122 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 



The shrimps brought in by this boat had been sent away for sale; 

 but there were some fish on board — plaice, soles, and whiting — evidently 

 of no great value, as the man allowed me to take what I pleased 

 from them for a shilling. Those that particularly interested me were 

 3 small soles, true Solea vulgaris. They were 2\ in. to 2| in. long, 

 and could be confidently considered to be of the year's brood, hatched 

 in May and June, and therefore three or four months old. I have 

 shown that in the Plymouth Aquarium a sole | in. long in April grew 

 to 3| in. on the following September 2nd. These small soles were 

 not brought in intentionally, but had simply been overlooked when 

 the rest of the valueless part of the catch was thrown overboard. 

 The other fish in the boat were brought in for sale. I took all the 

 soles; their sizes were — 3 at 6f in, length, 2 males, 1 female; 1 at 

 1\ in. length, female ; 1 at 7f in. length, female ; 1 at 8|^ in. length, 

 female ; 1 at 8| in. length, female ; 1 at 9^ in. length, male. 



All these were immature. If we apply here the method of the 

 Danish biologist, Petersen, and notice the sizes at which the greater 

 number of specimens group themselves, although the number of speci- 

 mens is small, it is clear that we have at least two groups, those of 

 the first year and those of the second, the former being 2 to Sin. 

 long, the others mostly about Tin. 



The plaice from this boat were few in number. Their sizes were — 

 1 at 71 in., female ; 2 at 8 in., female ; 1 at 9| in., female ; 1 at 9^ in., 

 male; 1 at 11 in., female. 



In order to examine the ground where the small boats worked, and 

 their methods of operation, I accompanied the master of this boat 

 on one of his trips. We went out at 6.30 a.m., on September 18th. 

 The trawling took place on the Newcome Sand, which stretches parallel 

 to the shore from Lowestoft southwards. It is separated from the 

 beach by a channel 4 to 5 fms. deep at low water, the depth on the 

 sand itself being only li to 2 fms. The flood was going up, i.e. south, 

 and we towed with the tide, with the wind on the starboard side, 

 off the land. 



When the net was hauled the first time, there were a large 

 number of the small soles of the year's brood, about 2| in. long. I 

 counted 42. 



Plaice of corresponding size were extremely scarce ; there was 

 only 1 2^ in. long, and 1 dab \\in. 7 soles were kept for market, 



6 to 9 in. long ; there were 2 marketable dabs, and 4 marketable plaice, 



7 to 10 in. long; also 1 large plaice, 22f in. long. There were 9 market- 

 able whiting. 



Second haul, same direction. Of the smallest soles, 22 were thrown 

 overboard, besides some which I kept. 



