450 Holt — On the Eggs and Larvce of Teleosteans. 



central opacity. In some the yolk fills the entire available space, as in fresli ripe 

 ova before fertilization. The zona is somevs^hat thick, and minutely punctured. 

 No external membrane or attachment process can be made out, and it is to be 

 supposed that the ova, if adherent, as in the Mediterranean species of this genus, 

 are so in virtue of a viscous oviducal secretion, as in Oottus, Cyclopterus, &c. The 

 yolk is extremely resistant in spirit preparations, and appears to possess a thin 

 outer membrane (periblast), having a dotted surface presumably corresponding to 

 the punctures of the zona. 



Crenilabrus melops (Linn.). The Cork-vv^ing Wrasse, &c. 



On the 12th June I obtained some apparently ripe ova from females of this 

 species in Clifden Bay. They were colourless and translucent, and the yolk 

 appeared j^erfectly clear. No oil-globiile was present. Unfortunately my 

 measurements of these ova have been mislaid. 



On the 7th July I again obtained some females in Blacksod Bay. In one of 

 them the ova appeared about three-quarters ripe ; they were opaque and ochreish 

 yellow, ovoidal in shape, having a long and short diameter of "60 mm. and "48 mm. 

 respectively. The other females were either spent or immature. 



It is noticeable that this species comes to maturity at a very small size. Of a 

 number that I examined, both male and female, every specimen exceeding 4 inches 

 in size had well-developed reproductive organs, either approaching maturity or 

 recently spent. A male of 10 inches, the largest obtained, had partly spent 

 testes. 



From the spent females I obtained a few eggs that had been retained in the 

 ovaries, as happens frequently in Teleosteans. 



They are siDherical, with a diameter of "78 mm. The yolk is colourless, but 

 has a milky-white opacity, probably due to incipient decomposition. 



The zona is, as usual, covered with minute punctures. There is no attachment 

 process, and optical sections do not show the division of the egg-capsule into two 

 layers, such as Hoffmann (Zur Ontogenie der Knockenfische, p. 18, Verhand. 

 Konink. Akad. v. Wetenschappen, 1881) found in C. fcivo. According to this 

 observer, the egg of the latter has a diameter of '75—78 mm., while the newly- 

 hatched larva is 3"6 mm. long. List (Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Knocken- 

 fische, I. Labriden; Zelt. f. wiss. Zool., vol. xlv., 1887, pp. 595— 645) examined 

 the ova of five species of this genus from the Adriatic, and gives an excellent 

 account, with figures, of the development in ovo of C. tinea and C.pavo. He gives 

 •9 mm. as the diameter of the eg^g of the former, remarking that that of the latter 

 is somewhat larger, thus disagreeing with Hoffmann's measurements. The yolk 

 appears to be yellowish in both species. At hatching the larva of C. tinea is 



