418 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Scomber scomber, Linn. — Mackerel. 



The only record of the occurrence of the pelagic egg 

 of the mackerel in the area was obtained from a surface 

 collection taken on June 3rd, 1912. This is rather 

 surprising, as the fish is very abundant some years in the 

 whole of the Irish Sea. They are sometimes so plentiful 

 that they can be captured inside Port Erin Bay and in 

 Barrow Channel off Piel Island. Many samples of 

 mackerel caught in the Irish Sea off Walney early in 

 July have been examined in the laboratory during the 

 last dozen years, but in no instance have we found 

 mature reproductive organs. They are nearly always in 

 a spent condition. The eggs are not uncommon in 

 Cardigan Bay plankton collected at the beginning of 

 July, and it is possible that the majority of the fish that 

 arrive in the central area spawn on the way up from the 

 south. If this be so, then the larvae would have hatched 

 before the eggs could reach the south-west area off the 

 Isle of Man, unless there should happen to be an 

 exceptionally strong drift of the surface waters from the 

 south due to long-continued southerly winds. 



Drepanopsetta platessoides, Fabr.— Long Hough Dab. 



The characteristic pelagic eggs of the long rough 

 dab are only occasionally met with in the south-west 

 area off the Isle of Man. The egg can be readily 

 identified by the marked space between the yolk and the 

 shell, which gives it an appearance resembling a double 

 egg, a small one inside a larger one. Mature fish are 

 captured nearly every spring between February and 

 April on the off-shore fishing grounds to the north of 

 Morecambe Bay light-vessel by the Fisheries steamer 

 when fishing for material for investigation in the 





