24. 



Pari II I. — Twenty -fourth Annual Report 



A second haul, for three hours and forty minutes, in from 10 to 12 

 fathoms, was made in the same locality, the number of fishes secured 

 being 252, an extremely poor catch. The marketable numbered 162 and 

 the unmarketable 90. Round-fishes were again most numerous \ there 

 were 5 cod, 35 codling, all but 3 marketable, 146 haddocks, of which 121 

 were marketable, 12 unmarketable whitings, and 6 gurnards. Flat-fishes 

 were scarce, and consisted of 3 medium-sized plaice, a single flounder, and 

 12 common dabs. 



The fish contained in the small-meshed net numbered 490, and belonged 

 to eleven species. The particulars for each of the nets are as follows : — 



Cod, . 



Otter-trawl 

 7 



Sniall-meshed Net. 



Codling, . 



20 



16 



Haddock, . 



14 





Whiting, . 



3 



150 



Gurnard, . 





2 



Lesser Weaver, . 





1 



Goby, sp., . 





4 



Armed Bullhead. 





2 



Plaice. 





2 



Common Dab, 



7 



18 



Herring, 





3 



Sprat, 





291 



Pipe-fish, . 





1 



Starry Ray, 



9 







(>0 



490 



The quantity of fish landed at the market by the vessel as a result of 

 this trip was as follows, the particulars having been supplied by the 

 Fishery Officer; the total weight being 151| cwts. :— 



Cod. Codling. Coal-fish. Haddock. Whiting. Cat-fish. Angler. Hake. Turbot. 

 244 n If 12| \\ 3 5 & % 



Halibut. Lemon Dab. Plaice. Brill. Common Dab. Witch. Flounder. Skate. 

 I h 52* 2* 3* 28* 4 8 



Remarks on the Maturity of the Fishes. 



During the investigations carried on in February a number of obser- 

 vations were made by Dr. Williamson, who had been requested to 

 determine in as many cases as possible the condition of sexual maturity 

 of the fishes, especially by using pressure in the ordinary way to see 

 whether ripe eggs or spermatic fluid could be squeezed out, or to note 

 whether the fish were spawning. In the hauls made at Burghead Bay 

 between the 7th and 9th February, 2 of the male cod taken were found 

 to be quite ripe,, but none of the females appeared to be ripe ; the number 

 of cod caught was over 60. The ripe males were obtained about four 

 miles off, in from 18 to 30 fathoms of water. Of 4 coal-fishes captured 

 in these hauls, 3 were males and 1 was a female ; the 3 males were ripe 

 and " running" and the female was ripe and had transparent eggs. 



Some of the plaice which were taken were also found to be ripe, though 

 the great majority were immature. The number measured and examined 

 by Dr. Williamson at Burghead Bay was 1534, and of these, so far as 

 could be observed, 3 males and 5 females were ripe, 4 of the females being 



