SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 157 



a nett gain of | an inch in favour of the transplanting. 

 At the period of the transplanting, the mussels varied 

 from If to 1|- of an inch in length, so only the larger 

 ones left have reached the minimum legal size and 

 become marketable. It has been found that 100 trans- 

 planted mussels weighed five lbs. in December, while 100 

 from the scars that had grown to a marketable size, only 

 weighed two lbs. A bag of mussels from the scars 

 contains about two and a half times as many as a bag from 

 the " Ringhole." The results from the transplanting in 

 the Wyre and at Overton have been equally satisfactory. 

 This work is described fully in an interesting article by 

 Mr. Scott and Mr. Baxter, which will be found further on 

 in this Report. 



The tow-nettings collected by the steamer continue 

 to yield valuable information. A sample of the organisms 

 collected b}^ the bottom tow-net while trawling off 

 Aberystwyth on December 15th, 1905, contained one 

 plaice egg in which the larva was well advanced. From 

 the appearance of the larva it is estimated that this egg 

 had been spawned ten days previous to capture. The 

 earliest record for plaice eggs in the southern part of the 

 Irish Sea, previously known, was January 26th. The 

 occurrence of this egg seems to indicate that some of the 

 plaice on the South Wales coast spawn early in December, 

 and about very much the same time as plaice frequenting 

 the North Sea. 



Several other minor investigations have been under- 

 taken by Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Scott, and will be 

 found described below, but the above is probably sufficient 

 to give members of the Committee a very fair knowledge 

 of the work that has been devised and carried out during 



the y ear - W. A. Herdman. 



University of Liverpool, 

 February, J 906, 



