150
A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVER.
broken shells of P. dactylus occurred as well as those of Solen
marginatus. Thracia papyracea was noticed, but the specimen is
now lost. Many living specimens of the pretty little Nucula nucleus
were found amongst the "stuff" dredged up. Philine aperta occurred
rather commonly, but was unrecognised at first; it greatly resembled
a small piece of cooked fat, or was like the figure of Laemargus
muricatus in Gosse's "Manual of Marine Zoology" (vol. i., fig. 203).
About half a dozen Dentalium entails were brought up in two hauls
of the trawl towards the mouth of the river, off the sand. Chitons
were numerous and Mr, Crouch took many specimens to examine at
leisure.
Several living Trochus cinerarius were brought up, but only one
Nassa reticulata ; and the small Pleurotoma rufa occurred sparingly.
A few good specimens of Natica monilifera were also collected. We
had one haul at the dredge over the "trail" and got as many
mussels (Mytilus edulis), mostly small, as could be hauled aboard,
but nothing else. All day we did not get enough whelks (Buccinum)
for a "cook," nor did we see a single "Winkle" (Littorina). The
Whelk-tingles (Purpura lapillus) or Dog-whelks were in evidence,
but not in the same pretty variety as is the case on a rocky coast,
such as at Hastings, Deal, or Devonshire. These carnivorous molluscs,
being a great and deadly enemy of the oyster, by boring through
the shell into the oyster's heart, were soon crushed by the
practical men, as were one or two nests of their yellow horn or urn-
like eggs attached to stones. Several sponge-like masses of the
egg-capsules of Buccinum were brought up. For an interesting paper
on these curious objects, see Dr. J. E. Gray. "Mag. Nat. Hist." (2),
i., 247. Ostrea edulis of course occurred, also two specimens of
Tapes pullastra, and one dead shell of Tellina balthica.
Of the interesting Nudibranchs or "Sea-slugs," four species were
recognised. Doris pilosa was common, often as many as half-a-
dozen were brought up at one haul of the dredge, with two or three
pieces of gelatinous spawn resembling a loosely-rolled frill of sandy
ribbon. We found three specimens of the curious Doto coronata,
which we at once christened the "prickly-pear slug," as that fruit
was almost exactly represented in miniature by the dorsal papillae of
the slug both in colour as well as form. These papilla; are not only
branchiae or "gill-plumes" as in the fine and beautiful Dendronotus
and others, but in Doto they contain an important part of the
digestive system; nearly the whole of the liver is carried on the