Notes on the Distribution of Burrowing Isopoda and Amphipoda in Various Soils on the Sea Bottom near Plymouth

Abstract

The earliest detailed account of the nature of the sea bottom near Plymouth is that of Allen (1899), wherein analyses of the soils on the 30 fm. line are coupled with lists of the animals collected by trawl and dredge. Ford (1923) described a number of soils in shallower water, and gave a quantitative list of the bottom fauna, collected with a grab which covered an area of 0·1 sq. m. Smith (1932) described in great detail the soils of the area of shell-gravel which surrounds the Eddystone Lighthouse. By none of these workers, however, was special attention paid to the smaller burrowing Crustacea, which are often overlooked unless they are made the special object of collecting. Some species, e.g. of Bathyporeia and Ampelisca, may be very common, and certainly play an important part in the ecology of the sea-bottom. See Steven (1930) and Hunt (1925).