— De- 

 meter lines \ thus over very different depths, and this applies it may be remarked to the 

 quite small specimens, which cannot therefore be considered to have been carried far away 

 from the place where they spawned. For example, quite small specimens only 4 — 5 mm. 

 long occur in the Irish hauls over depths of ca. 70 — 100 meters, and at some of our 

 stations (e.g. 96, 1905 and 34, 1906) even over only 50 meters. We may conclude there- 

 fore that the hake can reproduce in shallow waters; and on the other hand to judge from 

 our discoveries of the quite small fry it may spawn beyond the 1000-meter line (see the 

 stations in May and June 1906), and Holt (Survey of Fishing Grounds West Coast of Ire- 

 land, p. 401) also mentions that "on the other side of the Atlantic fish have been found 

 spawning at a maximum depth of 487 fathoms". After this information our takes of the 

 small fry beyond the 1000-meter line are not surprising, and further it is not improbable 

 that the hake may lead a more or less pelagic life and also spawn under such conditions, 

 so that it may not require to go down to the great depths over which it may be**. 



To the W. and S. of the British Isles , where the slope of the bottom is steep, the 

 distances horizontally from shallow to deep water are but short, and it is an old ex- 

 perience from my investigations at Iceland, that fishes, for example the cod, which are 

 otherwise bottom fishes, may well lead a distinctly pelagic life in large quantities in the 

 neighbourhood of such steep slopes, living exclusively on pelagic organisms. I think it 

 not improbable therefore that the hake may live in great quantities beyond the 1000-meter 

 line and reproduce there, but provisionally we may be content with stating that this fish, 

 as already mentioned by Holt, is able to reproduce at very different depths, within the 

 100-meter and beyond the 1000-meter lines. 



I have not myself seen any Merluccius with running spawn, nor have I identified the 

 eggs of the species in our samples. 1 can thus only indirectly conclude as to the spawn- 

 ing time, namely from the size of the pelagic fry found at different times. From these 

 the hake seems to spawn almost the whole year round, at least from early spring to late 

 in the autumn, and this is just the reason, I believe, why different authors give such 

 varying data regarding the spawning time. There seems no doubt however that the main 

 spawning, at least at the northern parts of the British Isles and in the Skager ßak, falls 

 in the summer. 



Even if a few pelagic young of the hake are taken near the surface, it is apparent 

 from our hauls that the majority occur somewhat deeper down. Most were taken with 

 65 meters wire out, but some still deeper, e. g. with 200—400 meters wire. 



At a length of 32 — 38 mm. (I1/4 — l^/a inches) the fry of the hake seems to cease to 

 live pelagically, as appears from Holt's discovery (1. c. p. 314) of 3 specimens of this length 

 S. W. of Ireland in August at the bottom in 80 fathoms, but on the other hand our hauls 

 in the Bay of Biscay in the neighbourhood of the French — Spanish border show that the 

 fry of this species may still be pelagic at a length of ca. 30 mm. Possibly the young seek 

 the bottom when they have reached a length of about 3 cm. 



1 E. g. see Stations 32, 34, 39, 41, 43, 72, 74, 64, 76, 61, 166, 1906. 



^ Holt (1. c.) thus remarks "rather small hake are taken in considerable numbers in the mackerel nets" 

 and I may add that I have several times taken large specimens (length e. g. 94 and 64 and 18 cm.) in 

 August — September 1906 S. W. of Ireland, which were living pelagically over considerable depths, e. g. 

 500 meters, even in the slow-moving young-fish trawl. 



