392 EXAMINATION OF THE PRESENT STATE 
former is a matter of fact, the latter one of opinion only, and, in 
my humble opinion, not a matter of the highest importance in 
practical fishery problems, except in such cases as the artificial 
propagation of fish and the temporary closing of defined areas. 
Larger turbot, from about 12 inches up to any size which the 
species attains, are found in great abundance throughout the spring 
and summer on the whole of the Hastern grounds ; opportunities of 
ascertaining whether they are in the same locality at other seasons 
of the year are rare, but I have known a considerable number, 
mostly of the smaller sizes, to be taken very early in the year, 
before the plaice had appeared in any number, and again in the 
autumn, after the plaice had mostly departed elsewhere. I have 
already said that many turbot spawn on these grounds. 
The young fish do not appear to betake themselves to the offshore 
and deeper parts until a length of at least about 14 or 15 inches 
has been reached, and many certainly stay inshore until later. An 
examination of the total catch from all parts of the North Sea prior 
to the opening of the season for small plaice affords a very fair means 
of judging what proportion of small fish may be present on the 
offshore grounds. 
I have found that the percentage under 17 inches does not exceed 
30 per cent.; even this is somewhat unnaturally high, since a good 
many of the small fish were contributed by a shallow ground on our 
own coast, but of the whole number of small fish the bulk would 
be males, sexually mature, since the male may begin to breed at only 
12 inches. 
In its habits, distribution, and life-history there is little to be 
said about the brill which has not already been said about its more 
valuable relative, the turbot. The brill spawns earlier than the 
turbot, viz. from the beginning of May, or earlier, until the end 
of July, but the spawning takes place in the same localities for both 
species, and, of course, the periods are partly coincident. The 
smaller free-swimming larve, when changing to the adult condition, 
have not yet been recognised with certainty, but the stages just 
prior to the assumption of the adult form have been met with by 
Mr. Cunningham at Plymouth in the same locality as the corre- 
sponding stages of the turbot. All the evidence we have shows that 
the subsequent life-history is identical in the two species. Brill 
seem to be more abundant on our own coast, turbot being in the 
majority on the Continental coast. In their distribution with regard 
to size, the two forms seem to agree pretty closely on the Hastern 
grounds, but as the brill matures at a smaller size, it follows that 
the proportion of sexually immature fish on the trawling grounds is 
rather lower. Indeed, I have usually found the proportion of im- 
