Vlll PREFACE. 



As regards our respective shares in the preparation of this 

 book, we may state that the Introduction and Chap. I are the 

 result of our conjoint labours, and that, whilst the senior author 

 is responsible for the Chapters dealing with the Life-history 

 and development of a fish from a pelagic egg (Chaps. II and IV), 

 upon Pelagic Fauna (Chap. Ill), and the typical development 

 of a Teleostean Fish (Chap. V), the Chapter on the Rate 

 of Growth of Fishes (Chap. VI) is the work of the junior. 

 The composition of the special life-histories of each species was 

 originally divided between us, the latter taking in hand those 

 of the grey gurnard, dragonet, angler-fish, wolf-fish, viviparous 

 blenny, mackerel, fifteen-spined stickleback, cod, haddock, 

 whiting, poor cod, green cod, the rocklings, ling, hake, the 

 sand-eels, plaice, dab, flounder, herring, sprat, pilchard, eel, 

 and conger, the former of us undertaking the remainder. To 

 this we should add that certain remarks were later made 

 to such an extent in the parts dealing with e.g. the dragonet, 

 viviparous blenny, cod, haddock, whiting and rocklings, that 

 they must be regarded as a conjoint production. 



While this work is only a step in a department to which 

 future investigators will continually add, it is not without some 

 satisfaction that one of us contrasts the condition of to-day 

 with what it was when he undertook the Trawling work 

 towards the end of 1883. Then the life-history of not a single 

 British marine food-fish was known, at least from observations 

 in our country. In the present work between 80 and 90 

 species are dealt with, the majority of the important forms 

 more or less exhaustively. The larger share of this work has 

 fallen to the St Andrews (now the Gatty) Marine Laboratory, 

 and amongst those who have given their energies to this task 



E. E. Prince, R. Scharff, J. Cleland, J. Burdon Sanderson, 



F. Gotch, Marcus Gunn, E. W. L. Holt, W. L. Calderwood, 

 W. E. Collinge, G. Sandeman, H. C. Williamson, J. R. Tosh, 

 J. H. Fullarton, H. M. Kyle, W. Wallace, G. Lawrence, and 

 J. L. Steven deserve acknowledgment. 



