78 



and 10 females (27"7 per cent.), with a mean of 75-4 miles. All these fish wei'e 

 found to the north and east, off the coast of Aberdeen. 



Over 100 miles. — Fifteen fish, or 27-7 per cent., went over 100 miles, namely, 

 6 males (33-3 per cent.), with journeys of from 135 to 101 miles, and a mean of 

 176 miles, and 9 females (25 per cent.), with distances of from 101 to 185 miles, 

 and a mean of 137'3 miles. All the males and 8 of the females were taken to the 

 northward, 10 of them in the Moray Firth, 1 off the Orkney Isles, and another 

 on the west coast of Scotland. One of the females went to the south-east, and 

 was captured off North Shields. 



Ten of the fishes recaptured, or 18"2 per cent., were recovered within the Firth 

 of Forth, 6 males (31-6 per cent.) and 4 females (ITl per cent.); while 45, or 

 81"8 per cent., had left the Firth ; of these, 10, 5 males and 5 females, were got 

 in the Moray Firth. 



Maturity. 



Males. — One male was " spawninji " ; it measured 35-5-40-4 cm., and was 

 taken in March 1914, after 344 days, to the south and west of Smith Bank, in 

 the Moray Firth, at a distance of 160 miles. One male was described as " ripe " ; 

 it was also taken in March 1914, in the same locahty as the spawning male, at 

 a distance of 158 miles. One male was " nearly ripe " ; it measured 39-40-8 cm., 

 and was captured in November 1913, after 231 days, to the east of the Isle of 

 May, at a distance of 16| miles. A male, of 34-36*2 cm., taken in January 1914, 

 after 293 days, near Aberdeen Bank, at a distance of 70 miles, was " three-quarters 

 ripe." 



Among the " immature " malqs, the fcdlowing were taken within the limits 

 of the spawning season, all within the Firth of Forth : — One, of 33-32-9 cm., at 

 Largo, in March 1913, after 2 days ; another, also in March, after 5 days, at Pitten- 

 weem, and measuring 35*5-35-5 cm. ; the third, taken in April 1913, after 13 days, 

 was also got at Pittenweem, and measured 36"5-36'4 cm. ; a fourth, of 35-5- 

 35-7 cm., was taken in April, after 14 days, also off Pittenweem ; where yet another, 

 of 37-37 cm., was found 2 days later. 



Females. — One female, of 35-5-41 cm., taken in March 1914, 26^ miles to the 

 north and east, was " spawning." None was " ripe," but 6 are described as 

 " spent." One of these was got in the Firth of Forth, near Pittenweem, a distance 

 of 5 miles, in March 1914 ; it measured 43-5-48 cm. ; another, 42*5-42-6 cm., 

 was taken in June 1913, 17 miles to the south and east ; a third, of 41-41-5 cm., 

 was recovered, also in June 1913, 26 miles to the north and east ; the fourth was 

 also recaptured in that month, 59 miles to the north and east ; it measured 42-5- 

 44 cm. ; the remaining 2 were got in the Moray Firth, in February 1914, both 

 off Banff, at a distance of 135 miles ; they were respectively, in length, 33-5- 

 41-3 cm. and 59-5-61-9 cm. One female was "nearly ripe " ; it measured 41-5- 

 48-2 cm., and was recaptured in December 1914, after 634 days, 74 miles to the 

 north-east, near Aberdeen. Two were described as "three-quarters ripe"; 1 

 was taken in November 1913, near Buchanness, at a distance of 83 miles ; it 

 measured 37-5-40-5 cm. ; the other, of 40-44-3 cm., was recovered in January 

 1914, off Banff, at a distance of 135 miles. Two were said to be " half lipe " ; 

 1 of them, of 36-38-4 cm., was found in September 1913, 48J miles to the north 

 and east ; the other, measuring 42-44-8 cm., was taken at a distance of 26 miles 

 in the same direction, in November 1913. 



Of the 16 adult females recaptured, whose ovaries were " immature," 6 were 

 taken within the spawning season ; 1 of these was recaptured in January 1914, 

 71 miles distant, off the coast of Aberdeen, and it measured 37-41-3 cm. ; another, 

 of 36-5-41-3 cnj., was taken in February 1914, in the same locality, at a distance 

 of 74 miles ; a third, measuring 35-39-8 cm., was found in the same neighbour- 

 hood, also in February 1914, at 68 miles distant ; a fourth was recaptured in 

 the Moray Firth, off Whitehills, at a distance of 135 miles, in March 1914 ; it 

 was 35 cm. on liberation, but on recapture it was not recorded ; a fifth, of 42- 

 44-9 cm., was recovered off North Shields, at a distance of 120 miles to the south 

 and east, in March 1914 ; and a sixth female, of 33-39-9 cm., was taken near 

 .T^ittenweem, in the Firth of Forth, in March 1914. 



