■10 DR ARTHUR T. MASTERMAN ON THE 



seen a small shoal on 28th June, a huge shoal on 11th July, another on 21st July, and 

 yet another on 9th August. This peculiar migration of the whiting to the deeper off- 

 shore water duriug its earlier post-larval period has been already alluded to by Prof. 

 M'Intosh.* Later on, in mid-July, the young whiting commence to move inwards 

 " from their retreats in the offshore waters, therefore it is probable that the young 

 whiting pass to the inshore waters when between 50 and 80 mm." By September they 

 appear in great numbers in the littoral region, frequently the mouths of estuaries, some 

 occurring with a length of 130 mm. (or 5 inches). Onwards through the winter they 

 occur in increasing size, and on the return of spring they move off to deep water again. 

 These facts, already described elsewhere, are confirmed very clearly by the table (Table 

 III.).t 



The ontogenetic migration of the whiting would appear somewhat as follows : — The 

 surface-water is forsaken at, or near, the close of the larval period and the midwater is 

 reached. A migration seawards is then effected into deep offshore waters, where the 

 young whiting remains till a length of about 60 mm., when an inshore migration, still 

 in the midwater, commences, and the littoral region is soon reached, at an average length 

 of about 70-80 mm. 



The oldest whiting which was reared in confinement at St Andrews laboratory is 

 figured in pi. xvii. fig. 12 of the Development and Life- Histories of Teleostean Fishes.\ 

 A full description of this form is added in the text (p. 825). In this Prof. M'Intosh 

 remarks, " so far as present observations go, the young whiting appears to be recog- 

 nisable as such when from 9 to 12 mm. in length." The post-larval whiting above 

 referred to appears to have been about 23 mm. long, so that there is a considerable 

 gap. Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate two specimens caught in the midwater which I would 

 tentatively assign to the whiting, though I have grave doubts concerning the propriety 

 of so doing. My reasons pro and con will appear in the description. In fig. 10, little 

 over 6^ mm. in length, the black pigmentation is sparse. It consists of the usual 

 gadoid external mid-dorsal line, more or less separated into two by the median fin, and 

 a similar ventral line, but the latter terminates at the anus and the former over the 

 swim-bladder, whilst neither extends to the tail. Of the internal pigment, the mass 

 overlying the swim-bladder is present, as in other gadoids, and, in addition, there is a 

 line of pigment above and below the notochord. There is no trace of pigment either 

 upon the head or scattered over the surface of the body. 



The pigmentation of the above-mentioned post-larval whiting is described by Prof. 

 M'Intosh in the following terms :— " Black pigment spots arranged in a double 

 series along the edges of the muscle-plates, the inner row in each case being somewhat 

 fainter. A dense pigment band exists in the sub-notochordal region of the abdomen, 

 a,nd scattered spots occur generally over the surface." We may add that the dorsal 

 median line is continued forward on to the head, in which region there are also addi- 



* Fifteenth Scottish Fishery Board Report, p. 203. t See note J on page 3. 



J Trans. Royal Soc. Edin., vol. xxxv. 



