-l>2 KITE OF GRO^YTH OF SOME SEA FISHES. 



The obsofvations and oonelnsions of Metzger and Hoek, to wliicli 

 Ehreubamu refers, are coT\tained in a Report ou the AuJxcrknil and 

 Staalhoomcu fishery of the HoUaiuisoh Diep, and Harlugvliet,^ 

 which names are appHed to different portions of the broadest 

 estuarine channel at the month of the Maas or Meuse. In the 

 Koport itself observations ou the young of Clupea alosa and Clupea 

 fin fa are recorded in separate tables. 



The observations of young C. alosa are — 



Length. 



10 —11-6 cm. 



9 —12-5 „ 



S-8— 11-4 „ 



11-5— 13-5 „ 



11-0- 120 „ 



25-5 „ 



1>6— 13-6 „ 



IGO ,, 



7-2— 8-0 „ 



7-5- 9-3 „ 



90— 11-3 „ 



90— 14-3 „ 



5-8— 8-7 „ 



7-2— 100 „ 



The figures in the table do not exactly agree with those men- 

 tioned iu the text (p. 121), although they apparently refer to the 

 same observations ; the differences are uot great, but sufiicient to 

 puzzle the reader. In the text it is mentioned that specimens of 

 o"5 to o"S cm. in length were taken ou il2ud aud 2ord of July, 1886, 

 and these are not included in the table at all. It is stated that the 

 shad enters the river iu April and May. that it is believed to spawn 

 in the higher parts of the Rhine aud its tributaries, but that it is not 

 known whether some individuals may possibly spawn in the lower 

 part of the river. The time of spawning is not absolutely 

 ascertained ; according to Kroyer and Xilssou the spawning takes 

 place in June and July ; according to Day between the beginning 

 of May and the middle of June. It seems to me likely enough 

 that the spawning may be continued from the end of April until 

 July. Metzger and Hoek state that 60 and 70 cm. is no uncommon 

 length for the shad, that is 2 feet and upwards. In the Report 

 proper, the authors conclude that the fish of o'b and o'8 cm. taken 

 at the end of July were from the spawn shed the same year, 

 and were therefore about two months old. Those taken in November 

 under 6*0 cm. long are also supposed to have been hatched in the 



• Published separately and also as Supplementband II of the Tijdschrift der Neder- 

 laudsche Dierkundige Vereeniging. Leidon, 1888. 



