189 



north-east ; 1, 20 miles to tlie south and west, and the others at distances of from 

 10 to 32 miles to the north and west. One was captured in February, 6 in March, 

 and 1 in April. 



Two were " ripe," 1 got 59 miles to the south and west, off the Isle of May, in 

 February 1911, and the other in the Moray Firth, at a distance of 105 miles, in 

 February 1912. 



Twenty-one were said to be " spent " ; 9 were recaptured to the north and west, 

 at distances of from 13 to 196 miles, the latter in the neighbourhood of Cape Wrath ; 

 another was taken on the north coast, off Whiten Head, at 156 miles distant; 1 off 

 the Pentland Skerries, at 114 miles, and 2 in the Moray Firth, at 77 and 98 miles 

 distant respectively. Nine were recovered to the north and east, 2 at Auskerry. 

 Orkneys, at 135 and 137 miles distant ; 1 north of Rattray Point, at a distance of 

 52 miles ; 1 east of the Orkneys, at a distance of 115 miles ; another off Kinnaird 

 Head, at 61 miles distant, and the others at distances of from 12 to 30 miles ; 3 

 were taken at 15J, 33. and 35 miles to the south and west. Of these fish, 4 were 

 caught in March, 8 in April, 2 in May, 5 in June, 1 in July, and 1 in August. 



Eight of the females were described as " nearly ripe " ; all were taken to the 

 nortl\ and west, 5 in the Moray Firth, off Banff and Whitehills, at a distance of 77 

 and 78 miles, 1 off the Pentland Firth, at 100 miles distant, and 2 at short distances 

 from the station, namely, 6J and 8 miles. Four of these fish were taken in January, 

 1 in February, 1 iii November, and 2 in December. 



Twenty were "immature." One, of 39-39-6 cm., was caught in January 1911, 

 15 miles to the south and west ; 1, of 39-41'7 cm., was taken in March 1911, 12 miles 

 to the north and west ; 2 were got in April 1911, 1 measuring 37'5-40-l cm., 12 

 miles to the north and west, and 1, of 36-5-38'9 cm., 33 miles to the north-west ; 

 and 1, of 37-5-40'l cm., in May 1911, 20 miles to the south and west. All the others 

 were taken outside the limits of the spawning season. 



Among the females under the size assigned for first maturity, viz. 38 cm., 1 was 

 " ripe," 1 " nearly ripe," 3 " spent," and 1 " spent or immature." The " ripe " 

 fish measured 37-5-37-8 cm., and was taken in February 1911, after 103 days, 16^ 

 miles to the westwards ; the " nearly ripe " plaice measured 37-36"9 cm., and was 

 got in January 1911, after 95 days, in the Moray Firth, at a distance of 97 miles. 

 All those described as " spent " were taken in March 1911, and all to the north 

 and west ; 1, of 36'5-37"7 cm., at a distance of 6| miles ; another, of 37-37*9 cm., 

 at a distance of 7| miles ; a third, of 37-37*4 cm., at a distance of 15 miles, and the 

 fourth, which was " spent or immature." measuring 36-5-37"2 cm., at a distance of 

 13| miles. 



Among those whose sexes were unknown was one described as " spawning " ; 

 it measured 39*5-39 cm., and was captiired in February 1911, after 130 days, off 

 Cape Wrath, on the west coast, at a distance of 197 miles. 



EXPERIMENT III. 



19^^ July 1911. 



The number of plaice marked and liberated in this experiment was 109, of which 

 49 were males and 60 were females. The sizes of the males ranged from 23-5 to 

 43-5 cm., and of the females from 24-5 to 47-5 cm. On Uberation 35 of the males 

 and 37 of the females were under the adult size 



The numbers marked and recaptured, arranged in 5-cm. groups, were as 



follows : — 



cm. cm. cm. cm. cm. 



•25-30-5 31-35-5 36-40-5 41-45-5 40-50-5 Total. 



F.Lib. ... 19* 10 21 9 1 60 



F. Recap. . . 6t 5 16 6 1 34 



M. Lib. ... 33$ 10 3 3 — 49 



M Recap. . . 14§ 6 2 1 — 23 



* Two at 24-5 cm. t One at 245 cm. 



X One at 23-5 and I at 24-5 cm. § One at 23-5 cm. 



