10 



There is an impression among some fishermen who have 

 noticed that S. lutea is a distinct fish from 8. vulgaris, 

 that the scales in the former are much larger and rougher 

 than in the latter. This is only true if soles and solen- 

 ettes of the same size are compared together. We have 

 examined the scales carefully in the lahoratory, and draw- 

 ings of their appearance under the microscope will be found 

 on PI. IV. Figure 1 shows the scale of the adult solenette, 

 and fig. 2, the scale of a sole (immature) of the same size; 

 while fig. 3, shows the scale of an adult sole. It is evident 

 then that if you compare adult sole (fig 3) with adult 

 solenette (fig. 1) the former has a scale considerably larger 

 than that of the latter, but if you compare the half grown 

 sole with the adult solenette then the latter has the larger 

 scale. These figures show also the more numerous radi- 

 ating spines on the posterior border of the scale of the 

 solenette, referred to above. 



The important question now arises — Does the solenette 

 compete with the sole in the struggle for existence, and 

 may we not be benefitting the sole and improving the 

 sole fishery by killing off large numbers of the solenettes? 

 The first thing to determine clearly is, are the two species 

 ever found together on the same ground ? There is no doubt 

 from the trawlings carried on by Mr. Dawson and the 

 bailiffs that they are. On July 27th, in the Horse Channel, 

 near Liverpool, 68 soles were taken along with 240 sol- 

 enettes ; on July 15th in the Kibble Gut 12 soles were 

 taken along with 435 solenettes ; on August 23rd in the 

 Horse Channel 71 soles were taken along with 110 sol- 

 enettes; on August 13th, same locality, 134 soles with 

 250 solenettes; on August 12th, in Welshman's Gut, 38 

 soles with 9 solenettes; and on Sept. 5th, at mouth of 

 Kibble, 9 soles with 135 solenettes. Each of these cases 

 is one haul, and a large number of other similar cases 



