136 



LING 



LiJ'e-Historij 



Schmidt states that m Iceland the hng are restricted to the 

 south coast, where they spawn at 80 to 130 fathoms in May 

 and June. In the Faeroes and westward of hjcotland and 

 Ireland the period ranges from April to August, at depths from 

 50 to 100 fathoms. North of Scotland 

 and the North Sea, and in the Skagerrak, 

 they spawn from April to June at 50 to 

 100 fathoms. A few ling also spawn ^ 

 on the south-west coast of Norway, on 

 the southerly portion of the range west 

 of the Channel, and in the north of the 

 Bay of Biscay. The eggs measure about 

 0-04 inch, and have an oil globule. They 

 have been found frequently. Meek 

 gives the hatching period as ' about ten 

 days ', but says nothing of the effect 

 of temperature. The larvae have their 

 heads bent downwards. They measure 

 about one-ten an inch on first appearance. 



Dr. Lebour has caught, at about 26-28 fathoms, ten hng, 

 ranging from 0-18 to 0-5 inches, off Plymouth in July this year, 

 and identified the copepods and water-fleas on which they were 

 feeding.^ But the intermediate stages are also known, e. g. 

 the post-larval ling one-third of an inch long figured in pi. XI, 

 fig. 6, of British Marine Food Fishes. At half an inch they 

 have also been caught at 22 fathoms at the end of August. 

 Up to about 0-8 of an inch the fry are about 15 to 50 fathoms 



Molva. 



Fig. 1 3. — Egg of Ling. 



(From Meek's Migra- 

 tions of Fish.) About 

 980,000 go to the quart. 



MolvfiL ^^=^ 



Fic. 14. — Ling fry v;, inch long. (From Meek's Migrations of Fish.) 



below the surface — but in mid- water. They get to the bottom 

 when they are about 3 inches long at the end of their first year. 

 'J.liey do not come inshore till the next summer, when they are 

 about 7 inches long. The writer does not know at what age or 

 size they reach maturity. 



Big catches are made in the North Sea from March to May ; 

 and in December and January very few are caught. 



^ Migrations of Fish, p. 237. 



■^ Journ. M. B. A., vol. xii, parL '1, p. 285. 



