— 5 



.10118. s(;hmidt 



With regard lastly to tlic Bay of Biscay, it will be seen from the charts that the 

 "Thor" had very few stations there in shallow water (on the west coast of France and 

 north coast of Spain). Our stay in the Bay was quite dominated by the investigations in 

 deep water for the Leptocephuli, and our few stations in shallow water were mostly in 

 the innermost part of the Bay off the boundary between France and Spain. 



A further shortcoming in our investigations in addition to the above-mentioned, arises 

 from the fact that our work on the south and west of the British Isles came somewhat 

 late in the year to be able to give the best picture of the distribution of 

 the pelagic fry of the gadoids, at least for several species. As they grow 

 older tliese fry may be carried considerable distances from the places were they are spawned, 

 and in several species they gradually cease to live pelagically and seek the bottom as they 

 grow up, so that they are in consequence not taken in our hauls. To this must be added, 

 that the spawning time at any rate for several species is earlier in the southern 

 parts of the region than in the northern, which naturally helps to increase the 

 shortcomings of our investigations in these southern parts. 



I may add here a table summarizing the Atlantic cruises of the "Thor" in the four 

 years, from which it will be seen how the vessel was engaged in the various months in 

 the different years. 



The Atlantic cruises of the "Thor" in 1903—1906 



In June and July 1907 in the Skager Rak. 



