of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



189 



Forth. The seventeen specimens caught in St Andrews Bay (from July 

 1888 to June 1889) were all more or less immature. None of those 

 obtained at the 'Garland' Stations in the Moray Firth and in Aberdeen Bay 

 were mature; of fourteen obtained at the end of June 1889, at the 

 ' Garland ' Stations in the Moray Firth, two were ripe, one nearly ripe, and 

 one spent. Three caught at Smith Bank, in January and February 1889, 

 were immature. Smith Bank was again visited at the end of June 

 and beginning of July. Of ten lemon soles examined, eight were 

 found fully ripe. Of those examined by fishery officers those caught in 

 April were forming roe and milt; eight, out of twelve, on June 5th, 

 caught from 25 to 30 miles south east of Montrose, were ripe, and the 

 others not yet ripe ; and on June 20th, six, out of eight, obtained from 

 16 to 20 miles from Montrose, were ripe, the other two being spent. 



The lemon sole, therefore, appears to spawn chiefly in June, and mainly 

 on offshore grounds, although a few may spawn somewhat close to the 

 shore, as in the Moray Firth. 



Common Dab (Pleuronectes limanda). 



The number of specimens of the common dab examined was 1259. 

 On these 448 were obtained in the Firth of Forth, 273 in St Andrews 

 Bay, thirty-five in Montrose Bay, seventy-seven in Aberdeen Bay, eight 

 in Cruden Bay, twenty-seven at the stations in the Moray Firth, 152 

 at Smith Bank and vicinity ; ninety-nine were examined at the University, 

 and obtained 20 or 30 miles east of May Island, and 130 were examined 

 by fishery officers. 



In the Firth of Forth one was found mature in June 1888, one 

 nearly ripe, and four three-quarters mature. In August and September 

 all were more or less immature. In October nearly all were immature, 

 but two were nearly mature. In January and February seven were 

 nearly ripe. In March, out of 102, five were fully ripe, and forty nearly 

 mature. In April, out of twenty-six examined, four were fully ripe, and 

 eight nearly ripe. In May, out of twenty-four examined, four were fully 

 mature, and three nearly ripe. In June, out of forty-five, three were 

 quite ripe, and twenty-three nearly mature. Of those caught in St 

 Andrews Bay, one, out of forty-one, was ripe in July 1888, and two 

 nearly mature. None were found mature again until March, when out 

 of forty examined, two were mature, and fourteen nearly mature. In 

 April, out of twenty-two examined, two were ripe, and four nearly 

 ripe. In June, out of forty, two were ripe, and seven nearly mature. 

 Twenty-five obtained at Montrose in July 1888, and nine in June 

 1889, were all more or less immature. Of forty-nine caught in 

 Aberdeen Bay in July 1888, none were ripe; of twenty-eight obtained 

 in June 1889 one was fully ripe and one was nearly ripe. Eight 

 got in Cruden Bay, in July 1888, were all immature. Of thirty-seven 

 obtained on June 26 and 27, 1889, from the 'Garland' stations 

 in the Moray Firth, eleven were fully mature, and six nearly ripe. 

 Among the 128 caught at Smith Bank and neighbourhood, nine, out of 

 fifty-nine, were nearly ripe in January, but none were mature; in 

 February none of the forty-nine examined were mature or nearly mature. 

 Of forty-four examined on June 28 and July 5, 1889, at Smith Bank, 

 thirteen were fully ripe, and fifteen nearly ripe. In the case of the ninety- 

 nine examined at the University, and obtained in the offshore waters east of 

 May Island, none were mature, but these records include only the period 

 from July 1888 to January 1889. Of the 130 specimens examined by 



