116 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ON THE PELAGIC FISH EGGS COLLECTED IN 1913. 

 By Andrew Scott, A.L.S. 



Samples of the plankton were taken during the various 

 cruises of the S. S. " James Fletcher " in the Irish Sea, Cardigan 

 and Carnarvon Bays throughout the year. Pelagic fish eggs 

 were observed in eighty-three of the collections made between 

 January 23rd and August 14th, the two dates being the first 

 and last occasions when eggs appeared to be present in the 

 plankton. For a period of about eight weeks, extending from 

 February 17th to April 21st, when the classes were held at 

 Piel, the steamer visited the spawning grounds lying between 

 Lancashire and the Isle of Man each week. These expeditions 

 were made to trawl for spawning fish for dissection by the 

 fishermen, and to collect the plankton. Fully one- third of the 

 total number of collections containing eggs were obtained in 

 that time. Some of the samples consisted of little else than 

 eggs belonging to various species of fish. Others contained one 

 or two eggs only. The difficulties experienced in identifying 

 preserved eggs are pointed out in the report " On the Pelagic 

 Fish Eggs collected off the South- West of the Isle of Man," 

 which was published in last year's Annual Report. It is un- 

 necessary to restate them here. It is sufficient to remember 

 that in many cases the identification must be regarded as 

 only approximate. 



Illustrations of a fish larva that hatched out from one of 

 three large pelagic eggs with an oil globule, and measuring over 

 3 millimetres in diameter, are given in the XIII Annual Report, 

 page 32. These eggs were found in a collection of living plankton 

 brought from the Clyde by the first Fisheries steamer " John 

 Fell," where she had been trawling by permission of the 

 Fishery Board for Scotland on April 21st, 1898. The larva 



