848 PROFESSOR W. C. M‘INTOSH AND MR E. E. PRINCE ON 
(which thus differs from that of the gurnard) has occurred in St Andrews Bay several 
times in February and March. The oil-globule did not appear to be proportionally large, 
and lay in the yolk under the lateral expansion of the embryo. The pigment in the 
latter was well developed, and mainly yellowish, though black chromatophores were also 
present; the eyes were silvery iridescent in the most advanced forms. From the 
resemblance of the contained embryo to the plaice it was at the time supposed to be 
that of the brill, and subsequent consideration of the remarks of other observers 
have strengthened this view. 
A specimen, apparently of the brill, though resembling the megrim, about 12 mm. in 
length, with a breadth of about 6 mm., was procured on August 31, 1886, off the Isle of 
May. The dorsal fin has about six dark bands at intervals, and the anal, which was 
much injured, seems to have had similar touches. The right (ventral) surface, again, 
instead of being white, is everywhere minutely dotted with black points. On comparing 
with a turbot (Rhombus maximus) of the same size, the body is seen to be narrower, the 
eyes larger, and the pectoral fins somewhat larger, while the comparative absence of 
pigment from the dorsum, and its presence, as minute dots, on the ventral (right) side 
are also diagnostic. In the former the head has less of the angular form of the turbot, 
this difference being mainly caused by the roundness of the angle of the mandible, and 
the smallness of the mouth. The specimen certainly resembles Arnoglossus; but the 
last-named feature, the smallness of the mouth, is a point of dissimilarity. 
The subsequent stages of the brill have not yet been fully investigated, and they are 
not often met with in St Andrews Bay, not hitherto, indeed, till they reach 10 to 11 
inches, when they are common in the local trawls in September.* 
Solea vulgaris, Quensel.—On the Ist August 1884, a sole was captured 10 miles 
from land (off St Abb’s Head), with ripe ova, which floated buoyantly.t No male was 
obtained, so that the development could not be followed. Mr Cunnincuamy{ gives March, 
April, and May as the spawning period of the sole, but he had overlooked this observa- 
tion. Off the eastern shores of Scotland, therefore, the period extends from May to 
August. 
In the mid-water net on the 6th July a few eggs appeared for the first time along 
with some of the gurnard, and they have since been more plentifully obtained by the 
trawl-like tow-net on the bottom towards the middle or latter end of May. Like other 
pelagic ova they are translucent, but they have the peculiarity of a more or less complete 
ring of minute oil-globules in groups, of a yellowish-white colour from refraction of the 
light, for when viewed by transmitted light they are faintly straw-coloured. When 
floating, the ring of oil-globules is superior as in other instances, the dise being inferior. 
Besides the ring mentioned, a few small groups occur here and there at other parts. 
Under a lens the egg indeed appeared to be flecked with yellowish-white pigment. In 
* Vide Trawling Report, pp. 358 and 361, 
+ Report of the Trawling Commissioners, p. 363. 
t Jour. Mar, Biol. Assoc., N.S. i. p. 18, where an excellent account, with figures, of the early stages is given. 
