NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 47 



I landed at Grimsby on the afternoon of June 12th and on June 

 13th examined at Cleethorpes some of the fish I brought from the 

 steamer on which I made the voyage. Among these were 9 soles, of 

 the size at which they are called slips, that is to say, the smallest soles 

 caught. They were 10| to 11^ in. in length, and all of them were 

 mature males. 



I also brought a basket of the refuse from the last haul. It proved 

 to contain : — 



105 male plaice, smallest 6i in., largest 11| in., next largest 10 in. 

 71 female plaice, smallest 6f in., largest Hi in., next largest 11 in. 



and lOi-in. 

 31 male dabs, 5| in. to 10^ in. 

 21 female dabs, 5 in. to lOf in. 

 6 Trigla gurnardus, 9i to 11^- in. ' 



I examined the ovaries of a few of these fish microscopically : 

 Plaice 8 in. long, ovary small, ova yolkless, no opaque masses. 

 „ 8 in. long, „ „ „ 



„ o;j m. „ „ „ „ 



„ o^ m. ,, ,, ,, ,, 



„ 9-|-in. „ ovary small, but opaque masses very distinct 



and numerous 

 „ 10^ in. „ one or two dead eggs in ovarian tissue. 

 „ lOfin. „ ovary 2 in. from anterior end, 3 ^'a ^^- from 



posterior end of ventral fin. No opaque 



masses. 



Plaice 10|in. Opaque masses numerous, small, nearly absorbed. 

 „ 11 in. Opaque masses and dead yolked eggs very numerous 

 and conspicuous. 



Dab 71 in. Probably spawned, but ovary small and transparent, 

 no opaque masses or yolked eggs. 



„ 8|in. Ovary l^in. from anterior end, 2^ in. from posterior 

 end of ventral fin. Almost certainly recently 

 spawned, some partially yolked eggs present, but 

 not dark and opaque as in the plaice. 



„ 7i in. Ovary half as long as the ventral fin, red in colour, 

 contained some half-ripe eggs, but not dead yolked 

 eggs as in the plaice, 



I must postpone the discussion of these observations until a future 

 occasion. 



