308 



Part HI. — Seventh Annual Report 



crustacean food (chiefly C alarms finmarchicus) which fill both stomach 

 and intestine. 



The three dorsal fins then become distinct and the ventrals show rays. 

 The growth of the body and head diminishes the proportional size of the 

 eye. Moreover, while in the previous stages the tail of the young cod 

 presented terminally a straight notochordal process, it now (at and near § 

 inch) shows a distinct upward curvature, apparently from the development 

 of the hypural elements inferiorly. 



A month later the young cod is found somewhat deeper in the water, 

 being caught in the trawl as well as in the mid- water-net. The smallest 

 is about •£§ inch, and the pigment on the sides is not yet arranged in 

 transverse bars. The barbel is now distinct. But soon the black pigment 

 groups itself along the sides in the characteristic manner formerly pointed 

 out, and a series of pale dots becomes evident along the dorso-lateral region. 

 It then assumes the tessellated condition. 



Whiting. — A single example 1 inch long was captured on the 10th 

 September. Specimens of various sizes abound in the offshore ground, 

 especially in August. 



Roclding. — Post-larval Motellce are frequently met with both in the 

 surface and mid-water-nets when the latter is sunk in deep water near the 

 bottom in July and August. As mackerel-midges at a later stage they are 

 also often obtained towards the end of July and in August. They are 

 found both inshore and offshore. 



Post-larval examples of this species first occurred on the 31st August, 

 and were two in number, measuring 5 and 6 mm. They were occasion- 

 ally (5 times in all) met w 7 ith till 20th September, on which date they 

 were 10 and 12 mm. 



Armed Bull-head (Agonus). — Early in April (4th) the larval form of 

 this species is occasionally met with in the Bay, and generally measures 

 about 7 mm. It is remarkable for the bright yellowish and black colora- 

 tion, and the great depth of both dorsal and ventral regions of the marginal 

 fin, which thus gives the form a somewhat spindle-shaped aspect. The 

 snout is comparatively blunt, and the large size of the eyes recalls the 

 condition in the gadoids and Pleuronectids. The auditory capsule is also 

 spacious. The abdomen presents a marked incurvation in front of the 

 rectum. The pectoral fins are large and fan-shaped. 



Older stages were procured in the mid-water-net towards the end of 

 April, the length ranging to § of an inch. The chief coloration is fine 

 chrome-yellow, especially on the pectoral and dorsal fins and the cutaneous 

 spicules. The spines along the sides form hispid rows — from the pectorals 

 to the tip of the tail. 



Unknown Forms. — (g) An unknown larval-fish, with the anus in the 

 middle of the body (Plate III. fig. 8) and a large solitary oil-globule about the 

 centre of the abdomen. A little dark pigment occurs along the ventral edge. 



These were procured on the 2nd and 6th of March. 



(d) Another and somewhat allied form — in external appearance — was 

 procured about the middle of the same month (March). It is readily 

 distinguished, however, by the presence of a considerable mass of yolk 

 towards the posterior part of the abdomen, and in the centre of this a 

 comparatively large oil-globule surrounded by the usual protoplasmic 

 border. Like the former, the anus is near the middle of the body (some- 

 what behind it), moreover, it only reaches the middle of the ventral 

 marginal fin, as in certain gadoids. A line of black chromatophores 

 runs along the middle line of the abdomen, curves upward behind it, and 

 is continued under the notochord to the rectum; the total length of the 

 fish was a quarter of an inch. 



