of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



229 



the curve was at 25cm. The third group consisted of a few specimens, 

 mostly between 32cm. and 35cm. (12|-13| inches), and apparently 

 extending to about 40cm., and no doubt represented the spawning shoal. 



A collection off Lybster, on the coast of Caithness, on 22nd October, 

 1903, yielded a number of various groups. The small-meshed net around 

 the cod-end was ruptured, and only contained 4 haddocks. The first 

 series was represented by 4 fishes, 12cm. and 13cm. The second group 

 extended from 21 '4cm to 29cm. (8|-11| inches); most were between 

 25cm. and 27cm., the apex of the curve was at 26cm., and the mean was 

 about 26*5cm., or 10| inches. The smaller members of the group were 

 not present in normal numbers. 



The next group extended from about 29cm., apparently, to 36cm. 

 (11|-14J inches); most were aggregated between 31cm. and 34cm., the 

 apex of the curve was at 32cm., and the mean was about 32 5cm., or 12| 

 inches. 



It may be noted that in the curve of this group, as in the curves for the 

 collection from Aberdeen Bay on 31st October, and for the collection 

 from Smith Bank on 1st April, the descending slope is interrupted, 

 suggestive of a division. It is better shown in '5cm., as below: — 



1st April . .33 24 22 22 28 20 12 8 7 5 

 22nd October . 34 52 33 44 37 40 25 23 3 7 



At this size (reproductive) growth is slower and the fusion of the groups 

 greater, and it is quite likely that the division indicated is a real one. 



Twenty-one collections of whitings were measured, most of them taken 

 in the Moray Firth, the number being 8346, which, with those contained 

 in my previous papers, makes about 58,000 of this species measured. 

 The results as regards growth are confirmatory of the conclusions pre- 

 viously reached, and the collections may be briefly referred to. 



Six collections were obtained from the Dornoch Firth, as shown in Table 

 XXIII. The first was on 22nd October, 1903, and it comprised 233 

 whitings, taken in from 6 or 7 to 13 fathoms. The smallest was 51mm. 

 (2 inches), and the largest of the first series, to which almost all the 

 specimens belonged, was apparently 176mm. (7| inches). The great 

 majority of the fishes were aggregated between 9cm. and 13cm., the apex 

 of the curve, or point of greatest aggregation, being 11cm., which was 

 also the mean between the limits named; the arithmetical average was 

 about 105'6mm. The average size of these whitings was thus about 4J 

 inches. Two specimens of 21cm. and 22cm. probably represent a second 

 series, and there is a third at 36cm. 



The next collection, on 11th November, comprised 421 whitings, all 

 but one (at 27cm.) apparently belonging to the same series. The smallest 

 measured 58mm. (2^ inches) and the largest 194mm. (7§ inches); most 

 were aggregated between 10cm. and 14cm., the apex of the curve being 

 at 12cm., which was also the mean, while the computed average was 

 approximately 1205cm. (4| inches). 



31st October, 



WHITING (Gadus merlangus). 



