224 MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES 



Worms occurred in only i6 per cent, of the specimens, and 

 fish, usually sand-eels and small herrings, in only 5 per cent. 



In St. Andrew's Bay the order of importance of the different 

 kinds of prey is different. Here echinoderms and worms form 

 the staple diet, each occurring in 43 per cent, of the stomachs, 

 while Crustacea were only present in 22 per cent, and molluscs in 

 1 8 per cent. This is an instance of the influence of locality ; 

 the bottom of St. Andrew's Bay is entirely occupied by sand 

 and muddy sand, and the most abundant of the lower animals 

 are the sand-stars and the lug-worms and tube-worms (Tere- 

 bellids). 



The females (east coast of Scotland) are both larger and 

 more numerous ; the proportion in numbers is 295 females to 

 100 males, nearly three times as many ; in size, 103 to 100 — a 

 very slight difference. 



Time and Place of Spazvniug. — On the east of Scotland the 

 majority spawn in April, May, and June, though a few are ripe 

 in February, March, and July. On the west of Ireland the 

 principal months were March, April, and May ; on the south- 

 west coast of England the spawning period covers the same 

 three months. 



It has been generally observed that ripe dabs in the spawn- 

 ing season occur almost everywhere, there is no evidence of a 

 movement to particular grounds or particular depths at the 

 spawning season. This statement does not apply to estuaries 

 where the water is brackish, and where full-grown dabs are 

 only abundant in summer and autumn, when they are not 

 spawning. 



The total number of eggs in three ripe specimens was ascer- 

 tained by Dr. Fulton ; in one 'j\ inches long the number was 

 79,194, in another 8i inches 128,812. 



TJie Eggs and their Development. — The (i^^ is like those of 

 the plaice and flounder, but smaller than either ; it is only 

 ■8 mm. in diameter ( ^gg^ ths of an inch), and is therefore one of 

 the smallest of the eggs of the British flat-fishes. Eggs of the 

 dab were artificially fertilised by the author in May 1886, on 

 board a steam trawler six or seven miles to the east of the Isle 

 of May, and developed and hatched in the little Marine Station 

 at Granton. Hatching took place on the third day at the 

 temperature of 45° to 60°, but at St. Andrews at the beginning 



