BIOLOGICAL BOARD OF CANADA SULTMARY REPORTS of the PACIFIC BIOLOGICAL STATION for 1936 CONFIDENTIAL X E. Berkeley and C# Berkeley \ ^ .^S'^yNe* 3. Bolychagfce Wossms of the Bacific Coast* Woacfc on the polyehaete material collected by Mr* E*C* Bart during the cruise of the Hydrographic Survey vessel, the S*S* "flta* J* Stewart", off the west coast of Vancouver island in 1954 has been continued and is Hearing completion* Some ninety species have thus far been identified in the material* .Most, but not all, of these have already been recorded from the east coast of tite Island; some are new to the west coast of North .America and others have" been recorded only from California, A-few arc new species or new varieties* A paper has been prepared on the Spionidae of the west coast of Canada •and is published in the current issue of tho Annals and Magazine of Natural History* It is intended that this shall be the first of a sorios of such papers, each dealing with a family, or a fow families, of polychaeta* The usual identifications and reports on material sent by other workers on the coast have boon made during the year* C* Berkeley No* 2 Harvesting of Eel-grass seed* Some experiments on the harvesting of eel-grass seed were successfully carried out during the summer on behalf of the National Parks Branch of the Department of the Interior, Ottawa♦ The Department is anxious to determine whether plants grown from seed harvested from the West coast eel-grass are Inrrmme to the disease which has ravaged the beds on the East coast* Attempts to collect sufficient seed direct from the beds last year proved, a failure, due to its being shed as soon as aipe* TftrFa. year the flowering shoots were collected whilst the seed was forming and kepli in tanks of running sea-water for some weeks* The seed continued to ripen and was shed in the tanks and a pint or so of material was collected in this way* This seed has now been sown on tho Atlantic coast* G. Clifford Carl No* 5 Shawnigan Lake During the summer of 1936, a further examination of Shawnigan lake was made* In August, 1935, it was found that thoro was definite thermocline between ID and 15 metres and the surface and bottom showed a difference In temperature of over 13° C* Tho water below the thermodihe was decidedly acid, showing a range in pH reading from 5*0 at tho bottom to 6*4 at 15 metres* The surface water was only slightly alkaline* The low oxygen content of the bottom water suggested a state of depletion in late summer* G. Clifford Carl * No* 3 In 1936 somewhat similar conditions were found* The bottom water was slightly lower in temperature and th& surface water slightly higher*, The thermocline was present but at a lesser depths viz*, between 5 and 10 metres* The pH readings, were approximately the same as those of the previous year while the oxygen content in the- dacp witor was less© The plankton crop was very abundant but the higher aquatic plants were scarce* The lake is relatively poo:: in both kind3 and numbers of bottom organisms* TABLE - Showing Physical and. Ch&Dieal Conditions of Water Samplesr. Shawnigan Lake, August 4? 195$© ° Depth Temperature pH --vgoii Saturation Alkalinity m9 C° W.: % PaPoiiu CaCO^ 0 Aj^oI 7*4 ?,.se: 85 5 20e8 7*5 13*8 10 8*8 15 20 6095 6-4 .3->f.Vi 43 14 The lake contains a fairly Ir,;-^' population of the eastern catfish, Ameiurus nebulo'sus, introduced about thirty years ago* In 1896, 1P1E5,00C fry of the eastern whitefish. Corcgonus cl>.ipc:.'iformis - were introduced but there are no records of the subsequent capture of Individuals of this species. A fish cultural prograri for the; production of trout and coho salmon is being developed9 based partly o:i the results of the two examinations c. G* Clifford Carl No* 4 Lakes Investigation» m connection with a resto?.Io.ii3 programme undertaken by the Provincial Game Department, thres small 1aires in the southern portion of Vancouver island were examined during the s-joL-cr.* of 1936o Prospect Lake^ July 88,, 1936 > Prospect lake is a snail body of water one mile long and one-half mile wide, covering about 300 acros and situated at an elevation of 154 feet about one mile south of Observatory hill in tho Lake district of Saanich peninsula* It has a maximum, depth of 10 metres, a depth which appears to be uniform over a wide area* A series of temperature readings and water samples taken at a mid-point in the lalco showed the presence of a well-marked thembcline between 5 and 7 metres* Coincident wri;h ihf.s Gratification was a tendency to G* Clifford Carl No. 4 depletion of dissolved oxygen together with an acid condition in the bottom layer of water* A vortical haul with the large plankton net showed a not unusual crop of plankton* A tow through a water-lily bed revealed the #^ presence of a bloom of the bluo-^reen alga, Gloeotrlohia ochinulata* The * dominant Vegetation consisted of water-lilies CNuphar), wator buttercup (Ranunculus) and reeds CScirDufe}» Associated with them wore molluscs (Physa, Lycmaea and Anodonta), leeches and aquatic insect larvae* The following fish wore observed: stickleback CGasterosteus aculoatus), bullhead (Cottus asoerj and sunfish CEupomotus gibbosus)* Thetis Lake, July 29 » 1936* Thetis lake is a small body of water situated about one-half mile inland from the head of Esquimalt harbour at an elevation of 158 feet. The lake consists of two separate portions formed by the artificial flooding of two small valleys*, The upper or westerly portion overflows into the lower or easterly portion and is reached from the latter by a very short portage. The west portion covers a larger area but is shallower in depth, attaining a maximum of 4 metres only in two or three snail areas 0 The temperature of both bottom and top wator was high, being 19.6° C* and 24*9° C* respectively. The amount of dissolved oxygon was abundant except in tho lowermost layer of water whore it was reduced to 20 per cent saturation and was accompanied by a slightly acid condition. An average crop of plankton was present and bottom organisms were represented by chircnonid and tipulid larvae* Mature and seedling water-lilies (Nuphar) wore very abundant. The east portion of the lake attains a maximum depth of 9 metres but only over a snail area<> Normal water conditions prevail except over this deepest area where a total lack of dissolved oxygen was found at the bottom* A good crop of plankton was present and also a variety of bottom forms except in the oxygon-depleted zone. Pondweods (Potamogoton spp*] were very abundant throughout the shallower parts of the lake. G* Clifford Carl No. 5 Distribution of Cladocora and Copopoda in British Columbia* During the summer of 1936 over thirty sets of collecting equipment were sent out to fishery officers and others in order to obtain plankton samples from various parts of the Province. The material received to date, together with that of previous years, represents collections from more than 200 lakes and ponds, mainly from tho following areas: Vancouver island. Queen Charlotte islands, lower mainland coast, Okanagan, Kanloops, Cariboo, Qnesnel, Fort George and Dease river. Collections in other districts are also being made. The examination of the material on hand shows the presence of many organisms hitherto unreported from British Columbia. In general, the cXadocera are similar to those found in other parts of North .America and Europe, being characteristic of north temperate regions. The copepods are similar in this regard also, except in the case of those of the genus Diaptomus* The copepods of this group have long been considered unique, in so far as the North American species appeared to be restricted to this continent while European G* Clifford Carl NOe 5 species of the same genus were found only in the Old World. However, the present study and other recent investigations indicate that several species are common to both continents, suggesting a two-way migration by means of #^' ancient land connections* The presence of certain European species in samples from some of the northern interior lakes of British Columbia confirm this theory and it is hoped that further collections will provide more valuable data. G. Clifford Carl Na& 6 Distribution of Crayfish. Western crayfish (Genus Potamobius) are found in British Columbia in the following areas: Kootenay district (Slocan lake)I Similkamoon district (Kettle river), Okanagan (Okanogan lake)^ lower mainland (Burnaby lake), lower Vancouver island (Beaver lake, langford lakeP Shawnigan lake) and west coast of Vancouver island (Sechart, Kennedy lake and Nootka island)* Collec tions from some of these localities indicate that at least two species are present: Potamoblus klariathensis Stizipson in the interior of the Province and on the west coast of Vancouver island., and Potamobius trowbrldgli Stimpson (P. loniusculus Dana ?\ on the lower mainland and lower Vancouver island* Although their distributions are remarkably discontinuous they appear to be native to the Province except in the case of those found in the lakes of tho lower Island, particularly Shawnigan lake. The presence of crayfish in tho lat'eer lake seems to be the result of an introduction of a few individuals" from the state of Oregon by the late Judge G. Hunter some thirty years ago* It is hoped that further collections will help explain the peculiar distribu tion of these Crustacea and that further investigation will reveal their status in relation to other organisms, particularly commercial and game fishes0 W.A.