— 76 — 



not well adapted to finding large quantities of the fry of this species, as they were mostly 

 over deep water or bare sandy bottom as on the south-west coast of France. The fry of 

 G. minutus will undoubtedly be found everywhere along the French coast in shallow water, 

 and probably also along the north coast of Spain. At least in May 1906 I saw quantities 

 of fresh G. minutus on the fish market at San Sebastian, both large and smaller speci- 

 mens, which were said to have been fished just outside. 



It may therefore be said with certainty that Gadus minutus reproduces every- 

 where in the Bay of Biscay along the French coast. On how large a scale this 

 takes place I cannot say, but to judge from the quantities I saw at San Sebastian, it is 

 probably a matter of large quantities , even if perhaps not so large as in the Channel. 

 According to friendly information from Dr. Ad. Clignî of Boulogne Gadus minutus is com- 

 mon in the Bay of Biscay. 



9. Gadus luscus L., Bib (Chart VI) 



§ 1. Remarks on the identification 



The pelagic young of this species are from the earliest postlarval stages so charac- 

 teristic and easily distinguished by means of their pigmentation and form (cf. my monograph 

 on the gadoids, Parts I and II), that I can hardly imagine that there should be any dif- 

 ficulty whatsoever in their determination. I have not personally counted the number of 

 vertebrae in adult specimens, but may mention Williamson's results for the east coast of 

 Scotland (1. c). In 13 specimens Williamson found a total number of vertebrae of 48 — 49, 

 whilst the abdominal vertebrae numbered 16 — 17 ^ The only species which to a certain 

 extent may resemble (in pigmentation) Gadus luscus in the early postlarval stages is 

 Gadus Poutassou, but as will be seen from the account of this species later, the number 

 of vertebrae in it is quite different, namely 23 to 26 abdominal and in all 56—60. 



Although the eggs of Gadus luscus must certainly occur in many of our samples, 

 e. g. in those from the Channel, I have not ventured on determining them even by hat- 

 ching; as it seems to me that the fairly numerous data in the literature on the determi- 

 nation of the eggs of this species (Cunningham^, Holt^, Heincke and Ehrenbaum*, William- 

 son^ and others) do not give a sure means of separating the eggs and larvae from those 

 of nearly related species. To avoid giving any data which might be doubtful, I have 

 therefore left out of regard the eggs and larvae in the available samples, and in the tables 

 and on the Chart I only note the pelagic postlarval stages. 



§ 2. General features of the occurrence 



On Chart VI I have brought together the two species, so extremely different in 

 their occurrence, Gadus luscus and Gadus saïda, just in order to show how great a dif- 



1 The separate numbers were: 16 + 33, 16 + 32, 16 + 32, 16 + 32, 17 + 32, 16 + 33, 16 + 32, 16 + 38, 

 16 + 32, 16 + 33, 16 + 33, 16 + 32, 16 + 32. 



^ Cunningham, Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc, N. S., I, p. 46. 



9 Holt, ibidem, N. S., V, p. 138—41. 



* Heincke and Ehrenbaum , Wiss. Unters. Kom. wissensch. Unters, d. deutschen Meere, Abt. Helgoland, 

 N. r. vol. 3, Heft 2, p. 131 et seq. 



'" Williamson: 17th Eep. Fish. Board Scotland p. 79. 



