of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 293 
XII.—ON THE GROWTH AND AGE OF THE HERRING 
(CLUPEA HARENGUS). By Dr. T. Wemyss Futon, F.R.S.E., 
Superintendent of Scientific Investigations. 
(Plates XVII-XIX.) 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE, 
1. Previous Opinions and ee am aa Pe 293 
(a) English Authors, Ee Bc oat 293 
(b) Scandinavian and Dutch, mee 3 294 
(c) Meyer and Jenkins, a ant eh. Sea 295 
(d) Masterman and Cunningham, a me 298 
2. The Size of the Herring when it first attains Matur AG s8 we 299 
3. The Maximum Size attained by the Herring, ... aS 301 
4. The Spawning-Periods of the Herring, 302 
5. The Duration of see sa Development : Relation to 
Temperature, 303 
6. A Criticism of } Meyer’ s Conclusions and ‘Observations, it 304 
7. The Scottish Collections, be aoe oe Eas 307 
(a) Larval and Post-larval Stages, i. hes ay. 308 
(b) The Annual Scour sae ae a 323 
8, Conclusions, xr ae “a aoe 334 
9. Literature, ... “td oe bic Ere 338 
10. Description of Plates, Bs se 3h oe 338 
1.-—PRrevious OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
The investigation of the rate at which the herring grows is more 
difficult than similar investigations with other fishes. The fact that 
herrings spawn twice in the year, and that spawning may take place, 
more or less, over many or most of the months of the twelve, offers one 
difficulty, and a great one, since the post-larval and young stages derived 
from one spawning cannot readily be distinguished from those derived 
from the other, though metamorphosis may occur at a different length. 
The conditions are complicated by the circumstance that the early stages 
of the sprat, which spawns in early summer, can hardly be separated with 
any certainty from the corresponding stages of the herring. 
Many writers have expressed their opinion as to the rate of growth of 
this fish and the size and age it attains when it first becomes mature and 
reproduces ; and authors are by no means in agreement on these points. 
It is probable that the divergence of view is in part explained by the 
herrings of widely-separated localities growing at a different rate, and 
coming to maturity at a different size; partly from the very smallest and 
exceptionally mature individuals having been fixed upon; many of the 
opinions, moreover, are based upon general considerations rather than 
on definite evidence. 
(a) English Authors. 
Huxley, in the report of a Commission on the Scottish herring fishery 
(I. p. 27) stated that it was difficult to obtain satisfactory evidence on 
the point, some fishermen believing that the herring took three years 
and others that it took seven years to reach maturity. His own view was 
