+4 Part IT —Twenty-first Annual Report 
ruary, March, April, and May, and the fishes which are taken at this 
time are large and ripe, e.g. in February and March in the Moray Firth 
they were very large and spawning. In March 342 were taken in a 
single haul in the Dornoch Firth, in from twelve to sixteen fathoms, 
and other three hauls yielded 148 ; of the total of 490 flounders only 54 
were rejected as unmarketable, although mature fishes. In Spey Bay 
in four hauls 255 were caught, of which 219 were taken to market. In 
February eight hauls in Burghead Bay, in from seven to thirty 
fathoms, yielded no flounders; three hauls in the same place at the 
middle of March, in from seven to twelve fathoms, produced 39, all 
large and marketable. In four hauls in the Dornoch in February, in 
six to twelve fathoms, 215 were caught, all taken to market; in March, 
as stated, the four hauls in the same place produced 490. 
There is some evidence as to the depths and distance from shore that 
may be reached by the flounders in their spawning migration. Asa 
rule they do not go above two or three miles from shore if the water is 
of suitable depth ; but in some cases they may travel much further. 
Thus, while none were taken in numerous haulson Smith’s Bank in the 
summer and autumn, two large individuals were got there on 19th March 
in one of five hauls in from nineteen to twenty-eight fathoms, the 
nearest shore being about twelve miles distant, and a channel of deep 
water, exceeding thirty fathoms, intervening between it and Smith’s 
Bank. Two large ones were also taken on February 9th, in from 
twenty-five to thirty fathoms, six miles east of Cromarty. In some 
years also, flounders were taken by the “Garland” at the Firth of 
Forth Stations VIII. and IX.; the former in from twenty to thirty 
fathoms, two to seven miles from shore, the latter in twenty-nine to 
thirty-two fathoms, nine miles off. They mostly occurred at Station 
VIII. in March and April; in some years none were got in any month, 
and in 1889 forty-one were caught, some at both stations, a very 
unusual number, viz. nine in April, one in May, nine in June, thirteen 
in July, four in August, and five in October. None were taken at 
either station in that year in January, February, March, or November. 
On referring to the temperature observations, I find that in that year 
the bottom-temperature was above the mean in January and February, 
in January by 2:2° F.; in March it was normal, while in April, May, 
and June it was below the mean—in April by about 1° F., and in 
May by 2°3° and 2:0° F.; and in July, August, and October the tem- 
perature of the bottom water exceeded the mean, at Station VIII., by 
16° F. in July, 1:9° F. in August, 1:7° F. in October, and 0:5° in 
November, and at Station IX. by 2°8° F. in July, 1:9° in August, 1°6° 
in October, and 0°8° in November. 
With regard to the subsidiary autumn migration, the largest number 
of flounders was taken in the Dornoch Firth in August, viz. 194 in five 
hauls in from five to eleven fathoms; none were taken in June, eleven 
were got in July in seven hauls, none in September in two hauls, and 
none in October in twenty-six hauls. In Aberdeen Bay, on the other 
hand, the largest hauls were obtained in October and November in from 
six to sixteen fathoms ; no hauls were made in August. 
It thus appears that the adult flounders leave the shallow waters to 
spawn in spring in deeper water a little offshore, returning in June, 
and that later many of them again move off. 
Common Das (Pleuronectes limanda). 
In some respects the plaice occupies an intermediate position between 
the flounder and the common dab. The quite young specimens of the 
