- 81 - JOHS. SCHMIDT 



5. The Channel 



Our investigations in April— May 1906, in June 1905 and in August 190G give in- 

 formation on the occurrenee of the pelagic fry of Gadus luscus in the Channel. On the 

 other hand the fry were wanting in our September hauls, in agreement with the late time of year. 



1 may begin with an account of our observations along the line from Esbjerg to Ply- 

 mouth in the last days of April and the first part of May 1905. At none of the stations 

 in the North Sea nor in the most easterly part of the Channel did we find any pelagic fry 

 of Gadus luscus. These appeared first at St. 25 (0° 22' W.), but were found thereafter 

 at all the stations in the western part of the Channel, sometimes in consider- 

 able numbers, e. g. 88, 21 and 10 per half hour's haul. What deserves to be specially 

 noticed is that they were found at all stations. At the end of June 1905 the pelagic fry 

 of this species were again taken, but in much smaller quantities (at most 3 per half hour) 

 than in the spring and further to the east than at that time. Lastly one or two pelagic 

 specimens were taken at the end of August 1906, but only at Stat. 161 in the extreme 

 east of the Channel at the entrance to the North Sea. 



The pelagic fry of Gadus luscus are also present in the samples sent me by Dr. 

 Allen and which were taken late in May 1906 with the young-fish trawl in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Plymouth; thus, for example 7 specimens in a haul of half an hour, Ply- 

 mouth Sound, May 22nd, over a depth of 16 — 17 fathoms. 



In Holt and Scott's lists of the pelagic eggs and larvse from the neighbourhood of 

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

 both the eggs and the pelagic fry of Gadus luscus appear, though not in great numbers ^ 



On the basis of these observations it may be stated that the pelagic fry of Gadus 

 luscus occur generally everywhere in the Channel, and therefore that this species must 

 spawn there in large numbers, especially in the western parts of this 

 region. Thus, the Channel is the region where we have taken the largest number of 

 specimens per half hour's haul, namely 88, and with this agrees the abundance of the 

 young bottom stages in the samples taken in shallow water near the coasts with the 

 shrimp trawl and similar apparatus, and which were sent me for examination from the 

 Plymouth Laboratory as also that Gadus luscus is one of the commonest gadoids in the 

 Channel. 



With regard to the spawning time I have no direct information, but as usual it is 

 possible to draw certain conclusions in this direction from the occurrence of the pelagic 

 stages at different times of the year. 1 must mention that Holt (Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc, 

 vol. V, N. S., 1897—99, p. 139) took "large examples of Gadus luscus which contained 

 ripe ova" in mid-January 1898 at Plymouth. Further, Cdnningham (ibid., vol. 1, N. S, p. 375) 

 took ripe ova from a female in March in the aquarium at Plymouth. 



A considerable number of the pelagic fry we took late in April and early in May 

 1906 were small, under 1 cm. in length, from which we may conclude that they had not 

 been spawned earlier than in March. But a fairly large number of the specimens were 

 larger, ca. 2 cm. and a few even ca. 3 cm., which points to an earlier spawning time, and 



' That the eggs belong to this species is to my mind not proved with absolute certainty, though it 

 is probable. On the other hand, it is quite certain that the postlarval young in question, which I have 

 been ableto examine, really belong to Gadus luscus. 



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