440 Holt — On the Eggs and Larvae of Teleosteans. 



The newly-hatched larva (fig. 37) measures 3'27 mm. in total length, the pre- 

 anal length being 1 "49 mm. The marginal fins are of moderate size ; the dorsal 

 commences on the mid-brain; the caudal is spatulate, with embryonic fin rays, 

 and there is a very minute pre-anal fin (jm.f.). The notochord is multicolumnar. 

 The oil-globules (o. g.) lie principally along the ventral surface of the yolk. 

 There is no mouth, and the anus («.) is imperforate. A small urocyst (u.) is 

 present. 



When the postlarval stage is reached (fig. 38) (about three days after 

 hatching) the total length is 3 '51 mm., the increase being in the post-anal 

 region. The marginal fins are broader; the dorsal extends to the snout. The 

 mouth is open, with well-developed jaw and branchial apparatus, and the anus is 

 perforate. 



Raffaele notes that the ova of this species are shed in spring, and take about 

 eight days to hatch, the last three or four days being spent at tlie bottom. Brook 

 ("Spawning Period of British Food Fishes," loc. cit.) gives April, May, and early 

 June as the spawning period on the Yorkshire coast, and June and July in his 

 Aquarium. Day gives spring. A single e^g has been obtained this year at St. 

 Andrew's in the latter part of July. 



COTTID^. 



Trigla gurnardus. Grey Gurnard. 



The well-known ova of this species * occurred frequently in the tow-nets, and 

 many rijDe as well as spent females occurred in the trawl. Possibly some of the ova 

 attributed to T. gurnardus may have belonged to T. cuculiis, as Cunningham {op. cit.) 

 has shown that the ova of these two species are identical in dimensions, whilst his 

 descriptions of the later development of the latter species afford no distinctive 

 character. The length of the larva is the same in both, and the great size of the 

 rudiment of the pectoral fin, which he describes as the most peculiar feature of the 

 larva, is equally well marked in T. gurnardus. 



Trigla hirundo, the sapphirine gurnard, is another species which appears to 

 spawn about June and July, and probably later, as we obtained several males with 

 enormously developed testes, which gave them the appearance of pregnant females. 

 No females were obtained. Couch gives from January to June as the spawning 

 period of this species. 



Cf. Cunningliam, op. cit., p. 11 ; and M'Intosh and Prince, op. cit., p. 806. 



