216 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



iuclemeut and cliaiigeable weather occurs, and is necessarily somewhat 

 limited in extent by uncontrollable physical and other conditions. 



During the fiscal year 1895-90, the collections of flatfish eggs num- 

 bered 11,008,000, which yielded 8,472,000 fry; in the year 189G-97 

 84,591,000 eggs were taken, from which 64,095,000 fry were hatched. 



The flatfish from which eggs are obtained are very plentiful during 

 February in the Woods Hole region, being found on sandy or hard clay 

 bottom, and taken in fyke nets set in water from to 14 feet deep. As 

 many as GO to 70 fish are sometimes taken at one lift of a fyke net, but 

 as a rule not more than two or three of this number are gravid fish. 

 These nets are usually some distance from the station, and the fish are 

 carried to the hatchery in transportation cans, six or eight being put 

 in one can. In some cases this trip is made by water in a sail or row 

 boat, while at other times it is made overland by team. The fish are 

 often carried 10 or 12 miles without change of water and without 

 api^arent injury. A few are caught while the water temperature is 

 as low as 33° F., but they are more numerous after the tem])erature 

 reaches 34° or 35° F. On arriving at the station the fish are put into 

 wooden tanks supplied with constantly changing water, and here they 

 are held until ripe. It is customary to put both males and females in 

 the same box or tank. The fish are examined daily and the eggs are 

 taken from all which are found to have ripened, the stripped or spent 

 fish being released. 



The eggs of the flatfish are quite small, there being 30 in a linear 

 inch. Unlike the eggs of the cod, haddock, mackerel, and other marine 

 fishes, they do not float, but sink to the bottom of the vessel in which 

 They are held. They are not so heavy as those of the lobster, and a 

 slight current causes them to rise and carries them to a point where there 

 is still water, when they again go to the bottom. When first deposited, 

 the eggs are very adhesive and stick together' in one mass or in clusters 

 of diflerent sizes. This adhesiveness is overcome, in a measure, by 

 thoroughly washing them, and, as this force gradually Aveakens as the 

 i'ggs become older, usually nearly all the eggs are separate when they 

 begin to hatch. The use of dry powdered starch is very eftective for this 

 purpose; this mixes readily with the salt water and admirably over- 

 comes the glutinosity of the eggs. Its action is purely mechanical. 



In stripping, it is customary to fill a Chester jar with water and place 

 inside the jar a bag made of cheese-cloth, into which the eggs are 

 allowed to fall. The fish is grasped by the head with the left hand, the 

 mouth being in the palm of the hand, and the edge on which the vent 

 is located turned from the spawn-taker. The right grasps the fish near 

 the tail, and as it is moved with gentle pressure toward the vent, at the 

 same time that the left thumb is moving crosswise and exerting similar 

 pressure, the eggs are extruded. The milt is then expressed in the 

 same way; the eggs are stirred slightly with the hand to thoroughly 

 mix them with the milt, and after allowing a short time for the action 



