Mean yellow eel density and biomass in two adjacent shallow (mean depth c 1·5 m) lochs varied significantly between years. Temporal patterns of density, biomass and size were similar in both soft and rocky substrata in the lochs, although eels were consistently smaller in the latter habitat. In both substrata, average length and weight showed a non-significant inverse relationship with density, supporting the hypothesis of density-dependent regulation of the yellow eel population. Fyke net catches were size selective, catching no eels <30 cm long, and providing length-frequency information for silver eels. Fyke net catch per unit effort (CPUE) declined consistently each autumn but specific annual trends were different. When eel density increased, fyke net CPUE declined substantially. 1999 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

These data support the theory that misattribution of self-generated speech to others could result in verbal hallucinations. The syntactic (pronoun) factor could impact self-other distinction in subtypes of verbal hallucinations that are phenomenologically defined whereas the acoustic factor (gender of heard speech) is unlikely to affect self-other distinction.

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This study investigates errors associated with the recovery of cyprinid remains in otter Lutra lutra spraints. Cyprinid fishes (Cyprinidae – the carps) comprise the largest family of freshwater fishes in the world with around 2000 known species. They form the major group of freshwater fishes in Europe with a total of 80 species, 16 of which occur in Britain (Winfield & Nelson, 1991). These fishes are commonly taken by otters Lutra lutra throughout the predator's geographical range, their prevalence in the diet apparently varying in relation to their abundance. No more than three species are commonly recorded as otter prey in Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia (e.g. Wise, Linn & Kennedy, 1981; Kyne, Smal & Fairley, 1989; Erlinge, 1967, respectively), while at least five are in eastern Poland and southern Spain (e.g. Brzezinski, Jedrzejewski & Jedrzejewska, 1993; Lopez‐Nieves & Hernando, 1984, respectively). These fishes offer an opportunity to investigate otter prey selection on relatively complex prey communities (cf. Carss et al., 1998) as they form mixed‐species assemblages (Winfield & Nelson, 1991). However, Carss (1995) concluded that if studies of otter feeding ecology were to become more than mere lists of prey items, there was an urgent need to quantify current spraint analysis techniques and their associated errors more rigorously than before. This is undoubtedly true for studies which attempt to determine the species‐ and size‐composition of cyprinids in the diet of otters.