THE FLOUNDEU FAMILY. 329 



complete account of the development of this species. It is 

 remarkable that few, if any, eggs of the turbot are found in our 

 inshore waters, either at the surface, in mid-water or at the 

 bottom, indeed it is one of the eggs that has hitherto escaped 

 capture in the tow-nets of the laboratory. This may be due 

 either to its tendency to sink — after a time — to the lower 

 regions of the water, or to the distance of the spawning- 

 grounds. The spawning-season would seem to extend from the 

 beginning of June to the end of July at least, and probably 

 passes beyond both margins. The authors of the Scandinavian 

 Fishes state that it spawns in May and June {fide Nilsson and 

 Malm). 



The ovarian egg (Plate III, fig. 22) approaching maturity is 

 filled with rounded spherules of yolk which, as usual, disappear 

 in the ripe condition (Plate III, fig. 23). The ripe egg has an 

 average diameter of 1'0287 mm.\ and the single oil-globule 

 which it contains measures 0'21 mm. On extrusion, the healthy 

 eggs are perfectly buoyant — floating at or near the surface of 

 still water. In some instances, however, at Dunbar, many of the 

 eggs went to the bottom, probably because changes had occurred 

 by long retention in the ovaries. The capsule is very distinctly 

 wrinkled— both in the fertilised and in the unfertilised condition 

 — as in the lemon-dab. The oil-globule presents no special tint, 

 and retains a nearly uniform diameter in all the specimens, as 

 Holt has already noticed. When the eggs were in mass the 

 latter observer was of opinion that the oil-globule gave a faint 

 yellowish (ochre) hue to the whole. The eggs are sensitive 

 in the early stages, and with difficulty bear a journey, especially 

 in warm weather, and it would be well in such cases to delay 

 transmission until the embryo has formed. Those fertilized at 

 6 a.m. on the 22nd June were in the multicelled condition 

 at 6 p.m., but the disc showed certain peculiarities, the result 

 of the journey by rail from Dunbar to St Andrews in glass 

 vessels (thick earthen vvare jars being much better for transport), 

 and the entire series perished before next morning. 



Another series of eggs, fertilized on June 21st at 5 p.m., 



' Wenckebach says '75 mm. fide Cunningham, but as Bhrenbaum observes, 

 this is probably an error. 



