Reproductive Oir/ans of Sjjarus Centrodontits. 29 



in each egg because, owing to the thick tissue, it was not alwaj^s 

 visible. The eggs were beginning to store up ^^ollc ; they were 

 yellowish, and showed some oil globules. 



In spent ovaries in May one or two larvEe similar to Fig. 78 were 

 found. The follicles were shrivelled up, but were still large. The 

 eggs were becoming yolked. The largest noticed measured "22 mm. 

 in one case and •25 mm. in another in diameter. No I'olls of fat were 

 visible in the abdomen of the latter at least. 



In June the ovarian tissue was in one spent reduced to the appear- 

 ance of a thick rod. The wall of the ovary was a slack skin. The 

 follicles were still big, and projected beyond the eggs, wdiich were 

 becoming yolked. 



In July spents were recognised by the few larvse left in the ovarj^, 

 and also by the presence of old follicles. The eggs in a small ovarj^ 

 were becoming yolked ; they stood out as round bosses. Smaller 

 clear eggs were visible among the yolked eggs. 



In September the old follicles are still to be traced in the ovarv 

 (Fig. 88). 



Sebastes dactylopterus (Delaroche.) 



This fish was described b}" Delaroche under the name of Scorptpna 

 dadijloptera. Cuvier and Valenciennes, however, introduced it into 

 their genas Sebastes, because, in their opinion, it pertained more to 

 Perca than to Scorptena. A number of authors^ e.g., Nilsson,* Roule.t 

 Jaquet.t have made use of the name Sebastes dactylopterns (Delaroche). 

 Recently Holt and Byrne§ gave a detailed description, wdth figure, of 

 this form. They conserve the original name of Scorpcena dactnloptera. 

 While admitting that this fish rather closely resembles Sebastes 

 marinns, they do not agree with its exclusion from the Scorpsenas. 



The example described bj' Delaroche was obtained in the Mediter- 

 ranean. 



The fish is red-coloured. There is usually a black patch visible on 

 the outside of the operculum. It is caused by the black inside 

 surface of the operculum shining through the bone. This colouration 

 is not, however, always evident. 



There is some brown colour on the dorsum ; sometimes there are 

 greenish patches also. Two large specimens, about 40 cm. long, showed 

 a good deal of brown pigment in this region. In one fish 33 cm. long, 

 the brown was absent, or only traceable on close examination. One 

 female had onl}^ pink colouration on the top-sides. There were 

 white blotches scattered over the skin ; they were prominent in most of 

 the specimens, and could be traced in all. 



When the fish lies damp for two or three days the red colour changes 

 to amber. Fishes which had been preserved some time in formahne 

 showed a thick spreckling with brown pigment on the dorsum, and on 

 the sides above the lateral line chiefly. 



* Vide Roule. 



t Roule, L. — " Notes Ichthyologiques — Las Scorpenicles de la Mediterranee. " 

 Arch. deZuol. Experim. et Generale. 1907 [4], Vol. vi. Notes et Revue, No. 1, 

 p. xiv.-xxiv. 



; Jaquet — " Considerations sur lea Scorpenides Mer de Nice." Bidl. de 

 VInstitut Ocednographique. No. 109, Dec. 1907. Monaco. 



§ Holt and Byrne — "Second Report on the Fishes of the Irish Atlantic 

 Slope." Fisheries Ireland Sci. Invest., 1900, V. [1908]. 



