of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



241 



The main period is during April, May, June, and July, the two middle 

 months containing by far the greatest number of records. 



The table in many respects seems to resemble that of the dab (Table 

 VIII.). A great number of occurrences, scattered over all the stations, 

 and moderate numbers in each case, indicate that the gurnard has a 

 diffuse spawning-area, and no very definite migratory aggregation of in- 

 dividuals for the purpose of spawning. As in the case of the dab, the 

 earliest spawning occurs in the offshore stations, the eggs first appearing 

 twelve miles east of May Island. In all the month of April, only two 

 records of eggs in the inner stations are found, and these show only four 

 eggs in an advanced stage of development. It is well on into May before 

 there are any indications of spawning taking place in the inner stations, 

 and the same remarks apply in a lesser degree to the middle stations. 

 Gurnards' eggs, spawned in April, in the inner stations, would inevitably 

 be drifted ashore before they had completed development, and it is 

 only in the later part of the season, May-end, June, and July, when 

 the mean temperature is higher, and the prevalent easterly drift has sub- 

 sided, that such large eggs can be laid with impunity in the ' near-shore 

 stations.' 



During June, spawning still continues in the outer stations, and the 

 eggs make but slow progress landwards (June 2nd, 1893 ; 300 at various 

 stages). In all the inner stations, the majority of the occurrences are 

 those of eggs in an advanced condition, which strengthens the conclusion 

 that they are mostly spawned in the outer and middle areas, but have been 

 floated in. In July, the outer, middle, and inner stations are all repre- 

 sented by small quantities, so that there is not such a marked falling- 

 off in the outer stations at this period as in the dab. The middle stations 

 are best represented, and it is in these that the two occurrences of 

 August are recorded. 



All appearauces, therefore, indicate that the gurnard commences to spawn 

 in the outer stations ; and, as the season gets later, transfers its main 

 spawning-area to the middle stations There is no pronounced indication 

 that spawning takes place in the inner stations to any great extent, 

 though what there is, is very late in the season (see Diagram). All 

 these facts of the distribution of the eggs of the gurnard can be explained 

 in a like manner to those of the preceding species, by appealing to the size 

 of the eggs, closely like that of the haddock, and the time of year at which 

 they are spawned. The early eggs are similar in their disposition and 

 behaviour to the later eggs of the haddock (or rather to those of the cod, 

 as they are not so densely aggregated), and the later eggs are disposed, 

 and behave, in a way one might expect haddocks' eggs to do if they 

 spawned on through the summer. 



The gurnard is an offshore fish, and hence it probably moves inshore 

 to some extent for spawning, so that there is somewhat of a migration 

 from the adult- to the egg-habitat. An approximation of one to the other 

 would be conceivable by the assumption of an earlier spawning-period, 

 by the assumption of a larger egg (the red gurnard, a smaller fish, but 

 inhabiting deeper water, has a larger egg), or by both of these combined ; 

 or lastly, by the change of the very young from adaptation to shallow to 

 that suited to deeper water, or either of these would enable the gurnard 

 to eliminate the necessity for the migration shorewards. (1) The spawn- 

 ing-areas of the gurnaxd are in the outer stations, with the areas East of 

 the Island of May, and also to some extent the middle areas about 

 Stations V., VI., and VII. : perhaps partly in the inner stations. (2) 

 The spawning-time extends from April to August inclusive, the main 

 time being during April, May, June, and July, with a maximum during 

 Q 



