30 



Fishery Board for Scotland. 



further advanced in development than Scottish specimens of the same length. The 

 older stages were mainly caught, and the largest was 55 mm. long. Any attempt, 

 therefore, at estimating the sjjawning period of the species, exclusively from such 

 material, must depend on a knowledge of the rate of growth of the larval and post- 

 larval forms. No attempt is made by Stiasny to estimate the rate of growth, but 

 it is legitimate to assume that the spawning period is some time anterior to the 

 appearance of the post-larval forms. The statement made by Stiasny for the 

 Gulf of Trieste, that the very frequently- occurring adult Lophius probably spawns 

 in the early winter months, is therefore not intelligible, unless he means that the 

 post-larval forms caught by him in the Gulf of Trieste between the months of Sep- 

 tember and February had been spawned in the previous winter months. 



The only older post-larval form recorded from the American side of the Atlantic 

 is the one of 30 mm. length described and figured by Agassiz in 1882. 



The following table is a summary of the records of post-larval forms from areas 

 outside Scottish waters. 



TABLE V. 



Kecords of Post-Larval Stages of Lophius Piscatorius 

 Outside Scottish Waters. 



The Occurrence of Young Bottom Forms. 



If the records of capture of the later post-larval stages of Lophius are few, 

 especially when one considers the magnitude of the scientific investigations carried 

 out in the last decade, the paucity of records of small bottom forms is still more 

 striking, since the chances of capture of these by the ordinary commercial trawl 

 would appear to be great, owing to the changes of form and habitat. 



