86
NOTES OF TWO DAYS' TRAWLING AND
Velutina laevigata. On our Blackwater excursion in 1888 (E. N.,
ii., 248), we took two of these alive, the rich scarlet bodies being
very conspicuous.
Lacuna crassior, with its pretty, wrinkled epidermis, crawling on
masses of shells and zoophytes, came up in great abundance, but
all small; not so big, even, as those we took on the Orwell. On the
Devon and Dorset coast I have taken them, fully grown, about half
an inch in length.
Whelks and "Tingles" occurred largely as before—but of the
latter, the Dog Whelk (Purpura lapillus), we obtained a varied series,
some of the shells being banded with black and white, others in
various yellows and browns, and one purely white; but the noticeable
feature being the series of delicate frills with which they were all
more or less covered—these frills being the marks of growth, the
up-turned edges of the former peristome. In water exposed to
heavy seas and masses of shingle, these frills are not found on the
shell, or are broken off and the shell worn smooth. I cannot help
thinking that the frilled varieties are evidence of a quieter habitat.
These beautiful fimbriations, when they occur, give this very common
shell a pretty appearance.
Of the Nudibranchs we took three species, making seven now
recorded in the Crouch—a good number of Doris tuberculata, but
all small, and one specimen of Eolis papillosa. But the most
beautiful and interesting was a specimen, about an inch in length,
of the graceful Eolis drummondi, with carmine double tentacles and
mouth. Unfortunately, on my returning to Wanstead, we placed a
small Pea-Crab (Pinnotheres) in the same bottle; and the next
morning I found that the voracious brute had eaten up all the
branchiae from its back, and it was only with difficulty I could
persuade him to relinquish his hold. In doing this, the left
pincer was torn off, so tenacious was its grip. The mutilated Eolis
crawled about in a languid state for some time, but ultimately
succumbed to its injuries.
In most of the Nudibranchs the dorsal tentacles are prettily
laminated, and in this species they are very closely ringed.
Before quitting the Mollusca, I must mention that in January,
1892, a young living specimen of Whelk (Buccinum undatum) with a
sinistral shell was taken by our old trawling colleague, John Bacon,
whilst trawling. He sent it on to Mr. Fitch, who forwarded it to
me. It lived about a week, but having no change of sea water, was