Distribution of Plaice E(/gs — Firth of Forth. 37 



ing area for plaice, but it is evident from the figures obtained that it 

 falls in importance very far short of the Moray Firth area. 



Station 48 (56° 24' N. ; 1° 21' W.) and Station 42 (56° 28' N. ; 0° 53' W.). 



A large number of observations has been made at these stations in 

 December and February, but none in the months of January or March. 

 No plaice eggs were found in any of the December collections, and the 

 few which have been found in February show that in this area either 

 spawning begins very late or few plaice actually spawn within the area. 

 It has to be remarked, however, that only on two of the five occasions 

 on which Station 43 was visited in February were any plaice eggs found. 

 The total number of eggs from the different water layers was seven, 

 and they were all in the " y " stage of development. It can thus be 

 asserted that for this station plaice eggs in later stages of development 

 appear in the plankton before any newly spawned eggs are found. It 

 is therefore certain that these older eggs are derived from an earlier 

 spawning area. Plaice eggs were found at Station 42 on three of the 

 five occasions on which it was visited in February. Here also eggs in 

 the later stages of development appear early in the plankton, but on 

 17th February 1906 a high percentage of the eggs captiu'ed was newly 

 spawned, so that plaice also spawn as far east as this station. 



Stations 43 and 42 lie in the southern portion of Statistical Area 

 XXIX. In this area the gTeat featm'e regarding the abundance of adult 

 plaice is their sudden increase, which lasts for three or four months 

 (January to April), coinciding with the spawning season. Large plaice, 

 however, are scarce on these grounds. 



VI. Firth of Forth. 



The " Goldseeker " trawling stations, in the Firth of Forth area 

 may be divided into an inner and an outer group. The outer group 

 (Stations V., VI., VIII., and IX.) where the water is deeper we have 

 already dealt with. There now remain the stations of the shallower 

 portions of the estuary. Stations I., II., III., and IV. are well within 

 the Firth, east of the Island of Inchkeith, while Station VII. runs 

 between the Bass Rock and the Island of Fidra. 



It would be tedious to enumerate the various observations made at 

 these separate stations during the period under review. They have been 

 visited many times in each month, and only on two occasions did the 

 total number of plaice eggs captui'ed in the different water layers exceed 

 ten ; on 4th March 1909 twelve eggs were taken at Station II., and on 

 26th March 1909 twenty eggs were taken at Station VII. No plaice eggs 

 were taken at any of these stations before March, although numerous 

 observations were made in the other months. Indeed, many of the ob- 

 servations in March gave negative results, and on all occasions the fre- 

 quencies were very low. The total number of plaice eggs in all the March 

 collections is sixty-nine, and the stages of development are as follows : 



a |3 y ^ 



22 10 31 6 — 69 



These figures clearly indicate that the inner and shallower portions of 

 the estuary play no part as a spawning area for plaice during these 



