SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 159 



come on to the shore as " sixpenny flukes." They can then 

 be seen in the shallow shore-pools left by the receding tide. 

 They are very active, but can easily be caught. They must 

 be present on the shores of Cheshire, Lancashire, and Cumber- 

 land at this time of year in enormous numbers. The mortality 

 must also be very great at this stage, for the little, shallow 

 shore-pools are apt to dry out as the tide recedes, or soaks into 

 the sand, and when the sun is hot the larvae must perish. No 

 precise observations have been made enabling us to state the 

 time when the transformed larvae first come shore wards, and 

 in what relative abundance ; but undoubtedly both conditions 

 vary from year to year. It is certain, however, that it is 

 nearly always about the same time (the very end of May) 

 when the plaice first come on to the Lancashire shores, and it 

 is probable that this is so even though there may be bigger 

 differences, from year to year, in the dates of spawning and 

 hatching. It is very likely that a certain combination of 

 conditions (sea- temperature, sunlight, food) must be present 

 in order to enable the baby fish to survive when they abandon 

 their drifting, pelagic life, go to the bottom and seek the very 

 shallow-water grounds close inshore. 



Food of the Larvae and Transformed Plaice. 



In general, the larvae first feed on algal spores (but this 

 remark applies to observations made on the larvae hatched 

 out and transformed in the Port Erin ponds). Later on they 

 feed almost entirely on Copepods (Harpactids chiefly) though 

 other organisms are, of course, eaten. A full report on the 

 food of the larval plaice collected from the spawning ponds 

 and from the shore has been prepared by Mr. Andrew Scott 

 and will appeal in a forthcoming part of the Journal of the 

 Marine Biological Association. 



