of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



203 



grouped in blotches over the sides, with intermediate pale patches, and 

 the shoulder and head have much less pigment than in the whiting. 

 Both the pectoral and the ventral fins of the cod are shorter. The snout 

 of the whiting is shorter and broader, as well as deeper, and the minute 

 barbel of the latter is in contrast with the long barbel of the cod. The 

 latter has the larger eye, and its scales seem to be developed somewhat 

 later than in the whiting of the same length. The whiting would appear 

 to attain a plump body and a finished outline sooner than the cod. 



At 45 mm. the whiting clearly shows the scales along the sides, and 

 the whole body is minutely speckled with black pigment, with the 

 exception of the lower part of the cheeks, the ventral surface of the 

 branchial region, and the silvery abdomen. The three dorsal fins are tinted 

 with the same pigment, the first being darkest. Both anals also have a 

 few dots, and the pectorals are similarly speckled minutely, — the pig- 

 ment being best seen on their inner or posterior surfaces. The ventral fins 

 are pale. 



The foregoing stages are very abundant in July in the deep water off 

 the Island of May and off the mouth of the Forth. They are, indeed, more 

 characteristic of deep water than of the shallow water of such open 

 bays as St Andrews ; though, on reaching a larger size, they are 

 common in the latter. Thus, the contrast between the numbers procured 

 by the mid water-net 25 to 30 miles south-east of the Island of May, and 

 those captured by the same net in inshore waters, is great. In the 

 deep water their length varies from 9 to 58 mm. Comparatively few, 

 however, being at either extremity. 



As the whiting increases in size, great shoals are found in the offshore 

 waters, though a few small are almost always found in inshore areas. It 

 is rare, however, to find a whiting so small as If inch amongst the 

 multitudes of gadoids (chiefly cod and green cod) that seek the tangle- 

 forests on the rocks at low-water. 



The authors of the ' Scandinavian Fishes' * follow the opinion of 

 Prof. Sars that the ' fry' of the whiting seek the shelter of the jelly-fishes, 

 and feed on the crustaceans which live in the latter as parasites, or 

 which adhere to their tentacles, whence Swedish fishermen draw the 

 conclusion that the whiting is produced by the jelly-fishes, and reared by 

 them. There is no reason to suppose, in this country at least, that a 

 general habit of this kind prevails. Instead of looking for multitudes of 

 the young whiting inshore, as the authors mention, it is necessary to go 

 to the deep water offshore. 



We have seen that in July the same haul of the midwater-net in the 

 ' Garland ' gave, on the 11th of July, in the deep water offshore, specimens 

 ranging from 9 to 58 mm. During this month, individual specimens of 

 55 mm., in groups of two or three, and others of 80 mm., these sizes occur- 

 ring separately, were captured by the midwater-net in the inshore waters. 

 From their retreats in the offshore waters, therefore, it is probable that the 

 young whiting pass to the inshore waters when between 50 and 80 mm., or 

 thereabout, whether these stages be reached in July or in August. This is 

 the more likely, since, on the 9 th August, the same net, used under the 

 care of Mr H. C. Williamson, in the Moray Firth, gave a series ranging 

 from 22 to 65 mm. These, likewise, had not yet sought the inshore area. 



The question — in relation to those of 55 to 80 mm., captured towards 

 the end of July in the inshore area water, at a depth ranging from 5 to 15 

 fathoms — now arises : Are these the fishes of the season ; that is, were they 

 hatched in April, or are they late examples of last year's series, — hatched, 

 perhaps, in June or July ? It is apparent that so little difference exists 



* P. 491. 



