of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



201 



water one, are used over the various fishing-banks offshore, multitudes of 

 the little haddocks are obtained, but otherwise they do not come under 

 the notice of fishermen until they are able to take a hook, — that is, when 

 about 4 inches in length. 



Why the very young haddock should frequent deep water, and the 

 young cod seek the inshore water, and even the tidal margin at a similar 

 stage, is one of those mysteries it is difficult to unravel. Such, at any 

 rate, would appear to conduce to the extraordinary abundance of the 

 haddock in the British area, and to enable it to hold its own in the struggle 

 for existence. The species exhibits none of the mottled colouration so 

 characteristic of the very young cod ; indeed, it even shows less change in 

 this respect than the whiting. It finds in the deeper waters abundance 

 of food, and probably greater safety in its early condition ; though, it is 

 true, cod and other fishes find it out and prey on it. In whatever way we 

 look at the subject, this divergence of habit in two of the best known and 

 most esteemed food-fishes is a feature of great interest. 



The Whiting. 



The development of the egg, and the larval, post-larval, and young 

 stages of the whiting, were described in the ' Kesearches,' * but a 

 largely increased series of young examples at various stages necessitate 

 a revision of the subject. 



As a rule, the whiting sheds its eggs in the offshore waters, where the 

 early stages of the species are passed, though there are grounds for 

 believing that, in certain cases, it spawns somewhat nearer the shore than 

 the two former. 



The larval condition of this species is sufficiently diagnostic when con- 

 trasted with either cod or haddock, since it has canary-yellow pigment 

 thickly distributed over the neck, yolk-sac, tail, and fin-membranes. 

 The oldest larva reared in the laboratory was distinguished by its black 

 pigment-spots arranged in a double series along the edges of the muscle- 

 plates, the inner row in each case being somewhat fainter. A dense 

 pigment-band exists in the sub-notochordal region of the abdomen, and 

 scattered spots occur generally over the surface. 



When about 9 mm. in length, in July, the dorsal and the anal fins 

 form a continuous web, with only embryonic rays, but the caudal has its 

 permanent rays developing distinctly, and in a somewhat symmetrical 

 manner above and below the tip of the notochord, which here passes 

 straight backwards to the middle of the tail. In spirit, a considerable 

 amount of black pigment occurs on the dorsum of the head and some at 

 the tip of the snout. On each side of the dorsal median fin a bold line 

 of the same pigment stretches from above the pectorals to the base of the 

 tail, the line along each side of the ventral median fin being much less 

 distinct, though the broad band of black chromatophores which runs 

 backwards above this is more conspicuous than that on the side below the 

 dorsal black line. The latter (lateral pigment) is mostly in a single line, 

 and shorter ; whereas, that beneath is formed of two or three irregularly 

 distributed from above downwards, and is longer. Ventrally, a line of 

 chromatophores follows the mandible on each side, part of a /\ is 

 similarly outlined over the hyoid, a group occurs below and in front of 

 the breast-fin, and a median stripe runs along the abdomen. The head is 

 nearly a third the length of the body. 



Between the foregoing and 11 mm., permanent rays appear in the 

 dorsal and anal fins, the first dorsal being somewhat behind the others in 

 * Trans, Roy. Soc, Edin., vol. xxxv. pi. iii. p. 824. 



