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Part III. — Fifteenth Annual Iieport 



M'lntosh, Ninth Scottish Fishery Board Report) : — Sprat, gurnard, witch, 

 dragonet, motella, turbot, sole, dab, flounder, ling. From this list the 

 plaice, haddock, cod and other gadoids are absent. From the list for the 

 present year the witch and ling are absent, but all the others of those 

 mentioned are present. 



This year the long rough dab, plaice and gurnard are well represented, 

 but far exceeded in numbers by the haddock, cod, whiting, poor cod, 

 flounder and dab ; the cod being present in greatest numbers. If the 

 proportion of the numbers of eggs spawned by different species be con- 

 sidered, it will be found that the plaice, long rough dab and haddock are as 

 abundant as the cod. For example, the cod sheds about three times as 

 many eggs as the haddock ; hence to be equally abundant there should 

 be about three times the number of cod eggs that there are of haddock, 

 which is not always the case. 



On several occasions trawlings were made at different depths on 13th, 

 20th, 21st and 22nd. On the 13th and 21st, however, they were not at 

 the same place, and on the 20th and 22nd they were limited to the sur- 

 face and two fathoms down. From the results, it is seen that there is no 

 difference between the number of eggs taken on the surface and at two 

 fathoms, and a comparison between the number or kinds of eggs taken at 

 the surface and at the bottom or great depths cannot be made for the 

 same place. But, comparing generally the results given, the proportion 

 of eggs on the surface to these at the bottom is as 100 to 1. 



The majority of the eggs of the haddock, cod, whiting, and poor cod 

 had simply the blastodisc, bat in a few (chiefly haddock) the embryos 

 were seen. With the exception of the long rough dab, the embryo was 

 not in the same stage for all of the same species in any one bottle of eggs. 

 The greatest numbers of eggs were obtained on 13th, 14th and 15th 

 April, at Stations VI., VII, VIII., and X. ; at Station X. over 20,000 

 were got. Not having a chart of the Clyde stations at hand, one is 

 restricted to the mere mentioning of stations. 



Long rough dab. — This form was got in 23 out of 30 trawls not in any 

 quantity except on the 13th, 14th, and 15th April. The greater propor- 

 tion of eggs had the embryo well developed ; in some, the larva was 

 hatched. Often, however, where the majority were thus, one or two 

 showed no signs of development, as if they had not been fertilised, or if 

 fertilised, had died at a very early stage. 



Plaice. — The plaice is not quite so common as the long rough dab, 

 being present in 21 trawls. These two forms seem to hunt together, as 

 will be seen more strikingly in the list for Loch Fyne. Comparing with 

 the east coast for the same time, we find that the long rough dab has 

 about the same numbers at both places, while the plaice seems to be over 

 in the Forth. No figures are at hand for March on the -Clyde, and it 

 cannot be said absolutely that the plaice spawns later in the west than in 

 the east, because its eggs might be got just as early in the year in the 

 west as in the east. Nevertheless, this statement is correct that the 

 spawning period is continued later in the west. Mr Masterman, in Thir- 

 teenth Scottish Fishery Board Report, takes the spawning period of the 

 plaice in the east as from January to May, and mentions that Petersen for 

 Danish waters, gives the period as from November to April, with the 

 maximum in the heart of winter. For the Clyde, it seems as if the maxi- 

 mum were in the beginning of April, and thus the spawning period would 

 seem to be later in the warmer waters. The temperature of the water in 

 the Clyde during April (Thirteenth Scottish Fishery Board Report) is 

 about 8° C. on surface and 7* C. at depths greater than 15 fathoms. On 

 the east coast, the temperature of the water at the same period is under 



