192 Part ITT. —Twenty-fourth Annual Report 
Another collection, on 10th September, in Lochfyne, yielded 17 young 
flounders, the smallest measuring 44mm. and the largest 78mm. (1-374 
inches). It is not clear, however, that the last, and another at 77mm., 
belong to the same series, since none were taken between 61mm, and the 
sizes stated. They were mostly aggregated about 5cm., or 2 inches. 
The other collections of little flounders were small, and serve to in- 
dicate only a few points. Thus, some taken in spring, and therefore not 
belonging to the year’s spawning, were rather small in certain cases. On 
27th March 2 were got in Lochfyne, measuring 63mm. and 99mm. On 
25th May 2 were taken in the Dornoch Firth, one measuring 60mm. and 
the other 70mm. At Annan, in April, two, measuring 82mm. and 90mm. 
were taken. These represented fish of the preceding year, and there are 
few of the second series in the collections; but it is probable that while 
those mentioned, and a few others of the same kind in the Table, belong 
to the second group, or those a little over one year old, those in the 
Tables at 17cm. to 19°5cem. are at least a year older. 
A large collection of flounders was obtained in the Dornoch Firth on 
the 30th March, 1904, in from 5 to 16 fathoms, in the otter trawl, aud as 
they were either actually spawning or nearly ripe, the sexes were 
separated and measurements made. They numbered 158, namely, 136 
males and 22 females, the males in this species preponderating in numbers 
over the females. It is unfortunate that the small-meshed net was not 
used on this occasion, but, at the same time, it is not probable that many 
more small flounders would have been taken, as the smaller fish do not 
migrate to the depths referred to. ‘The smallest male flounder in the 
collection measured 2(¢2mm., or just 8 inches, and the smallest female was 
252mm. ‘The measurements are not sufficient to enable the fish to be 
separated into definite annual series with any certainty, but they in all 
probability represent flounders of at least three years and over. 
LEMON DAB (Pleuronectes microcephalus ). 
The growth of the lemon dab has not been made out so well as that of 
most of the flat-fishes. This is owing to several circumstances. The 
spawning period is of exceptional length, extending from the middle of 
April to well on in September and even into October. Of a number of 
large lemon dabs examined at a fish-yard at Aberdeen on the 21st and 22nd 
September, all the males—129 in number—yielded more or less spermatic 
fluid on pressure, and of 168 females, 44, or 26 per cent., contained ripe 
eggs, and were, in point of fact, spawning. On 10th November all were 
found to be spent. Eggs of the lemon dab were also obtained in tow- 
nets on 8th October. Owing to this circumstance of the extended 
spawning period, the various annual groups soon coalesce to such. 
an extent as regards length that it is difficult to separate them. 
Another difficulty is the scarcity of small specimens. For a long time 
lemon dabs under three or four inches were unknown, though now 
specimens under that size have been recorded by Holt, Cunningham, and 
myself. Still another reason is the fact that large individual collec- 
tions of lemon dabs are not very often obtained by the trawl. They are 
scattered, and it would appear that collections from different parts may 
show a different rate of growth. The number dealt with in this paper is 
2201. 
I ascertained that in the Solway the boats that carry on prawn-fishing 
by means of trawl nets often take considerable numbers of small lemon 
dabs, and I arranged for collections to be made from the boats and the 
fish forwarded to me. Such collections were obtained in April, May, and 
