304 THE SAND-EEL FAMILY. 



THE GREATER SAND-EEL. (Ammodytes lanceolatus, 



Lesauvage.) 



This species has not come under such close examination as 

 its smaller relative, for it is not found in such abundance on 

 this coast. As in the case of the latter, there is some doubt as 

 regards the exact limits of its spawning-period. Day observes 

 that he found the ovaries considerably developed in August, 

 and concludes that it spawns in autumn and winter. Mb'bius 

 and Heincke fix the spawning-season of this species, according 

 to Bloch, in May, and mention that Malm found a female with 

 enlarged ova in June. In the summer of 1890 the sand-eels 

 occurring at Elie were examined 1 and both males and females 

 were found to be ripe. 



The capsule of the nearly ripe ovarian eggs was found to be 

 tough. Scattered throughout the yolk were a number of 

 small greenish-yellow oil-globules (Plate III, figs. 16 and 17). 

 The ripe eggs (Plate III, figs. 13 and 14), on the other hand, 

 presented a single large oil-globule of the same tint, doubt- 

 less formed by the fusion of the smaller ones found in earlier 

 stages. They adhere to any body with which they happen 

 to come in contact. The larger ones measure '762 mm. in 

 diameter, the oil-globule being '195 mm. The outer surface 

 of the capsule is minutely areolar, and can be divided into 

 an outer and an inner lamina. The micropyle is very dis- 

 tinctly marked as a deep pit surrounded by a series of radiate 

 furrows. The eggs are probably deposited in June or July. As 

 regards the occurrence of a winter or early spring spawning- 

 period in addition to that in the summer, further data are 

 required before speaking with certainty, but the comparison 

 with the lesser sand-eel and its hosts of larvae found in early 

 March must be borne in mind. 



As regards the early larval and post-larval stages nothing 

 definite is yet known. None of the young forms captured at 

 St Andrews show the deep greenish-yellow tint in the oil- 

 globule, so that, unless considerable change ensues, in all 

 probability they belong to the lesser sand-eel. 



1 W. C. M. 9th S. F. B. Eept. p. 332, PI. XIII. 



