coast, and a staff of Naturalists constantly at work both at sea and in the laboratories. In conclusion, I believe the most pressing needs, in the interests of our fisheries, now to be (1) a series of exact periodic observations to be carried out from the steamer, and (2) the establishment of a Hatchery, such as I have suggested above should be erected at Port Erin, alongside the Biological Station. I append to this report (A) a scheme of suggested investigations at sea, and (B) a first list of the Fishes of the district with their commou names. APPENDIX A. SCHEME OF INVESTIGATIONS AT SEA. It is very important in connection with our investiga- tions in the future, that we should have perfectly definite statistics as to the Fauna (7.e., the assemblage of fishes and other animals which form the food and enemies of the fishes), and also the physical conditions, in particular parts of our district, taken periodically—so that the con- dition and population of a particular bank or channel or bay may be traced month by month throughout the year. Consequently I beg to suggest to the Committee that as soon as the permanent steamer has got to work the following scheine should be adopted. It is founded to a large extent upon the methods employed by the Fishery Board for Scotland, on their steamer the ‘‘Garland”’ where I have myself seen all the processes at work, and have discussed the results, extending over some years, with Dr. Fulton, the Scientific Secretary, and Mr. T. Scott, the Naturalist, to that Board, My proposal is ;— 42 1. That a number of ‘trawling stations” should be marked off on the chart of our district. The exact lines and extent of these for the first year’s work might con- veniently be fixed upon by Mr. Dawson and myself from our present knowledge of the area, the guiding idea being to investigate those spots where we have some reason to think that food fishes congregate at some season for a special purpose such as spawning or feeding. The Black- pool “closed ground”? would naturally be one station, another might be the ‘* Horse Channel” or “‘ Hilbre Swash,” and a couple should be weli out to sea, on the off-shore spawning grounds. These ‘trawling stations” should be lines the extremities of which are determined by obser- vations of parallax on shore, (‘‘cross bearings’’) or from buoys or other fixed points, so that as far as possible the same line and the same extent of ground should be trawled over in each observation. 2. It should be the rule that (weather permitting) each station (A, B, C, &c.) should be trawled over at least once a month. It would be still more satisfactory, if it could be so arranged, that each station should be trawled over twice a month in opposite states of the tide, as it is very important in comparing such periodical observations with one another, that the conditions under which they are made should be similar. By this plan there would be a series of monthly observations at each station at flood tide and another series at ebb tide. 3. In taking each observation I would recommend that the following course of procedure be followed :— a, the ship is brought to one end of the Station and stopped, b, a white enamelled disc for testing the transparency of the water is lowered over the side by means of a line on which quarter fathoms are marked and the depth at which the disc disappears is noted, 43 Q , a cup thermometer is immersed a few inches below the surface, and the temperature read and noted, d, a bottom reversing thermometer is lowered on a sounding line, and the bottom temperature is noted, the depth at the same time can be verified to show the ship is on the right spot, a bucket of water is drawn from the surface and the d ’ specific gravity (at the particular temperature) taken and noted, f, by means of a “ water bottle’ a sample of water from the bottom is brought up and the specific gravity (at the particular temperature) taken, and noted, g, note on a form the date, station, time, state of tide, wind, weather, state of sea, air temperature, and barometer reading, | h, lower the trawl, with a bottom tow-net attached to one end of the beam, z, put out asurface tow-net. At certain times and localities it might be desirable to add a “‘ mid-water”’ tow-net, after the plan adopted by Prof. M‘Intosh with such success, for the capture of the larval and post-larval stages of food fishes; also it would be a good plan to have an ordinary Naturalist’s dredge down for a portion of the time the trawl is overboard—say half-an-hour—in order to determine whether it gives any different results in regard to the nature of the bottom, and of the fauna. On arriving at the end of the ‘‘ Station”’ the following would be the procedure :— k, haul in surface tow-net and transfer contents to large wide-mouthed jar of clear sea-water labelled ‘‘surface tow-pet’”’ and put it aside in laboratory, if mid-water net is used, treat it in the same way, l, bring in the trawl net, +4 m, transfer contents of bottom tow-net to large jar of sea- water labelled ‘“‘ bottom tow-net,’’ and put aside in laboratory, n, take again the observations noted under J, ¢, d, e, f, and g, at other end of Station, 0, examine trawl contents, and sort out the fishes on one side and the invertebrates on the other, p, look over invertebrates and note on form a rough approximation to numbers of the prevalent common forms such as star-fish, common crabs, zoophytes, &c., which can be identified at a glance (these may then be shovelled overboard), g, transfer any rarer or unusual invertebrates, or anything which for any reason requires further examination, to jars of clean sea-water, or if the examination cannot be made at once, to jars of methylated spirit to be forwarded to the laboratory at Liverpool, y, separate out the different species of fish and note on a form, the species, numbers, sizes, and remarks about condition, s, pick out a few of each species, small individuals as well as large, and transfer them to a tub through which sea-water is circulating (by means of hose and waste pipe), and leave them there for half-an-hour in order to test vitality, t, if experiments on migration are being carried on, pick out for the purpose some of the more lively fish, attach numbered tags to them and record on a form number, fish, size, date, and locality, aud then return them to sea, u, examine as many of the remaining fish as there is time for, noting the following on a form, species, size, sex, condition of reproductive organs, and contents of stomach, 45 v, keep in spirit any abnormal individuals, or any so small that examination cannot well be made on board, to be forwarded to laboratory at Liverpool, w, examine the surface and bottom tow-net gatherings, put aside before (k, & m,) note any prevalent organ- isms, strain off the water, and preserve the material left in a small bottle (labelled with date and station), to be forwarded to Liverpool for detailed examination. With further experience of the work it may be found necessary in the future to add some further observations, directed towards the elucidation of special points, but in the mean time it seems to me that the above mode of pro- cedure if systematically and carefully carried out will give us much valuable information of the kind we want. And it should be borne in mind that it is only after such a series of exact observations have been taken for a year or two that we can hope to speak with any scientific accuracy of such things as“ spawning beds,”’ “nurseries,” “ feeding grounds,” and the like. APPENDIX B. First List oF THE FISHES OF THE DISTRICT.* Labrax lupus, Bass. Mullus barbatus, Red Mullet. Pagellus centrodontus, Sea Bream. Sebastes norvegicus, Norway Haddock. Cottus scorpius, Sea scorpion, Bullhead. C. bubalis, Father Lasher, Bullhead. Trigla cuculus, Red gurnard. T. hirundo, Sapphirine gurnard. T. gurnardus, Gray gurnard. *From the Solway to the North Coast of Wales, and including the Isle of Man. 46 Agonus cataphractus, Pogge. Lophius piscatorius, Sea devil or angler. Trachinus draco, Weever. fis vipera, Sting-fish. Scomber scomber, Mackerel. Orcynnus germo, ong finned Tunny. Thynnus pelamys, Bonito. Lampris luna, King fish. Zeus faber, John Dory. Xiphias gladius, Sword fish. Sciena aquila, Shade fish. Gobius niger, Goby. G. minutus, Spotted Goby. G. pictus, Goby. Aphia pellucida, Nonnat (French. ) Callionymus lyra, Dragonet Cyclopterus lumpus, Lumpsucker. Liparis vulgaris, Sea snail or sucker. L. montagui, Sea snail. Lepadogaster bimaculatus, Two spotted sucker. Blennius pholis, Shanny. B. ocellaris, Butterfly Blenny. Centronotus gunnellus, Butter fish. Zoarces viviparus, Viviparous Blenny. Mugil chelo, Lesser grey Mullet Gasterosteus spinachia, 15-spined stickleback. Labrus maculatus, Wrasse. L. mixtus, Cook Wrasse. Crenilabrus melops, The gilt head. Ctenolabrus rupestris, Pink brame. Gadus morrhua, Cod. G. aglefinus, Haddock. G. luscus, Whiting pout. G. minutus, Poor Cod. 47 G. merlangus, Whiting. G. virens, Coal fish or Saithe. G. pollachius, Pollack. Merluccius vulgaris, Hake. Phycis blennoides, Forked Hake. Molva vulgaris, Ling. Motella mustela, Rockling. M. tricirrata. 3 bearded Rockling. Motella cimbria, 5 bearded Rockling. fianiceps raninus, Tommy noddy Ammodytes lanceolatus, Greater sand Eel. A. tobianus, Lesser sand Hel. Hippoglossus vulgaris, Holibut. Hippoglossoides limandoides, Long rough dab. Rhombus maximus, Turbot. Ti levis, Brett or Brill. Zeugopterus punctatus, Muller’s Top-knot. Arnoglossus megastoma, Witch. A. laterna, Scald fish or Megrim. Pleuronectes platessa, Plaice. de microcephalus, Jaemon Sole or Smear. P; limanda, Dab or Gave. Pp flesus, Flounder. Solea vulgaris, rue Sole. S. aurantiaca, Lemon Sole. S. lutea, Solenette. Maurolicus pennantii, Pearl sides. Osmerus eperlanus, Smelt or Sparling. Belone vulgaris, Garfish or greenbone. Lingraulis encrasicholus, Anchovy. Clupea harengus, Herring. C. sprattus, Sprat. C. finta, Shad. Conger vulgaris, Conger Kel. 48 Syngnathus acus, Pipe fish. Nerophis aquoreus, Painted sea-adder. Acipenser sturio, Sturgeon. Carcharias glaucus, Blue Shark. Galeus vulgaris, ‘Tope. Mustelus vulgaris, Smooth hound. Lamna cornubica, Porbeagle. Alopias vulpes, ‘Thresher. Selache maxima, Basking Shark. Scyllium canicula, Spotted dog fish. Acanthias vulgaris, Picked dog fish. Rhina squatina, Angel fish. Torpedo nobiliana, ‘Torpedo. Raia batis, blue skate. macrorhynchus, Flapper. oxyrhynchus, Wong nosed skate. clavata, Thornback. . maculata, Spotted skate. . radiata, Starry ray. circularis. Cuckoo ray. Trygon pastinaca, Sting ray. Petromyzon marinus, Sea Lamprey. by by by by Jaze fluviatilis, Freshwater Lamprey. Fig. 1. FISHERY LABORATORY. Pl; =: pasetaske eae ~ = _ 1 Gatansiasies sjethsais sisisnsestesseamnsrees snanserenere she Fig. 3. Fig. 6. 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