274 THE COD FAMILY. 



fin, over the ventral surface of the yolk-sac, and along the 

 margin, behind the vent, of both body and fin, the latter 

 like the dorsal being somewhat narrower than in the whiting. 



This species is a rare form on the east coa.st of Scotland, 

 but is more frequently met with on the west coast of Ireland. 

 The peculiar gadoid elsewhere described by one of us 1 is 

 probably this species, though it differs from the figure in 

 the Scandinavian Fishes by the more marked curvature of the 

 lateral line, by the shorter region between the tip of the snout 

 and the first dorsal, by the slight hollow of the snout over the 

 eye, and other features. On March 24th the ovaries were 

 far advanced, the eggs ranging from '3810 to 1'1430 mm., so 

 that the spawning-period was near, probably at the end of 

 April. Collett in Sweden found gravid forms in February ; while 

 in autumn young examples of 40 mm. occurred amongst sprats. 



THE HAKE. (Merluccius vulgaris, L.) 



It is peculiar that the egg of the hake has not yet been 

 met with upon the eastern shores of Scotland, though the fish 

 forms so important an element of the ' catch ' of fishermen. 

 Couch states that it spawns early in the year, but in the cold 

 season of 1837 it did not finish till August. The fish, how- 

 ever, is not confined to our shores but ranges into the Baltic 

 and the Mediterranean, as well as the opposite shores of the 

 Atlantic, where the egg was alluded to and figured by Kingsley 

 and Conn. The egg and larva have been described very briefly 

 by Dr Raffaele, working at Naples. He mentions that ripe 

 specimens occur in January, the eggs which came under his 

 observation being however fertilized in May. In British waters 

 the spawning-period appears to extend from January to July 

 inclusive, Mr Cunningham having found one perfectly ripe on 

 July 6th, while Mr Holt procured one with nearly ripe ovaries 

 at the end of June on the west of Ireland. He gives the 

 diameter as T35 mm. and the large oil-globule at ! 30 mm. 2 

 The number of eggs in a large female is estimated by Hollberg 



1 Uth Eept. S. F. B. p. 241, Plate XI. 



2 Prof. Herdman recently found spawning Hake on April 5th south of the 

 Calf of Man. 



