135 



Africa, \o\. II, p. 187) that they were at first supposed to belong 

 to this fish. The larvae also were very similar in form, but were 

 invariably devoid of all colouring matter. As the eggs were pro- 

 cured in abundance on several occasions, and in no case did the 

 larvae show any trace of pigment, it seems advisable for the 

 present to regard it as belonging to a different species. 



Pagrus laniarius, G. and V. (Panga) 



' Although this fish occurs in abundance in the trawl, it is some- 

 what remarkable that only two ripe females and no ripe males 

 have been as yet found among the many hundreds examined. 

 These two specimens were procured on the Qth and i6th March, 

 1903, about 7 miles off Cape Infanta. The eggs (in formalin) 

 measured '93 to ro2 mm. in diameter, and the old globule 'ig 

 mm. 



A number of ripe eggs of this fish were procured (6th June, 

 1904) by one of the Kalk Bay fishermen, who now show consider- 

 able interest in these investigations. They were larger than the 

 above, being from ro6 to i"i mm., with an oil globule of '2 mm. 



Macrurus fasciatus, Guntli. 



Many specimens of Macrurits fasciatus have on several occa- 

 sions been procured in trawling in abovit 100 fathoms, but of 

 these there was only one perfectly ripe female. This was on 

 the 28th October, 14 miles off Cape Point, when 684 specimens 

 were brought up in the trawl. None of these were ripe males, 

 and the eggs could not therefore be fertilized. 



The eggs (PI. VI, fig. ^'j) when procured from the female were 

 clear, homogeneous, and floated freely on the surface of the water 

 in which they were placed. They were of a fairly uniform size, 

 ranging from ri5 to roo mm. in diameter, the oil globule, which 

 was yellow or red in colour, being from '29 to '27 mm. The 

 vitelline membrane was thick (about '02 mm.), and marked in 

 a very distinctive manner. In some cases the markings appeared 

 to be separate dots onh', but these were seen in man}' to be 

 connected by fine hyaline lines, so as to form polygonal mark- 

 ings on the surface of the egg. The dots themselves appeared 

 on a side view to be small connecting pillars between the 

 outer and inner surface of the vitelline membrane (fig. 38). 



During the time the " Pieter Faure " was engaged in deep- 

 v.ater work off Cape Point none of the surface tow-nettings 

 contained any eggs at all corresponding to these, but on four 



