480 Prof. Mcintosh's Notes from the 



XLVTI. — Notes from the St. Andreios Marine Laboratory 

 {under the Fishery Board for Scotland). By Prof. M'IntOSH, 

 M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.— No. III. * 



[Plate XIII.] 



1. On the Ova of Callionymus lyra, L. 



2. On a new Britisli Staurocejjhahis. 



3. On certain Processes formed by Cerapus on Tuhularia indivisa. 



4. On Structures resembling Ova procured off tbe Forth. 

 6. On a Female Porpoise, with a note on its Milk, 



1. On the Ova of Callionymus lyra^ L. 



So little was known about the breeding of this fish that the 

 most recent work on British fishes, viz. that of Dr. Day f, 

 contains nothing more than the following remark, the quota- 

 tion of which will indicate how much remains to be done in 

 this department : — " Dr. G. Johnston \ recorded having found 

 a sordid dragonet containing milt or soft roe, it being a young 

 male. The Rev. G. Harris § mentions having discovered 

 hard roe in a gemmeous dragonet, which, provided the obser- 

 vations were correct, is interesting as seeming to show that 

 the female might assume the colours of the male and still not 

 be sterile. The observation does not seem to have been con- 

 firmed by any other naturalist." It will thus be observed 

 that the author has nothing to advance in regard to the nature 

 of the ova or spermatozoa, and nothing in regard to the period 

 of spawning. Yet the skulpin is a very common fish on our 

 eastern shores both in the trawl and on the lines of the fisher- 

 men, since it ranges from a few to 40 fathoms and upwards 

 on sandy or muddy ground. It is perhaps less frequently 

 brought on shore than other kinds of unsaleable fishes by 

 either liners or trawlers, since the spinous rosette at the angle 

 of the preoperculum causes general detestation ; indeed, like 

 the glutinous hag {Myxine), it is often jerked from the line 

 into the sea by the fishermen or scooped overboard on a 

 shovel by a trawler. In and near St. Andrews Bay they are 

 frequently caught on the hooks of the liners (baited with 

 mussels) when fishing for plaice and dabs as well as for 

 haddocks ; and I have to thank certain of the fishermen for 

 this and similar opportunities of examining marine specimens. 



* Communicated by the Author, having been read at the Aberdeen 

 Meetino- of the British Association (Section D), 1885. 

 t ' Fishes of Great Britain,' i. p. 176. 

 i Zool. Journ. iii. p. 336. 

 § Zool. pp. 2999 and 3118. 



