6o AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



is another type of buoyant e^g, similar to that of the cod, but 

 with an oil-drop opposite the germinal pole, where the embryo 

 develops, consequently the egg is rendered buoyant. That type 

 is represented by the eggs of the Spanish mackerel, of the 

 bonito in the Chesapeake bay, and of the cusk and a number of 

 other marine fishes. 



The second group, which I have called adhesive, is repre- 

 sented very well by the eggs of the goldfish, which adhere singly 

 to plants and weeds. Other species whose eggs are similar to 

 those of the goldfish, are the blennies, which lay eggs in radi- 

 ating adherent groups. The gobies have a curiously shaped oval 

 egg, almost conical at either end, with tufts at one of their tips. 

 These tufts seem to be made up of small filaments. In other 

 species, too, the eggs are adherent, as is the case with those 

 of the cunning little Gobiesox. In other cases the eggs are held 

 together in enormously extended bands or membranes, which 

 float, as in the case of the goosefish or fishing frog. Yet other 

 eggs are held together in narrow strips, and adhere together by 

 means of an exterior mucous or sticky envelope, just within which 

 again is a very thick, elastic, perforated membrane, as the eggs 

 of the yellow perch. This sticky substance glues the round 

 eggs together at their points of contact, leaving spaces between 

 the ova, enabling the water to pass directly through the open- 

 ings which are thus left in the bands of eggs. This form of 

 band of adherent eggs is found in the yellow perch, in contrast 

 to which may be cited the white perch, whose eggs adhere by a 

 mucous secretion which seems to glide down on one side to the 

 point where the attachment takes place, and where this mucous 

 substance hardens under water, firmly fixing the egg to the for- 

 eign bodies. 



The eggs of the slime-eels or hags, which are parasitic upon 

 the cod and on sharks, are also peculiar. These eggs are sup- 

 plied with a bundle of hooks at each end. I am not sure of the 

 special function of these hooks, but it is probably for suspend- 

 ing the eggs in some way. There are other cases in which ad- 

 herent eggs are held together in large masses as thick as a man's 

 hand, or they may be spread out over a flat surface. This is 

 the case with the eggs of the catfish. In these, however, we find 



