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4. North Sea (and Skager Rak) 



Our investigations in the North Sea were carried out partly in April and beginning 

 of May, partly in July (1905 and 1906) and in August and September (1903—06). 

 Further the Skager Rak was specially investigated in June and beginning of July 1907. 



At the spring stations (April, May) no young of G. minutus were found ; on the other 

 hand, several small fry were taken at various stations in July over practically the whole 

 North Sea with exception of the shallow southern and south-eastern parts \ though as a 

 rule not in very great numbers. The highest number obtained per half hour's haul was 

 19 (at St. 127, July 24th 1906, in the Skager Rak near the Skaw, 57° 47' N., 10°39'E.; 

 depth 67 meters), but as can be seen from the Chart the numbers elsewhere were very 

 small, only 1 — 2—3 per half hour's haul. All the specimens taken were determined by 

 means of the vertebrae in order to be sure of their separation from G. Esmarki. 



The specimens taken were everywhere small, mostly ca. 1 cm. or under, but a very 

 few were larger of ca. \^h — 2 cm. in length. From this we see that G. minutus in the 

 North Sea must spawn relatively very late, the majority certainly not earlier than in May 

 and some not earlier than in June, as a few quite small specimens were taken by us late 

 in July. That the spawning time may extend even further into the summer appears from 

 our investigations at St. 290, 1904, in the mouth of the Moray Firth, where as late as 

 Sept. 5th some few small fry were taken, only ca. 1 or less than 1 cm. long, which can 

 scarcely have been spawned earlier than in August, 



That Gadus minutus spawns on the Danish coasts of the North Sea and Skager Rak 

 in June and July, has also been proved directly by examination of the ripe females^. 



Altogether we may conclude from our investigations, that Gadus minutus spawns 

 over the greater part of the North Sea and Skager Rak, with exception however 

 of the shallowest parts to the south and south-east, as also that the spawning is con- 

 siderably later than that of G. Esmarki, chiefly in May and June and apparently some- 

 what later in the eastern than in the western part of the North Sea. No very great 

 quantities of G. minutus fry seem to be produced in the North Sea, at least far from as 

 many as the fry of G. Esmarki or as the fry of G. minutus in the Channel and on the 

 Atlantic coasts of Ireland and Scotland. 



5. The Channel 



The stations where the pelagic fry of G. minutus were found were investigated in the 

 last days of April and in the beginning of May 1906 as also at the end of June 1905. 



' See Chart V, where the summer stations are marked with a c? to distinguish them from the spring 

 stations, which are shown with a simple spot ( • ), and where all the takes of G. minutus marked with d 

 are for July, with exception of two, namely, one in the Moray Tirth and another at St. 140, 1st Aug. 1906 

 (54° 51' N., 0° 49' E., depth 73 meters). The only specimen taken in the most southerly part of the North 

 Sea (see Chart) comes from St. 101, off Holland, 52° 21' N., 3° 21' E. on July 1st 1905, and the possibility 

 is not excluded that this specimen was carried in from the Channel. 



^ Dr. A. C. JoHANSEN kindly informs me that the mature females examined by him in March and 

 April were unripe. In the Skager Eak (3'l2 miles N. ^h E. of Hojen light, depth 100 meters) on the 3rd of 

 June 1907 he examined several G. minutus and writes: "G.min. has not yet spawned. Of 11 females 

 examined, and which are going to spawn in the summer (164 — 221 mm. in length), only one has running 

 eggs, in 7 a few clear eggs but the greater part unripe; 3 have merely unripe eggs". On July 11th 

 1907 at 57° 48' N., 10° 43' E., depth 78 meters (near the Skaw) I myself found several G. minutus, of which 

 almost all (ca. 20) the mature females were ripe; only a few were spent. 



