234 MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES 



Scotland it has been taken at depths between 20 and 100 

 fathoms. 



Sice. — The smallest mature male on the east coast of Scotland 

 according to Dr. Fulton, was 9 inches long, the smallest mature 

 female, 13 inches. The largest male was 19 inches, the largest 

 female, 20^ inches. The average size of the mature males was 

 1 4*8 inches, of the females i6'9 inches. 



Food. — In the Firth of Forth 150 stomachs containing food 

 were examined. Marine worms occurred in 109, or 72 per cent.; 

 Crustacea in thirt\-, or 20 per cent. ; molluscs in twenty-one, or 

 14 per cent. ; echinoderms in five, or 3 per cent. ; fish in two. 

 The Crustacea were amphipods in sixteen stomachs, common 

 shrimps in ten. It is evident that the most important food con- 

 sists of worms, and this fact is connected with the small size of 

 the mouth of the fish. On the west coast of Ireland the order 

 of importance of the different kinds of food was the same. 



The females are more numerous than the males in the pro- 

 portion of 260 to 100, and larger in the proportion of 114 to 

 100. The total number of eggs in the female was found by Dr. 

 Fulton to be from 473,000 to 883,000, a number considerably 

 larger than in the plaice. 



Tiuic and place of Spazvning. — Off the east coast of Scotland 

 these fish were found to be ripe in May, June, July, and August, 

 principally in July. On the west of Ireland they were spawning 

 in May and June. In the Firth of Clyde they were found to be 

 spawning in June. It has not been shown that these fish repair 

 to particular spots in order to spawn ; it may be said that the 

 spawning grounds are simply the grounds where the adult fish 

 are found. On the east coast of Scotland no spawning fish were 

 taken within the three mile limit, but this is not true for other 

 coasts. In the Firth of Clyde a number of ripe specimens were 

 taken between Millport and Fairlie. 



The eggs have been studied at Millport and in the Irish 

 Survey. They measure from ri5 to ri9 mm. across, and are 

 usually quite round ; in character they are not different from 

 those of the plaice, flounder, &c. At temperatures varying from 

 53° to 68^ hatching took place on the sixth day; at lower 

 temperatures some hatched on the ninth day after fertilisation. 



The newly hatched larva is 3-99 mm. long (a little less than 

 \ inch). It resembles the larva of flounder and dab, but has less 



