248 TSANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



article referred to, which shows the closest correspondence 

 between the catches of this fish and the temperature of 

 the sea. I have tried to see if a similar correspondence 

 existed between any food fish and the sea temperature in 

 our own area, but we do not possess data to enable such 

 a comparison to be made as it should be. The shrimp 

 trawl statistics taken by Mr. Eccles on the Liverpool 

 Shrimping Ground during the years 1893-1899 do, 

 however, yield a reliable series of figures. Most unfortu- 

 nately we have no good records of sea temperatures. On 

 board the " John Fell " the temperature of the sea at the 

 surface is always taken at the beginning of a haul with 

 a trawl net, and the thermometer, which is a reliable one, 

 is always correctly read to one-fifth of a degree centi- 

 grade. Unfortunately the " John Fell " has a wide 

 district and the number of temperature observations in 

 Liverpool Bay are rather few for our purpose. The 

 average monthly temperatures are calculated from the 

 records of the " John Fell " and the New Brighton police 

 cutter. I think the latter temperature data are not quite 

 reliable but they are the best we can obtain. 



The figures shewing the variation in the abundance 

 of whiting from month to month during the year are, 

 I think, quite reliable. All the figures for each month 

 during the period 1893-9 have been grouped together and 

 averages have been calculated. Accidental fluctuations 

 are got rid of by the statistical device of taking three- 

 monthly averages for every month. That is, the average 

 for January is really the average for the three months 

 December- January-February ; thai for February is the 

 average of the months January-February-March, and so 

 on. 



The figures so obtained are as follows: — 



