of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 31 



Small and medium sized fishes, chiefly Gadoids, appeared to be the food 

 mostly sought after by the halibut, and fully 60 of the stomachs examined 

 contained nothing else. Crustacea, on the other hand, were only sparingly 

 met with, and were usually associated with other kinds of food, such as small 

 fishes, but cuttlefish remains were also occasionally present. 



Fishes. 



Fishes, as stated above, formed the principal part of the food of the 

 halibut examined in April ; haddocks and whitings were the species most 

 commonly met with, and, though they were usually comparatively small, 

 moderately large specimens were also occasionally obtained ; generally, 

 however, they were so much broken up by the digestive fluid that the 

 accurate measurement of the fish itself was impracticable, but as the earstones 

 Avere frequently found to be uninjured, a careful measurement of these always 

 aff'orded a fairly correct indication of the size of the fish they belonged to. 

 Their reliability as a guide to the approximate size of the fish has been 

 frequently tested in the case of such species of haddocks, whiting, codfish, 

 and some other Gadoids, and generally with satisfactory results.* 



Three fishes, all haddocks, were found in one of the halibut stomachs 

 examined in April ; their earstones measured 18 mm., 17 mm., 16 mm., 

 showing that the first two were from 16 to 17 inches in length, and the 

 third about 14 inches. In another stomach a whiting about 14 inches 

 long and two haddocks about 17 or 18 inches respectively were observed, and 

 the earstones of these three fishes measured — the whiting 20 mm., the larger 

 haddock 18'5 mm., and the smaller 16 mm.; while in a third stomach, viz., 

 that of a halibut over four feet long, were found the remains of a haddock 

 over 18 inches in length (earstones 21 mm.), a moderately large flat-fish, the 

 species of which was doubtful, and the jaws of a cuttlefish, probably an 

 Eledone. Among other fishes met with in the stomachs examined in April 

 were a few Norway pouts, Gadus esmarkii, a lemon sole, Pleuronedes 

 microcephahijS, the remains of a moderately large flat-fish that appeared to be 

 a witch sole, Pleuronedes cynoglossus, and measured about 12 inches long, a 

 considerable number of sand-eels, a smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, about nine 

 inches long, a herring about 10| inches long, and remains of others, and also 

 a young piked dog-fish, Acanthias vuglaris, of moderate size ; in this 

 specimen the spine in front of the first dorsal fin measured from the base of 

 the exposed (coloured) part to the tip about 20 mm. 



Crustacea. 



Crustacea were not very plentiful in the stomachs examined in April, and 

 those met with were usually associated with other forms. The species 

 observed were chiefly Hyas coarctatus, Portunus sp., hermit crabs {Eupa- 

 gurus bernhardus), and Nephrops. 



Cuttlefishes. 



Cuttlefishes, or their remains in the form of dark horn-coloured jaws, were 

 met with on several occasions. They all appeared to belong to the eight- 

 armed group Octopoda, and those of them sufficiently perfect for identifica- 

 tion were all apparently Eledones. Some of them were tolerably large, but 

 accurate measurements were hardly attainable, as the delicate extremities of 

 the tentacles were usually wanting, besides being otherwise injured. One 

 that was tolerably perfect gave the following measurements : — Body to base 

 of tentacles, 5| inches ; length of tentacles, or at least what remained of 



* Cf. "Observations on the Otoliths of some Teleostean Fishes. " Twenty -fourth 

 Annual Report of the Fishery Board jr Scotlana, Part III., p. 48-82, Pls.I.-IV. 



