of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



243 



This meagre list is all that one can glean with regard to the presence of 

 eggs of the brill. Dr Fulton gives the spawning period as mid-March to 

 the end of June, with a maximum in May. That the eggs of the brill 

 should only be found in May, at the height of the spawning-season, and 

 then only in small numbers, indicates that the brill spawns in the 

 Firth of Forth only exceptionally. This species probably spawns far 

 from land, and more knowledge of its spawning-habits is also required. 



TABLE XL— EGGS OF GREEN COD. 

 Firth of Forth. 



Feb. 21, 1894. 



Station VIII. , 



. 16. 



„ 21, „ 



„ IX., . . . 



. 3 (advanced). 



>> 22, ,, 



„ v., . . . 



. 2. 



„ 26, „ 



„ VI, . . . 



. 1. 



Mar. 6, 1895. 



„ VIII., . . 



. 72. 



7, „ 



May Island to Carr, 



. 2. 



;, 7, „ 



Carr to Barbet Ness, 



. 17. 



„ 19, „ 



Station VII., 



. 4. 



„ 19, „ 



„ VIII. and IX, . 



. 7. 



» 20, „ 



„ v., . . . 



. 1. 



» 20, „ 



VI 



. 1. 



April 14, 1893. 



„ IX, . . . 



. 8 (advanced). 



>i 25, „ 



Cross-section I., 



164 (green cod and bib), various 

 stages. 



May 6, 1892. 



Station IX., . 



. 10. 



j> 9, ,, 



„ VIII, . . 



. 43. 



9 



July 2l! 1892. 



„ VIII., 



. 26. 



„ VIII, 



. 6. 



„ 21, „ 



„ IX, . . . 



. 2. 



Green Cod. 



The number of eggs of the green cod is small, but it is likely that in 

 many cases they may have been confused with those of some of the other 

 gadoids. They extend from February 21st to July 21st. On this latter 

 date are recorded a few in each of Stations VIII. and IX, but I would 

 be inclined to doubt the accuracy of the diagnosis in this case. (The 

 observations are my own, and I do not think that they were positive; they 

 are accompanied by a (?). 



Thus I think we are justified in saying that the record of the pelagic 

 eggs gives the spawning-period of the green cod as from the third week 

 of February to the end of April, allowing for the period of incubation in 

 May. This compares with Dr Fulton's for the whole East Coast as a more 

 contracted period ; he gives practically the first four months of the year. 

 The conclusion is irresistible that (as is indicated by the general principles 

 laid down above) the eggs of the green cod in January would be found 

 further out than the Firth of Forth district. The green cod, in respect 

 of spawning-period, would thus come at the head of the gadoid series (see 

 Diagram), and the distribution of its eggs falls in with this position. The 

 eggs are not found once in the inner stations ; partly, perhaps, because by 

 April and May the eggs of the lesser gadoids (ef. Ap. 25, 1893) appear in 

 this region, and obscure them ; but they are newly spawned in Stations 

 VIII. and IX. Only five records, with an aggregate of 10 eggs, are found 

 in Stations V, VI, and VII, the middle stations, and it is reasonable to 

 conclude that these have been drifted in from the outer stations. 



(1) The green cod spawns in the Liston Bank area and outer stations 

 only. (2) The green cod spawns in February, March, and April. (3) The 

 eggs are probably drifted inwards to the middle, and possibly the inner 

 stations, as in the case of the other early-spring gadoids. 



