Laboratory and field observations were made on the food and feeding of the starfish in relation to its role as a predator on oyster beds in the rivers of Essex, particularly in the river Crouch.

Asterias rubens was found most likely to be associated with large numbers of Crepidula, the most serious competitor of the oyster.

Laboratory experiments showed that although Asterias occasionally ate spat and adult oysters, the greater part of its food was made up of organisms which are competitors of the oyster. The smaller sizes of Asterias ate large numbers of barnacles, with occasional spat of oysters and Crepidula. The larger occasionally ate oysters and oyster spat, but almost always exhibited a preference for mussels and, in the absence of these, for Crepidula, and sometimes even for Urosalpinx.

Some observations were made on the method and rate of feeding and distribution of Asterias and Solaster papposus, and certain aspects of the feeding behaviour of the stone crab, Hyas araneus.

It was concluded that Asterias is not such a serious enemy of the oyster as was previously supposed, and that under certain conditions, its presence may be beneficial to oyster culture.

The three new species to be described below are the first of a considerable series of related forms, recently isolated from marine plankton off the British coasts and possessing in common a number of rather unusual characters which make their classification difficult. They are all very small and extremely fragile unicellular flagellates, with the characteristic golden brown plastid colour and metabolic products found in the Chrysophyceae to which they undoubtedly belong. Within this group their placing is more difficult and it cannot even be adequately discussed until the whole range of new forms is available for comparison. The most that we can do on this occasion is to make some provisional generic comparisons in order to establish a system of nomenclature. Unfortunately, existing descriptions of relevant genera are both scanty and incomplete, a defect which is easily explained by the nature of the organisms and the need for special facilities for their adequate study.

It has been established that many substances can bring about a change in position of pigments in crustacean chromatophores (Florey, 1951). The extracts of certain animal tissues (pituitary, crustacean sinus-gland and post-commissure organs, insect brain and corpora cardiaca) are especially active (Brown, 1940; Knowles, 1953; Dupont-Raabe, 1952; Thomsen, 1943); there is evidence that these tissues intervene in the normal colour change of the animals which possess them and that their products may properly be considered as hormones. On the other hand, many species which do not themselves possess chromatophores (oligochaetes, molluscs, and many insects) have nevertheless been shown to contain substances in their tissues which will, after injection into crustaceans, initiate pigment movements (Scharrer, 1954). It has not yet been ascertained whether these pigment-activating substances chemically resemble normal colour-change hormones or whether the pigment movements they produce are pharmacodynamic effects irrelevant in the study of colour physiology.

As certain previous authors have observed, T. larynx is a species subject to much variation. Disregard of this has led to the erection of invalid species.

The descriptive characters used by Allman are discussed. In a comparison with material collected in Plymouth Sound these characters are shown to be so variable that used singly they are valueless. In particular, disregard of the stage of development and over-emphasis on size will be very misleading.

The causes of some of this variability are suggested.

From our previous publications (Brull & Nizet, 1953; Brull, Nizet & Verney, 1953; Brull & Cuypers, 1954), it appears that the power of concentration of the aglomerular kidney of Lophius is rather low, the density of the urine being usually less than that of the plasma concentration. Most individual urinary constituents do not reach concentrations that are more than once or twice those in the plasma, magnesium being an exception

Idotea feeds on large food masses. It is potentially an omnivorous scavenger, but each species may have a characteristic diet depending on the availability of food in its particular habitat.

The structure, topography and action of the mouthparts are described: spines on the maxillules and maxillipedes scrape the food material whilst the mandibles actually bite the food; toothed spines on the maxillules and mandibles push the food upwards to the molar processes of the mandibles; debris is brushed forwards between the lobes of the paragnath by setae on the inner endites of the maxillules, maxillae and maxillipedes; and spines on the maxillipedal palp, and on the first leg, comb the mouthparts.

The structure of the foregut resembles that of Asellus and Ligia.

The relation of the feeding mechanism to the functional evolution of the mouthparts of Peracarida as a whole is discussed.

A more complete study of reproductive behaviour is possible where observations can be made on individuals. This is especially so in a population where each individual has a succession of breeding cycles which are not synchronous with those of other individuals. Continuous records of the breeding of individual barnacles is possible in species which have a membranous base. Individuals may be grown on glass slides and the reproductive condition determined by observations through the base.

Reproduction in Elminius modestus takes the form of a succession of breeding cycles or broods, each cycle being initiated by copulation, oviposition and fertilization of the eggs in the mantle cavity. Here the eggs develop, and embryos are eventually liberated through the opercular valves.

The time interval occupied by a brood varies both among individuals and with the season of the year. The time of development of the embryos appears to be a function of temperature alone, but the regeneration of the ovary depends upon the nutrition and food supply. When the ovary regenerates rapidly, as in the period of rising temperature, viz. in spring and early summer, another fertilization follows closely upon liberation, but in autumn and winter the ovary may not mature for some time after liberation, with the result that a large proportion of the population do not contain egg masses. In spring and summer the fecundity is probably limited by the rate of development of the embryos; in autumn and winter by nutrition.

There is a slight tendency for eggs to remain in the mantle cavity for a longer period during the falling temperatures of autumn and winter than at corresponding rising temperatures in spring and summer.

In a recent paper (Bagenal, 1955) on the growth rate of the Long Rough Dab Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabr.) in the Clyde Sea area, a serious mistake was made.

The ages of 1561 Long Rough Dabs, which were collected from October 1953 to September 1954, were determined from an examination of the otoliths, and from the age analysis each fish was allocated to a population f to a, de-pending on when it was supposed to have spawned. This procedure was designed to obviate the difficulty during the winter and spring when fish of the same year-class would be grouped differently according to the condition of the otolith edge.

The Council have to record with great regret the deaths of Dr E. S. Russell, O.B.E., a former member of Council and a Vice-President from 1948, of Prof. F. E. Fritsch, F.R.S., also a former member of Council, and of Miss M. J. Delap, an Associate Member since 1937.