of the Fish ery Board for Scotland. 



125 



Notes on the foregoing List. 



In the list of young fishes, certain of them are recorded of sizes which are 

 palpably too small. Many of the larval and post-larval forms were 

 distorted and injured, and it was only possible to give approximate sizes. 



Gobius (II.). — The forms labelled Gobius (II.) differ from Gobius 

 iriinutus in the following points: — There is no black pigment on the 

 dorsum in Gobius (II.), whereas Gobius minutus has a patch of pigment 

 consisting of two large stellate corpuscles and a smaller third, on the 

 dorsum, a little in front of the tail. In the latter the black pigment on 

 the ventrum consists of a row of fairly large detached corpuscles extend- 

 ing along the mid-ventral line of the abdomen, and continued behind the 

 anus for some distance towards the tail. In Gobius (II.), on the middle 

 line of the abdomen the pigment is represented by a thin black line. 

 Behind the anus the line is double for a short space, and is then replaced 

 by several large pigment corpuscles. This description refers to preserved 

 specimens of 7mm. length. 



Species B., as mentioned above, includes more than one species, but the 

 majority consists of a form which I have referred to the mackerel. 



Mackerel (?) — Several stages have been drawn by Miss Walker, 

 St. Andrews (Plate VI, fig. 1 — 7 and 12). The youngest example, 4mm. 

 in length, is characterised by a large amount of jet black pigment, laid 

 down in a very definite arrangement. The brain is covered by a patch of 

 stellate pigment corpuscles (Plate VI., fig. 16), while along the dorsum a 

 broad row of minute spots extends to within a short distance of the base 

 of the tail fin. It is indistinctly divided into two rows. Just behind the 

 anus there is a distinct lateral band, formed by a short row of pigment 

 spots along the lateral line. Over the abdomen (fig. lc.) are scattered 

 minute spots, specially concentrated in the rectal region. They are con- 

 tinued behind the anus in a broad row to a point below the end of the 

 dorsal pigment row. In Fig. 2, a specimen 1mm. longer than the 

 preceding, the arrangement of the pigment is exactly similar. In this 

 and the following stage, of 5'5mm. in length (fig. 3), the pigment is 

 intensified, the bar behind the anus being more prominent. The dorsal 

 pigment has now become definitely arranged in two rows, one along each 

 side of the marginal fin. The pigment on the head is laid down in a 

 heart shape, and is separated from the outer end of the dorsal rows by a 

 little gap devoid of pigment. In Fig. 4, which represents a specimen of 

 6*5mm., the pigment rows have broadened ; the anal rows, widely 

 separated at the anus, approach each other as they proceed towards the 

 base of the caudal fin. The minute black spots on the abdomen and sides 

 have increased greatly in number. At 8 '5mm. (fig. 7) the whole body, 

 with the exception of a little portion anterior to the base of the tail fin, 

 is covered with the minute spots. The bar on the tail is to some extent 

 hidden by the increase in pigmentation. On the dorsum the pigment 

 consists of large stellate corpuscles (fig. lb). The ventral appearance is 

 shown in Fig. lc. The dorsal fins, two in number, are indicated 

 indistinctly in the earliest form, but it is only at the last 

 stage referred to that they are prominent. The first dorsal (7 fin 

 rays ca) is situated a little posterior to the pectoral region ; the 

 second dorsal (1011 fin rays ca) begins at a point on the dorsum 

 immediately above the rectum. The anal fin (9-10 fin rays ca) in its 

 origin and breadth closely resembles the second dorsal. Fig. 6 shows a 

 form a little smaller than that shown in Fig. 7. In general form and in 

 the arrangement of the pigment it is exactly similar to the preceding 

 specimens, but it differs in the character of the pigment. In this case 



