230 Part III — Seventeenth Annual Report 





Date. 



JNo. 



Locality. 



1. Under two inches 

 (51mm.) - 



Nov. 



26th, 1895. 



1 





2. Between two aud 

 three inches, - 



Jan. 24th, 1899. 

 April 22nd, 1896. 



1 



Station VII., Firth of Clyde. 



„ x., 





May 



4th, 1893. 



1 (3in.) 



Smith Bank, Moray Firth. 



• 



55 



10th, „ 



_ 



/ 



Station XV., ,, 





Sept. 



1st, 1896. 



1 



., VII., Firth of CI vde. 





55 



17th, „ 



1 







Oct. 



14th, „. 



18 



,, XVI., Moray Firth, j 





)> 



23rd, „ 



1 



„ v., 





55 



26th, „ 



4 



„' VII., 





55 



55 



2 

 5 



„ VIII., * 



„ ix. ; 





Nov. 



8th, 1892. 



4 (2|-3) 



,, II I., St. Andrews Bay. 





55 



55 



1 (2£) 







55 



9th, 1897. 

 11th, „ 



2 

 2 



IX., Moray Firth. 



,5 VII., ,, 



,, V., Firth of Clyde. 







22nd, 1895. 



1 



V. . 







25th, „ 



2 



>> VII., 







26th, „ 



1 



., X., 





55 



26th. 1896. 



55 



4 

 2 



,, VII., Moray Firth, 

 ii VIII., ,, 





5) 



55 



5 



„ ix., 



It will be observed that no gurnards under three inches in length were 

 caught between May and September, and that the greatest numbers were 

 caught in October and November. The absence of these small gurnards 

 is not due to no hauls having been made in the intervening months. 

 Hauls with the shrimp-net were also made in June (10 in number), July 

 (6), and August (11). The numbers caught in each month in which 

 hauls with the shrimp-net were made are as follows : — 



Jan. April. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. 



No. of Hauls. ... 12 41 34 10 6" 11 23 25 13 

 No. of Gurnards 



under 3 inches, ... 1 3 8 0 0 0 2 30 24 



Average, 0-08 0-07 0-23 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-09 1*2 1'8 



One conclusion from these facts is clear — viz., that the gurnards under 

 three inches in length caught in January, April, and May belong to the 

 previous year's spawning. The increased number caught in May is no 

 doubt due to the participation of the young forms in the migratory move- 

 ment at that time (see p. 224). The absence of a single specimen under 

 this size in June, July, and August is probably largely owing to the 



