of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



13 



20,000 specimens, which were obtained mostly in small-meshed 

 nets around the cod-end of otter-trawls during the trawling inves- 

 tigations. It is shown that the opinions hitherto generally held as 

 to the growth of this fish, and which are for the most part based on 

 the investigations of a German naturalist, Dr. H. A. Meyer, which 

 were made at Kiel, on the Baltic, over twenty-five years ago, are 

 not well-founded, and that the herring grows more slowly than he 

 supposed. 



Dr. Meyer's observations and experiments are submitted to 

 critical examination, the results showing that he over-estimated 

 the growth of the herring in winter, when the growth of all fishes 

 is retarded, and missed at least a year in the computation of its 

 age. The gradual growth of the young post-larval herring from 

 the spring and from the autumn spawning respectively is traced, 

 the latter towards the end of the year being between one and two 

 inches in length, while the growth of the spring herring under 

 more favourable temperature conditions is quicker. 



The herring when one year of age measures barely two and a 

 quarter inches in length, and it does not reach maturity and spawn 

 until five years old and of an average length of about 9^-9| inches. 

 The size of the herring at different ages is approximately as fol- 

 lows : — 



Approximate Age. 



Length. 



Increase in Length 

 from Previous Year. 





Mm. 



Inches. 



Mm. 



Inches. 



1 Year, 



60-5 









2 Years, 



113 





52 



2^ 



3 „ 



159 





47 



1| 



4 , 



200 



n 



41 



If 





238 





38 



1| 



6 „ 



257 



104 



19 



3 

 4 



Herrings over twelve inches long, like the large Lochfyne fish, may 

 be ten years old and more, and the very large herrings that are 

 occasionally caught, measuring 14-15 inches, are probably over 15 

 years of age, and may be 20. Compared with most fishes caught 

 by lines or trawls, the herring caught by drift-nets has a great 

 advantage, since no less than four generations of undersized or im- 

 mature herrings escape capture by passing through the meshes of 

 the net, and only fish which have reached adult size are taken. 

 The paper is illustrated with three plates of diagrams. 



The Eate of Growth and the Age of the Food Fishes. 



Another paper dealing with the growth of numerous species is 

 contributed by Dr. Fulton, the results being founded upon the 

 measurements of nearly 209,000 fishes belonging to 21 species, 

 which was done almost entirely by means of the commercial 



