116 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
lately, that a minimum size limit should be imposed so as 
to prevent fish which have not yet arrived at sexual 
maturity from being taken. We have lately commenced | 
observations in the laboratory of the smallest mature and 
the largest immature individuals we can find of each 
species, in our district, and these will be carried on regu- 
larly through the coming breeding season. 
A good deal has been said and written of late years about 
the destruction of young soles by shrimpers and by other 
fishermen; and in this particular neighbourhood there has 
been a strong impression that much damage was being 
done to the sole fishery by the capture of immature 
individuals a few inches inlength. The general question of 
' the destruction of immature fish by shrimpers I shall 
return to further on; but one of the first matters established 
in our Fishery Laboratory was that the capture of young 
soles here was happily not quite such a serious matter as 
had been supposed, for we found that a very large pro- 
portion of the so-called immature soles were not young 
edible or black soles (Solea vulgaris) at all, but were more 
or less full grown individuals of the Solenette (Solea lutea) 
a totally distinct though closely allied fish which does not 
erow larger than about 5 inches in length and so does not 
become of economic importance. We find the solenette 
sexually mature in this neighbourhood at sizes of about 
32 ins. and upwards in length, while the smallest sexually 
mature true sole is at least twice that size. 
To give an idea of the relative abundance of soles and 
solenettes of about the same size, and to show what 
foundation there was for the supposed great destruction 
of young soles, I may quote an instance from the Labora- 
tory diary :—‘‘On May 9th, 1892, 20 specimens of small 
soles trawled from a sandy bottom, in shallow water, 
were sent by Mr. Dawson for examination. Of these 19 
