THE SEA-SCORPION FAMILY. 135 



THE SAPPHIRINE GURNARD. (Trigla lucerna, L.) 



Though by no means a rare fish, the eggs have hitherto 

 received little attention. Day is of opinion that the breeding- 

 season is during the first six months of the year. Couch found 

 mature ova in December and February. Risso gives the 

 spawning-period as spring. In July (18th) the ovaries were 

 much enlarged, the eggs having an average diameter of 

 031 inch. Even so late as the 14th September some ripe eggs 

 have been found in the ovaries at St Andrews. 



THE GREY GURNARD. (Trigla giirnardus, L.) 



Amongst the pelagic eggs of numerous species found on the 

 East coast, that of the grey gurnard is perhaps the most 

 conspicuous, not only because of its occurrence in great numbers 

 but also because it has a wide distribution in point of time. 

 Though not one of the earliest to put in an appearance, it is 

 found fairly frequently in April and in some parts even earlier, 

 and from this month onwards through the summer to the end 

 of August it increases in numbers, so that in June it is by far 

 the commonest egg, though that of the sprat is found with it in 

 great quantities. From this it will be seen that the spawning- 

 season of the gurnard extends over a considerable period, a fact 

 which is further borne out by an examination of the structure of 

 the female reproductive organs. In this fish, as in the cod 

 and some others, the ovaries ripen by degrees, so that very 

 rapid extrusion of all the eggs is not likely, but they are dis- 

 charged in sections as they become ripe. Hence if a female 

 gurnard be examined in May, the ovary will show a number of 

 ova in different stages of development, and, as one observer 

 states : " In the gurnard the gradual process of ripening and 

 the co-existence of perfectly mature and microscopic ova is even 

 more marked than in the whiting, and shows that the spawning- 

 process is a prolonged one," though it is possible that the 

 microscopic forms are not all utilised the same season. 



A single ovary contains roughly about 120,000 eggs, so that 



