149 



Trachinus draco is found. Ou the wbole the lesser weever has a 

 more southerly distribution, and lives in the shallow water near 

 the shore and on sandbanks, the greater weever lives in deeper 

 water (Schlegel T ) ). 



For the first account of the eggs of Trachinus vipera we are 

 indebted to mr. Brook 2 ) who studied the eggs deposited in his 

 aquarium until hatching, and gave a careful account of the early 

 developmental stages. In 1888 Raffaele 3 ) described some buoyant 

 eggs, which resembled those described by Brook, and which he 

 too put down as belonging to Trachinus vipera. They differed from 

 the eggs of the lesser weever described by the English author in 

 being smaller, in having a smaller number of oil-globules (4—10) 

 and in giving rise to less darkly pigmented larvae. 



Holt 4 ), Mc. Intosh and Masterman 5 ) subsequently described 

 similar eggs, of the same dimensions as the eggs measured by 

 Brook (1,25 — 1,37 mM.) but with a smaller number of oil- 

 globules (11 — 19). 



In the second part of the beautiful Researches on the develop- 

 ment of the fishes of the » Deutsche Bucht" Heincke and Ehren- 

 baum 6 ), when comparing some Trachinus-eggs they found in the 

 neighbourhood of Helgoland with those described by the authors 

 mentioned before, express their doubt, whether these eggs belong 

 to Trachinus vipera or to another Trachinus species. Their eggs were 

 smaller (1,006—1,132 mM.) and possessed 12—18 oil-globules 

 scattered throughout the yolk. In every other character, especially 

 in the colouring of the issuing larvae they corresponded with the 

 eggs found by Brook and Holt. The size of the egg corresponds 



1) H. Schlegel. De dieren van Nederland. Visschen. Pag. 37 — 41. 



2) G. Brook. Prelim account of the development of the Lesser Weever fish (Trach. 

 vipera) Journal Linnean Society. Vol. 18, 1884 p. 274—291. 



3) F. Raffaele. Le nova gallegiante e Ie larve dei Teleostei nel golfo di Napoli. Mitth. 

 aus der Zool. stat. zu Neapel. VIII. Bd. 1888, p. 30. 



4) E. Holt. On the eggs and larvae of teleosteans Sc. Transact. Roy. Duhlin Soc. 

 Vol. IV, 2e Serie, 1891. 



5) Mc. Intosh and Masterman. British marine food-fishes. 1897, p. 156—160. 



6) Fr. Heincke und E Ehrenbaum. Eier und Larven von Fischen der üeutschen Bucht. 

 Wiss. Meeresuntersuchungen N. F. 3. Bd. 1900. 



