506 Pvrt III. — Twentieth Annual Report 



frequently met with ia these stomachs, and even spermatophores which 

 had become detached from the females were obtained. The organisms 

 obtained in the stomachs of these Annan specimens were all more or less 

 estuarine and littoral forms. 



A small sample of specimens, ranging from Syij to 11 centimetres in 

 length, and collected in the vicinity of Aberdeen in October, 1900, had, 

 like the Annan specimens, their stomachs moderately full of Schizopods, 

 bnt in this case the species was Schistomysin spiritus ; these organisms 

 were absent from only one of the seven stomachs examined. Fragments 

 of Crangon sp. and of a f eAv-Amphipods occurred in one or two stomachs, 

 but no Copepods or other minute forms were observed. A small specimen 

 about 47 1 millimetres in length, captured in the Moray Firth off Golspie, 

 had its stomach filled with Calcmus JinmarcMcus, Thalesfriss\h, and other 

 Copepoda ; larval Balatii (cypris stage) were also present. The food in 

 this example is more characteristic of the open sea than is the case with 

 the other two, but its only significance is that the young Cod seem to 

 have a special liking for small Crustaceans, though not for particular 

 species. 



Four specimens from the Firth of Forth, of a somewhat larger size 

 than those already referred to, and collected on May 13th, 1901, had 

 their stomachs partly filled with Portunus Jiolsatu-< ; but these Crustaceans 

 having been subjected for a while to the action of the gastric fluid were 

 not in very good preservation. The length of these small Cod ranged 

 from 19^ to 23 centimetres. The stomach of another specimen from the 

 Firth of Forth, collected also in May, and measuring 20| centimetres, 

 contained Portunus pudllus and Eupagurus jjuhescens. 



A small Cod, 18| centimetres in length, taken off Collieston, Aber- 

 deenshire, had also fragments of Eupagurus sp. in its stomach. Evidently 

 Crustaceans were more in favour with these small Cod as food than any 

 other kind of organism. 



The following examples were all larger than those already mentioned, 

 but their exact sizes could not always be obtained ; they would probably, 

 however, range between 50 and 75 centimetres in length, except in the 

 case of some extra large specimens, the measurements of which are 

 given. 



The stomachs of nine Codlings captured in the salmon nets at the Bay 

 of Nigg in April and May, 1900, contained Portunus holmtus, Crangon 

 vulgaris, Galathea rugosa, Idotliea haltica, and Caprelta septentrionalis ; 

 Crustaceans only were observed in these stomachs. In the stomach of a 

 large Cod from the same place, taken on July 27th, 1900, only partially 

 digested fishes were found ; the food in this example was too much 

 decomposed for identification. The heads and viscera of two Codlings 

 obtained from the salmon fishers at the Bay of Nigg on February 19th, 

 1901, were examined, but the only food observed in the stomachs con- 

 sisted of fragments of Galathea (?) rugosa and the remains of some other 

 Crustacea. The stomach of a moderately large Cod, captured in the 

 salmon nets on May 18th, 1901^ contained two female shore crabs, 

 Carcinus mamas (with eggs nearly ripe), one common Dab about 124 

 centimetres long, one Parajassa p)elagica, and a large number of Caprella 

 septentrionalis. A small Cod, taken on July 20th, had in its stomach 

 the remains of small flat flshes, two or three Portunus Jwlsatus, and of an 

 Amphipod — Jassa falcata ; while another, about 77 1 centimetres in 

 length, captured on the 19th of August, had in its stomach the remains 

 of Portunus sp. and fishes. (Over one hundred specimens of the Copepod 

 species Bomoloclius soleoi were removed from the nostrils of this 

 Cod.) In the stomach of a Cod from the Aberdeen Fish Market, 

 examined at the Laboratory in October, and the length of which was 103 



