70 



Part III. — Twenty -Jirst Annual Report 



were taken, seventeen being females, measuring from 113 mm. to 132 

 mm. (4|-5j-^^ inches), and thirty males, from 93 mm. to 135 mm. (3^- 

 inches). The average size of the females was 120'4 mm. or 4| 

 inches, and of the males 111*7 mm. or 4| inches. They were ripe and 

 spawning. On 31st July a haul for forty-five minutes, in from eleven 

 to thirteen fathoms, opposite the mouth of the Ythan in Aberdeen Bay, 

 gave eighty-two specimens, viz, fifteen females and sixty-seven males. 



These fish were spawning, ripe eggs and spermatic fluid oozing on 

 touching them, and it was thus a simple matter to detei-mine the sex. 



On 4th September, oft' Newburgh, Aberdeen Bay, in ten fathoms, one, 

 135 mm. long, was taken, the sex of which was not determined ; on the 

 same day, two females, 118 and 127 mm., both spent. 



The smallest ripe female in July measured 110 mm. (4| inches), the 

 next being 113 mm., and the largest was 161 mm. (6| inches). The 

 smallest ripe male measured 91 mm. or 3y^^ inches, and the largest 138 

 mm. (5y^^ inches). Forty-one of the males were under the size of the 

 smallest female, and fifty under the size of the second smallest. The 

 excess of males is contrary to the rule among fishes producing pelagic 

 eggs, the only exception previously stated being in the case of the 

 flounder ;* but it is perhaps questionable whether the figures mentioned 

 really represent the true proportions in numbers between the sexes. 

 The lesser weever, as was known to Parnell,t is extremely common in 

 the Sol way, and I find from the examination of 124 specimens from 

 there that the females were slightly in excess, viz. 64 to 60 males. 

 They were taken in April, May, August, September, October, and 

 November, none being secured in June and July, when they had 

 probably migrated into deeper water to spawn. It is pretty certain 

 from the disparity in the sizes of the males and females that the former 

 attain maturity at an earlier age than the latter, and the great excess 

 of the ripe males in Aberdeen Bay probably indicates that a younger 

 generation of them took part in reproduction, the females of correspond- 

 ing age being still immature and thus not migrating out to spawn with 

 the others. In any case, however, the excess of females, if there be 

 excess, cannot be great, the small preponderance in the samples from 

 the Solway being very much less than among other species producing 

 pelagic eggs.+ It is interesting to note that the flounder and the lesser 

 weever are the two fishes with pelagic eggs in which the females do not 

 greatly preponderate, or may be indeed less numerous than the males. 

 Both spawn near shore in water of moderate depth, migrating from the 

 shallower water to do so. The proportion of the sexes in the sprat, 

 which also spawns inshore in summer, has not apparently been deter- 

 mined. Among the weevers from the Solway in April, September, 

 August, and November, the average size of the females was 107*2 mm. 

 or 4 J inches, and of the males 90'3 mm. or a little over 3| inches. 



The lesser weever seems to spawn later than the majority of fishes. 

 Day says vaguely it spawns in spring ; Brook gives April, May, and 

 June as the period on the coast of Yorkshire,§ and he found those 

 kept in his tanks spawned in June and July ; || M'Intosh states that 

 the floating eggs are found in St. Andrews Bay in April, May, and 

 June;5[ and Holt found a female " nearly ripe" in May on the Irish 

 coast, and the floating eggs in considerable abundance in J une and 



* Tenth Ann. Rep., Pait III., p. 239. 

 t Fishes of the Firth of Forth, p. 173. 



XFourtlt A nn. Rep. Loc. cit. 

 § Tenth A nn. Rep., Part III., p. 244. 



II Journ. Linn. Soc, xviii., p. 274. 

 H Ninth Ann. Rep., Part III, p. 326. 



