CHANNEL ISLANDS FISHES. 63 



of the head take on a twist, so as to bring the left eye to the side which is 

 now uppermost; the upper side becomes pigmented, and the characteristic 

 "flat fish" form is arrived at. At this stage they are three-eighths of an 

 inch in length. 



The spawning season is from the end of February to May, and during 

 this period they arrive in vast numbers. Their influx depends greatly on 

 what winds are prevalent during these months, but the number is always 

 great. During the last three years I hnve made a rough estimate of the 

 number present during May at the Greve d'Azette, in Jersey, by means of a 

 muslin net two feet wide worked over a measured distance on flat pandy 

 bottom, and I find that it averages at least six fish to the square yard for the 

 first ten yards from tide margin 



By the autumn these young Plaice have reached a length of from three 

 and a half to four arid a half inches, and as growth advances they take to 

 deeper water; then finally the vast majority forsake our shores. 



Plaice have not many enemies. Their form, bottom-dwelling habit, 

 and close resemblance to their environment render them fairly immune 

 from general attack. The only fish that seem to prey upon them are 

 their near relatives the Tiirbot and the Brill. Seagulls levy a toll upon 

 those at the tide's margin, but it amounts to very little per cent, on the 

 yearly influx. 



The Plaice is far more migratory than was formerly supposed. A large 

 number are caught each year by the Marine Bi logical Association, marked 

 with a registered number, and then liberated. The records of the recapture 

 of some of these marked specimens shf>w that they travel considerable dis- 

 tances. Soecimens set free in the North Sea have been taken in mid-channel, 

 some hundreds of miles from the point of liberation. So th<-re is not much 

 question as to what becomes of the vast numbers that pass their early days 

 in onr bays. 



In Jers-y the law prohibiting the capture of immature Plaice has been 

 rigidly enforced for the last five year-^, during which time the young wafted 

 into our bays must have amounted to manv millions, now representing S'>me 

 hundreds of tons in weight But the fishery has not increased, and the 

 number of grown fishes remains as it was b-fore the anplication of the law. 

 The cause of limit, a=! mu~t be obvious to the least scientific thinker, is the 

 question of^ food snpphj. The food of the Plaice consists of small molluscs, 

 worms, small criistacea, and the lesser starfishes. 



I feel that I owe some apology to the members of a purely scientific 

 Society for this introduction of what is an economic portion of Natural 

 History, bat my excu=!e mnst be the importance of the suhj,-,ct, affecting as 

 it does, the welfare of many men in the Channel Islands, whose calling is 

 hampered bv measures which, however good they may be for the fisheries of 

 Europe at large, are plainly of iio use whatever locally. 



Da,b. Platessa limanda, Ciiv., Jen., Yar. Pleurowctes limanda, Gunther. 



This little flat-fish, so abundant on each side of the English Channel, is 

 but sparingly represented in any of thes'=' islands. 



FlOUndeP. Pleuronectesflems, Gunther. Platessa Jlesus , Yar., Jen., Flem. 



Rather more numerous than the last species, but, for a fish so common 

 on each side of the Channel, poorly represented in our waters. 

 *Sole. Solea vulgaris, Flem., Yar., Gun. 



Tolerably common in all the islands. 



Little Sole. Solea minuta, Gunther. Monochirus lingulata, Yar. 



Tolerably common in all the islands. 

 HePPing". Clupea harengus, Lin., Flem., Yar. 



Constant m small numbers; occasionally occurs in small shoals. 

 Sppat. Clupea sprattus, Lin., Ycir., Jen. 



Erratic iii occurre ice, and, at least in the adult stage, not abundant, 

 [Whitebait. A little fish that is frequent in large numbers, and is some- 

 tim^-H stranded on "ur shores in great silvery pd,tch(-s, is locM,lly t rmed 

 " Whitehall " and •' Vcise," but I do not care to certify its ideitity without 

 further study. It is possibly only the young of the last species.] 

 Allis Shad. Damar Herring. Clupea alosa, Cuv. Alosa vulgaris, Yar. 

 An occasional visitor only. 



