848 PROFESSOR W. C. M'INTOSH AND MR E. E. PRINCE ON 



(which thus differs from that of the gurnard) has occurred in St Andrews Bay several 

 times in February and March. The oil-globule did not appear to be proportionally large, 

 and lay in the yolk under the lateral expansion of the embryo. The pigment in the 

 latter was well developed, and mainly yellowish, though black chromatophores were also 

 present; the eyes were silvery iridescent in the most advanced forms. From the 

 resemblance of the contained embryo to the plaice it was at the time supposed to be 

 that of the brill, and subsequent consideration of the remarks of other observers 

 have strengthened this view. 



A specimen, apparently of the brill, though resembling the megrim, about 12 mm. in 

 length, with a breadth of about 6 mm., was procured on August 31, 1886, off the Isle of 

 May. The dorsal fin has about six dark bands at intervals, and the anal, which was 

 much injured, seems to have had similar touches. The right (ventral) surface, again, 

 instead of being white, is everywhere minutely dotted with black points. On comparing 

 with a turbot (Rhombus maximus) of the same size, the body is seen to be narrower, the 

 eyes larger, and the pectoral fins somewhat larger, while the comparative absence of 

 pigment from the dorsum, and its presence, as minute dots, on the ventral (right) side 

 are also diagnostic. In the former the head has less of the angular form of the turbot, 

 this difference being mainly caused by the roundness of the angle of the mandible, and 

 the smallness of the mouth. The specimen certainly resembles Arnoglossus ; but the 

 last-named feature, the smallness of the mouth, is a point of dissimilarity. 



The subsequent stages of the brill have not yet been fully investigated, and they are 

 not often met with in St Andrews Bay, not hitherto, indeed, till they reach 10 to 11 

 inches, when they are common in the local trawls in September.* 



Solea vulgaris, Quensel. — On the 1st August 1884, a sole was captured 10 miles 

 from land (off St Abb's Head), with ripe ova, which floated buoyantly.t No male was 

 obtained, so that the development could not be followed. Mr Cunningham J gives March, 

 April, and May as the spawning period of the sole, but he had overlooked this observa- 

 tion. Off the eastern shores of Scotland, therefore, the period extends from May to 

 August. 



In the mid-water net on the 6th July a few eggs appeared for the first time along 

 with some of the gurnard, and they have since been more plentifully obtained by the 

 trawl-like tow-net on the bottom towards the middle or latter end of May. Like other 

 pelagic ova they are translucent, but they have the peculiarity of a more or less complete 

 ring of minute oil-globules in groups, of a yellowish-white colour from refraction of the 

 light, for when viewed by transmitted light they are faintly straw-coloured. When 

 floating, the ring of oil-globules is superior as in other instances, the disc being inferior. 

 Besides the ring mentioned, a few small groups occur here and there at other parts. 

 Under a lens the egg indeed appeared to be flecked with yellowish-white pigment. In 



* Vide Trawling Report, pp. 358 and 361. 



t Report of the Trawling Commissioners, p. 363. 



X Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc, N.S. i. p. 18, where an excellent account, with figures, of the early stages is given. 



