162 OUTLINES OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 



therefore, often be known from the females by 

 their somewhat sharper or more pointed muzzles, 

 by the greater length of the gill-covers, and by the 

 body, from the back fin downwards, being less deep 

 as compared with the whole length of the fish. 



Organs of Reproduction. The productiveness 

 of fish a productiveness compared to which that of 

 every other living creature appears insignificant 

 is limitless as the seas which they are for the most 

 part destined to range. The young produced by 

 one Cod fish at a single deposit have been found to 

 number little short of four millions, and those of 

 a Flounder to exceed one hundred and forty 

 thousand. 



As before stated, with but one or two excep- 

 tions, fishes are oviparous "bringing forth eggs" 

 and the organs for this purpose are of the 

 simplest possible description. As the spawning- 

 season approaches two elongated lobes, or rolls, of 

 roe are formed between the ribs and the intestinal 

 canal, one on each side of the body. These, in 

 the female, are termed hard roe whilst in the fish, 

 and spawn after being deposited ; and in the male, 

 milt, or soft roe, in both cases. 



The lobes of roe in the female consist of a vast 

 number of separate grains, called ova, or eggs, 

 partially glued together, and enclosed in a bag or 

 sac reaching to the side of the anal aperture, through 

 which egress is permitted at the proper time. In 



