82 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. | 




. : nberof) Weight of Weight o | - 
Species. apes y ete ight f | Authority. 
| 
| 
Pounds. Pounds. | 
OT eo pen SRE eR ORC ae G3 ROG, 000! Wabe=setaae ee 7} | Buckland, British Fishes. 
Mie See ree aasa cc. fete, AOOKOU0 Hse > cererseeneee .----- -.---| Bertram, Harvest of the Sea, 1873, p. 4. 
nM OL iaeies tote cecenee | 14, 311, 200 23° ')| 5.93 | Buckland. 
MIBUNGSY ce. - 22 coer cee cee 15950) 000 aeseme Jee Arete Ae eat Bertram, Harvest of the Sea, 1873, p. 4. 
NGleieesnedone aah seam Seer CUO, OOD ance = cteintaiaetal loin erarate aretha Do. 
PMG KOLO fora Scdinnm acs ance 500:(000:|\2.-s52-e54e5 | Be Seay eaai Do 
15 Poly a) a eee Sen aeeae 30; 000%|-tpeca. chon teeta pea Do. 
Te te ee 155, 620 Bp Apo sesceee | Buckland 
DaTMIDUS Bs. at/enc omens Ue 194, 112 ll 14 oO. 
IRE eee a ae pease s = 365000) |euioeetere eters eee Ser ee Bertram, Harvest of the Sea, 1873, Dp. 4, 
Carp->.-- Bcczce ooneeeine 2, 059, 750 164 54 | oie Familiar History of British 
Fishes. 
ISDOSCUBI ces scents bee 1, 050, 100 50 Weewacncenmes G. B. Goode. 
Ot cette = cacercese| 2 592,000 Ne ese anss5h4c S. F. Baird, 


As especial attention has been given by the U.S. Fish Commission to 
the numbers of eggs laid by the various species of sea-fishes and their 
average magnitude, I will not hege pursue the subject further, but 
merely insert some original measurements by the Commission of eggs 
of the herring, cod, and mackerel, showing their average size. 



Kinds of fish. Eggs. | Mee y | Average. 
Inches. Inches. 
Herring (Cluped vulgaris) ..---- +--+ eeee ee eee cent cece es tenner cece: 29 | 1.09 - 0372" . 
41. ty a . 0380 
63 2.31 . 0366 
Cod (Gadus MOrrThud) ..0-22-sccccecencccccncncrcnnane neces snes cosen= 43 1.43 | .0332 
46° | 71.40) 2c 
62 | 1.79 | .0289 
Mackerel (Scomber scombdrus) .-cecee--cee vecnnecccenccccnnesceccence- 39 0. 98 | 0251 
29 0.72 | .0248 
77 1.93 | . 0251 

The places of deposit of eggs by fish have already been referred to 
to some extent under the head of migrations and movements of fish as 
affected by the reproductive instinct. I shall therefore make only a 
brief recapitulation of some of the primary divisions. 
The anadromous fish, as already explained, are those that run up from 
the ocean into the rivers and sometimes lakes in which to deposit. their 
eggs, returning after a short time, and followed by the young after a 
period sometimes of months and sometimes of one or two years. 
The catadromous fish, of which the eel is the only known instance, 
are those the eggs of which are laid in the sea, the young passing up 
the rivers and remaining in the fresh waters during the period of imma- 
ture existence, after which they return to the ocean and probably never | 
again leave it; others, coming from the depths of the ocean, come to 
the shore to spawn in the summer season, and sometimes even in the 
depth of winter; others, again, discharge their eggs freely in the sea 
wherever they happen to be, these eggs, as already explained, float- 
ing or sinking to the bottom and being adherent or non-adherent.* 

* Prof, Alexander Agassiz has paid special attention to the character and place of 
deposit of the spawn of fishesof the Atlantic coast, and has furnished me with the 

