TRANSACTIONS .OF SECTION D. 787 
3. On the Occurrence of the Grey Gurnard (Trigla gurnardus, L.), and 
its Spawning in the Inshore and Offshore Waters. By W. C. 
McIntosu. 
In the following remarks the grey gurnard is used to illustrate certain features 
of the resources of the sea, and it is of some importance in this respect, though it 
has to be remembered that the gurnard is a fish that often swims in mid-water, 
and occasionally may be caught near the surface. 
In the Trawling Investigations of 1884 (Royal Commission, under Lord 
Dalhousie), the grey gurnard ranked, as regards numbers, third in the list of 
saleable fishes, only the haddock and the whiting exceeding it in total numbers. 
Tn that report the fishes, as they ought to be in all such inquiries, were arranged 
according to months as well as stations, and it appears therefrom that few gurnards 
occur in the trawl] in January or February, but they are found in large numbers in 
March, increase still more in April, and in May attain their maximum in St. 
Andrews Bay. They remain in fair, though smaller numbers, in the bay in June, 
July, and August, and in the latter month even increase in numbers at nine miles 
from land. Their occurrence, however, is not confined to inshore waters, for at 
Smith Bank, off Caithness, they were in considerable numbers in April, and many 
not fully ripe, and so in 24 to 30 fathoms water, 4 to 8 miles S.E. of the Isle of Man. 
Again, in May, in water 32 to 40 fathoms in depth, and 25 to 38 miles from 
land, they were also in considerable numbers, and spawning. In June and July 
they were still found in offshore waters, and some spawning. In the middle of 
August large gurnards were extremely numerous 15 miles from land, two hauls of 
the trawl giving respectively 363 and 456 specimens. These facts showed that 
gurnards were scarce in the trawl, both in inshore and offshore waters in the early 
months, became more conspicuous in both in April, had high numbers in May and 
June in inshore waters, and considerable numbers in offshore waters. The distri- 
bution of the species was further alluded to in the ‘ Food-fishes.’ ! 
In the ‘Resources of the Sea,’ the gurnard, from the returns of the Garland,? 
formed one of the most conspicuous features in connection with the round fishes, 
and showed, more or less, the spindle formed by marine animals—yertebrate and 
invertebrate—during the year, the wide central part of the spindle occurring in 
the warmer months, and the figure tapering off to a point in January and again in 
December. Different areas, however, vary: thus in St. Andrews Bay the capture 
of gurnards is nearly double that in the Forth, and the larger forms (over 11 inches) 
show a great increase in August, while those from 7 to 10 inches, and those 
under 7 inches, have their maximum, during the decade, in June. It must be 
borne in mind that in this area, however, there were serious blanks in the decade 
in the important months of May and August. 
In the Forth, again, the maximum captures of the gurnards over 11 inches 
are found in the ten years (and taking each year by itself) to fall in no less than 
six months, viz. April, May, June, July, August, and September, the number of 
times in each month varying. May has the pre-eminence of three maxima, yet 
August remains steadily high throughout, as in the totals for fishes generally in 
the returns of the Garland. It is doubtful, however, if such increase in August 
is due to a ‘second migration,’ like the herring, for spawning purposes, as Dr. 
Fulton, the able superintendent of the Fishery Board’s investigations, supposes. 
Of the next size (7 to 10 inches), the maxima are found in two months only, viz. 
May and June, and August never attains prominence. Those under 7 inches 
have their maxima in five months, viz. from May to October—July being absent. 
Now the fact that the smaller forms (most of which do not spawn) show a 
decided tendency to increase in certain months, should make caution necessary in 
attributing the increase in inshore waters in August to this function (spawning). 
Experience proves that the spawning of the gurnard goes on from the end of 
April till September, and that no special accession of ova occurs in August ; 
1 Life Histories of the Food-fishes, McIntosh and Masterman, p. 136. 
2 The ship of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
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