— 75 — JOES. SCHMIDT 



Further we had stations in the Channel both at the end of August and in the middle of 

 September 1906, but only the bottom stages and no pelagic fry were then found. 



The line from Esbjerg to Plymouth at the end of April and beginning of May 1906. 

 gives especially very good information on the occurrence of the pelagic fry of this species. 

 These were found at none of the stations in the North Sea, but began to appear as soon 

 as we entered the Channel, though only in small numbers in the eastern parts (e. g. 4, 4, 

 7 per half hour's haul) and increasing greatly in quantities towards the west and occur- 

 ring at all the stations, which very clearly shows how widely distributed they must be. 

 At the stations both near the French and near the English coasts as well as in mid- 

 Channel we found them in great numbers, thus e. g. 344, 227, 116. 77, 71, 58 per half 

 hour's haul, that is, in larger numbers than they have been found in any of the other 

 waters investigated by us. Also, some pelagic hauls with the young-fish trawl made from 

 the English side in May 1906 in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, the contents of which 

 I have been able to examine through the kindness of Dr. E. J. Allen, contain quantities of 

 the pelagic fry of G. minutus. All the "Thor's" stations in the Channel in the last days 

 of June 1905 gave pelagic fry of this species, though in accordance with the later time of 

 year in much smaller quantity. 



In Holt and Scott's list over the pelagic fish eggs and larvae found in the neighbour- 

 hood of Plymouth in 1897 (Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc. N. S. vol. V, 1897—99, p. 156 et seq.) the 

 pelagic fry of G. minutus occur very regularly in May and June S at least as regularly and 

 commonly as one can expect from hauls made so close to the coast as was the case with 

 these; since G. minutus spawns chiefiy in somewhat deeper water (ca. 50 — 100 meters). 



With regard to the spawning time in the Channel, certain conclusions may be drawn 

 indirectly though I have no direct observations. Since the majority of the masses of 

 pelagic fry we found late in April and early in May were under 1 cm. in length, we may 

 conclude that they were not spawned earlier than in March and April. The few, always 

 small fry we took late in June 1905 must have been spawned after the cessation of the 

 main spawning, and scarcely later than in May or beginning of June, but on the other 

 hand, in the samples I have had from Plymouth for determination, taken in the middle 

 of May with the shrimp trawP, there are some bottom stages varying in length from Vh 

 to 2^/ä cm. These at any rate must have been spawned earlier than the great mass of the 

 pelagic fry we found at the end of April and beginning of May. 



Altogether we may conclude from the data that Gadus minutus reproduces in very 

 large numbers in the Channel, especially in the western parts, where we took the pelagic 

 fry in larger numbers than anywhere else within the region investigated by us. 



6. Bay of Biscay 

 From our hauls in the beginning of May 1906 it appears that the pelagic fry of 

 Gadus minutus occur both in the most northerly and the most southerly 

 parts of the Bay of Biscay. The numbers are small certainly, but our stations were 



' Most of the determinations of G. minutus are given by Holt and Scott with a ?. There is no 

 reason however to doubt the correctness of the determinations and I may add that I have seen several of 

 the specimens in question and they are certainly Qadus minutus. 



^ Thns, one haul with the shrimp trawl on May 12th 1902 in Whitsand Bay contains 5 Gadus minutus 

 (length Vh, Vh, 2, 2, 2'l2 cm.) and 2 Gad. luscus (length 1-8, 2 cm.). 



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