220 



Part III. — Twenty -fourth Annual Report 



COD— continued. 



Date. 



Croup 



No. 



Range of Size. 



Modal 

 Size. 



Approximate 

 Mean Length 



Approximate 

 Age 



Apparent 

 Growth from 









Cm. 



Inches. 



Cm. 



Inch. 



Years 



M'ths. 



new 



Ser 



Mini; 



les. 



III.— Firth of Forth— 



continued. 

























August 19, 1901, 



I. 



90 



5-4-11-3 



24-4^ 





7-5 



3 





4£-5 









II. 



93 



14-8-31-6 





21 



22-5 



85 



1 



4£~5 



15 





August 22, 1901, - 



I. 



46 



5-8-13-2 



2H¥, 



7 



8 



3J 





4J-5 









II. 



47 



16-8-29-7 



6f-ll| 



22 



22-5 



8* 



1 



4^-5 



14-5 





Ano-nat- 91 IQfll 



AUglllt -1 . J . "J 1 , 



I 



10 



6-4-7-9 



2*-3| 







2| 





4^-5 









II. 



19 



18-8-29-2 



7t-ll£ 



22 



23-5 



9} 



1 



4£-5 



16-5 



6* 



August 19-22, 



I. 



146 



5-4-13-2 



2i-5A 



7 



7-5 



3 





4J-5 







(Combined.) 



II. 



159 



14-8-31-6 



5^-12^ 



21 



22-5 



8ft 



1 



4£-5 



15 



5}f 



IV.— Off Shetland 

 Isles 

























May 19-22, 1901, 



II. 



3 



18-1-23-7 



71-9? 









1 



1* 









III. 



268 



25-2-41-2 



9}°-16i 



32 



32-5 



12| 



2 



1* 









IV. 



141 



41-8-61-6 



16-24} 



50 



50 



19| 



3 



li 



18 



7* 



The first series, that is, cod in their first year, comprises over 900 

 specimens, and they are present in greater or less numbers in thirty-four 

 of the collections. 



They first appeared in a collection made in the Dornoch Firth on 9 th 

 June 1903, the haul being made with the small-meshed net around the 

 cod-end of the otter trawl, in from 8 to 11 fathoms. Twenty-five were 

 taken measuring from 33mm. to 48mm. (ly^-lg inches), the average size 

 being 38 8 mm., or a trifle over 1^ inches. These young cod were approxi- 

 mately 2£ months old. It is of interest to note that on 30th March in 

 the following year (1904), a shoal of spawning cod of large size were 

 discovered on the same ground, a little further off, in from 13 to 15 or 16 

 fathoms* 



They next appear in the collections of 30th July, in Aberdeen Bay, 

 and of 23rd July in the Firth of Forth. In the latter case 29 were 

 obtained, measuring from 4'6cm. to 8*4cm. (l^-§— 3^- inches), and with 

 an average size of about 6cm., or 2f inches. The arithmetical average 

 was 61-3mm. An examination of the curve shows that the smaller cod 

 are not duly represented, the rise from 4cm. to 5cm. being very abrupt ; 

 more probably 2 '5cm. or 3cm. would indicate the lower limit of the 

 group, and 5cm., or 2 inches, the average size. In the collections made 

 in the Firth of Forth from 19th to 22nd August, or nearly a month later 

 than the above, the range in size of 146 specimens was from 5'4cm. to 

 13 2cm. (2^-5^ inches), and the average size was! about 7cm., or 2| 

 inches, an increase of about 2cm., or f of an inch (fig. 5, pi. XII.). 



* Vide Twenty-third Annual Report. Part III, p. 21. 



