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Part III. — Twent II -first Annual Report 



Great Fisher Bank, one in Aberdeen Bay, two in Thurso Bay, one in 

 the Dog Hole off Aberdeen, and 167 in the Moray Firth. The facts 

 concerning this uncouth and odd form are of some interest. With cer- 

 tain exceptions referred to below, usually only one or two or a few were 

 taken in the same haul ; it is thus e\idently widely dispersed and 

 scattered. The one taken in Aberdeen Bay was caught on 6th June in 

 from five to sixteen fathoms, and it was marketable. The specimen pro- 

 cured at the Dog Hole, ten miles from Aberdeen, was got in fifty-eight 

 fathoms on 21st August, and it was marketable. Another large 

 specimen was obtained in the deep water— eighty-five fathoms — about 

 eight miles from Kinnaird Head on 4th July. 



On the Fisher Bank in thirty-four fathoms at the end of May and 

 the beginning of June they were comparatively abundant, thirty-two 

 specimens being taken in twelve hauls ; three hauls were blank, but in 

 the others cat-fish were obtained in numbers ranging from one to six, 

 and they were all large. They were much commoner here than in the 

 deeper water further north-west, ofi" the coast of Aberdeen, immediately 

 afterwards, where fourteen hauls in from sixty-four to eighty-one 

 fathoms furnished only four. The bottom, however, was for the most 

 part muddy. South-east and east of Sumburgh Head in the latter part 

 of May they were numerous, fourteen hauls yielding fifty-six, of which 

 all were marketable but three; the depth varied from fifty-eight to 

 seventy-six fathoms, and twelve, eight, four, eight, and nine cat-fishes 

 were taken in successive hauls. In September two were taken in 

 nearly the same locality in four hauls. In October ofi* Fair Isle, in 

 sixty -five fathoms, eleven w^ere taken, one of which was too small to be 

 marketable ; and in May in sixty-five fathoms, east of the Shetlands, 

 twenty-three w^ere taken, thirteen in one haul. 



The particulars regarding the occurrence of the cat-fish in the Moray 

 Firth are of interest. In the numerous hauls in the months of Septem- 

 ber, October, and November, comprising over 200 hours' actual trawling 

 at various places and different depths, not a single cat-fish was taken. 

 In August one was caught in Bui'ghead Bay, in five to twenty-five 

 fathoms ; in July three, two in from seven to twelve fathoms in the place 

 named, and one in eighty-five fathoms off Kinnaird Head ; in June two, 

 one in from five to fourteen fathoms in Burghead Bay, and one on Smith 

 Bank in twenty-five fathoms. In summer and autumn, therefore, the 

 cat-fish appears to be rare in the Moray Firth. In December, however, 

 eighteen were taken; in January, with many fewer hauls, seven; in 

 February ten, in March fifty-three, and in May seventy-five. Many of 

 these were taken in comparatively shallow water, as in Dornoch Firth. 

 There thus appears to be a migration of the large cat-fishes from the 

 deeper water shorewards in winter and spring for spawning. The 

 ovaries were not examined in these instances, little time having been 

 available, but in April they were found to be spent, some of them 

 having a few large ripe eggs which had failed to be expelled. 



The number of unmarketable cat-fishes taken was small — and those of 

 fourteen or fifteen inches fall into this category — being only seven. 

 Very much smaller specimens would be retained by the otter-trawl net, 

 and the explanation of their absence is no doubt the same as in so many 

 other instances, viz. their absence from the bottoms where the trawl 

 can work. 



The most disadvantageous attribute of a fish in the sea is diminu- 

 tiveness ; the smaller it is the more it is liable to be swallowed 

 by others ; as it increases in size the number of its possible enemies 

 diminishes and its chance of survival is greater. Security may be 

 sought in some cases by a pelagic habit, but in many instances it is ob- 

 tained by frequenting locky bottoms covered with algse, and on these 



