114 .MAKKKTAP.U-: KRITIMI MAKINK 1IS1IKS 



A few Saml-ix-ls, I'ipe-fishes, Dragonets, Gobies, and Sticklebacks. 



On September 27, 1893, with a 21 -foot beam shrimp-trawl, 

 after a haul of I i hours outside the mouth of the Mersey, with 

 32 quarts of shrimps were taken : 



1 2 *' 1 >1 V' S ...... 1 all of small size, 7000 of the plaice 



IO -47 I la"* ...... I w smaU ^ to pass through the 



375 va .'-". ...... " meshes of an ordinary shrimp 



'^^hitrng ...i riddle 



69 Codling ... / 



The older fish are found at somewhat greater depths and 



distances from shore. As far as our present knowledge goes, it 



appears that immature fish of the kinds here considered are taken 



in considerable proportions on all grounds, and therefore at all 



depths to which the species extend. Mr. Holt estimates that a box 



of large North Sea plaice contains about 30 per cent, of immature 



individuals. But the proportion below 13 inches is small, and 



therefore we may conclude that there are very few one-year- 



old fish, or fish in their second year, on the off-shore grounds. 



The ordinary fair-sized fish are thus two years old and upwards. 



The one-year-old fish are found on the shallower inshore grounds 



where they are chiefly sought by small vessels which either fish 



specially for them or take them with shrimps in shrimp trawls. 



Such fish are chiefly found at depths between two and fifteen 



fathoms. In certain places where the slope of the ground sea- 



wards is very gradual the small fish are in great abundance, and 



the capture of them in very large numbers has drawn attention 



to these grounds, so that they have been carefully studied. The 



most widely known instance of this is afforded by the eastern 



grounds of the North Sea, extending along the Dutch and 



German coasts from the Texel to the Horn Reef. Examination 



of these shallow grounds north of Heligoland in 1895, between 



the depths of seven and thirteen fathoms, showed that the fish 



taken by the deep-sea trawl on them were as follows. The 



plaice ranged from 5 inches to 16 inches in length, so that the 



]>!-( -portion of mature fish was small. Of course they were not 



