of the Fishery Board jor Scotlatid. 



69 



surface waters — their usual habitat — the trawlers' catches simply 

 indicating that at the times and places described they were feeding at 

 the bottom, having withdrawn in the winter to deeper water. The 

 mackerel, which in summer and autumn are found along the coasts, then 

 usually desert them, and probably move out into deeper water and 

 frequent the bottom — that is to say, they seek the layers of 

 water where the highest temperature prevails. In many cases the 

 depths at the places where they were caught exceeded seventy 

 fathoms. I think it improbable that they were taken in the surface 

 waters while the net was being shot or hauled : first, because of 

 the large numbers obtained in some instances ; second, because the net 

 in eithei- process is not dragged rapidly through the water and the 

 mackerel is a swift and agile fish ; and third, because herrings have 

 been taken from the bottom in similar depths, proved also by their 

 presence in a semi-digested condition in the stomachs of anglers. None 

 were got, as stated, in the early summer, when the spawning shoals 

 ai-e in the surface wateis and near the coast. I append the particulars 

 of each catch ; when the depth is inserted in brackets it means that it 

 has been derived from the chart. Otherwise it is the depth stated by 

 the trawler. The positions where they were taken are indicated in the 

 chart (Plate I.) as M 1, M 2, <fec. 



No. 



Date. 



1 



14 Jan. - 



2 



17 „ - 



3 



21 „ - 



4 



•27 „ - 



5 



27 „ - 



6 



12 Feb. - 



7 



24 „ - 



8 



12 March 



9 



19 Sept. - 



10 



17 Nov. - 



11 



25 „ - 



12 



5 Dec. - 



13 



13 „ - 



14 



15 ,, - 



15 



16 „ - 



16 



24 - 



17 



25 „ - 



Place, 



64 miles N.E. by E. ; about 25 miles E. by N. 



of Kinnard Head. 

 100 miles E.N.E. ; about 60 miles E. by N. of 



Kinnard Head. 

 130 miles N.E. by E. ; about 100 miles E. by 



N. of Kinnard Head. 

 90 miles N.E. ; about 65 miles E. by N. of 



Kinnard Head. 

 40 miles S.E. from Out Skerries 



126 miles N.E. i N. ; about 40 miles S.E. of 

 Fair Isle. 



150 miles N.E. ; about 50 miles S.E. by E. of 

 Fair Isle. 



230 miles N.E. by E. ; about 80 miles W. of 



Norwegian coast, at Bergen. 

 180 miles E.S.E. ; Great Fisher Bank 



210 „ „ „ - - 



140-160 „ „ „ - - 



1 80 miles N. E. by E. ; midway between Fair 

 Isle and Norway. 



150 miles E. by N. ; midway between Aber- 

 deen coast and Norway. 



150 miles E. by N. ; midway between Aber- 

 deen coast and Norway. 



105 miles E. from Aberdeen - . . - 



1.50 miles N.E. by E. 

 80 miles E. by N. - 



Depth. 



Fathoms. 

 [60^68] 



[70] 

 [65-70] 



[70] 

 [70-80] 

 [60-70] 

 [60-70] 

 [34-38] 

 [30-40] 

 37-38 

 65-68 

 45-50 

 45-50 

 54-57 

 68 

 70 



Lesser Weever (Trachinus viper a). 



This species was very rarely taken in the small-meshed net on the 

 East Coast, but on two occasions considerable numbers were secured. On 

 5th July, in Aberdeen Bay, in ten fathoms, off Collieston, forty-seven 



