338 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



below gave an 'effective mean depth' of 43 m. with extreme range 12-78 m. Our largest specimen 

 was 17 cm. long, but most of them were very small: 



WS582 I (on LH) WS583 20 (in BTS) Ringdove Inlet i (on LH) 



Notothenia sqiiamiceps Peters. The 'William Scoresby' did not capture any specimens of this small 

 species, which seems to have an extremely littoral distribution at the Falkland Islands and in the 

 Magellan region. The 'Discovery', however, obtained a few in the autumn of 1926, all from East 

 Falkland and some with ripe eggs. None of these can have come from depths greater than 16 m. The 

 largest specimen was but 12 cm. long: 



53 3 (in RM) 55 I (in BTS) 56 3 (in BTS) 



Notothenia sima Richardson. This is yet another exclusively littoral species, taken plentifully by 

 Mr A. G. Bennett with shore seines and traps in Port Stanley, and (rarely) by the ' Discovery' using 

 the small beam trawl in very shallow water (10-16 m.); but it was never encountered at the regular 

 trawling stations. Norman (1937, p. 85) quotes interesting observations by R. Vallentin that seem to 

 show that this species spawns in littoral waters in spring or early summer, i.e. at quite a different time 

 of year from that at which A^. squamiceps was taken with eggs. A^. sima is another small species. 

 Bennett's largest specimen was 14 cm. long: 



Port Stanley (Nov. and Feb.) 24 (in seine and trap, A. G. B. co//.) cc 2 (in BTS) 



56 I (in BTS) ^:> K I 



Notothenia cormicola Richardson. This species has been recorded at depths down to 35 m., but in 

 the main it seems almost as exclusively littoral as the last two. It was never taken in the trawl, and 

 with one exception (from Cape Horn) our few specimens were all obtained at the Falkland Islands. 

 A^. cormicola resembles A^. sima very closely, but may be distinguished by the absence of scales on the 

 lower part of the operculum (Norman, 1937, p. 85). Norman (p. 87) also quotes references from the 

 literature that point to the possibility of an extended breeding season in A^. cornucola. The record of 

 this species from New Zealand is extremely doubtful, as Norman has shown, but it is known from 

 southern Chile (northwards to Chiloe) and the Magellan channels in addition to the localities where 

 we obtained specimens. The largest A^. cornucola obtained by us was only 13 cm. long: 



52 I (on LH) 222 I (in NRL) 



53 I (in RM) Port Stanley Several (A. G. B. coll.) 



55 I (in BTS) New Island (West Falkland) 6 (J. E. H. coll.) 



56 I (in BTS) ' 



Notothenia elegans Giinther. This little species with its slender body and proportionately large fins, 

 so well figured by Col. Tenison (in Norman, 1937, fig. 42), cannot easily be confused with any of the 

 other Patagonian Nototheniidae. It was the smallest nototheniid that seemed regularly to inhabit 

 moderately deep water on the plain of the shelf and, rarely, beyond. This is shown by the depth- 

 frequency distribution (Fig. 42). N. elegans seems, moreover, to have a more northerly regional dis- 

 tribution than most of the other species, having been recorded twice in the northern region, and more 

 frequently in the intermediate than in the southern region in our catches. Too much stress should not 

 be laid on this point, however, because on account of its shape and small size (we took none more 

 than 12 cm. long) it is certain that our gear could not sample this species adequately. It was captured 

 chiefly in ' Other gear ' or in the accessory nets attached to the back of the trawl. A^. elegafis is doubtless 

 eaten by larger fishes, but is probably not sufficiently common to rank high in importance as a forage 

 species : 



WS83 I WS808 3 WS861 I (in BTS) WS878 ii(inNR) 



|f^9J I 51 4(inOTL) WS863 26 (in BTS) ' 



WS237 I WS767 5(inNR) WS867 I (in BTS) 



WS795 1 WS836 6 (in BTS) WS873 I (in NR) 



