of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 75 



0"06 mm. On 31st October a number of fishes were examined, with the 

 following result : — 



Length (mm.) 



57 



62 



63 



82 



85 



90 



94 



96 



97 



105 



107 



110 



112 



117 



1^20 



Diameter of 

 largest Eggs 

 (mm.) 



•15 



•13 



•13 



•35 



•35 



•39 



•39 



•44 



'5 



•49 



•45 



•61 



•66 



•5 



•64 



In the portion of the ovary examined of the specimen at 112 mm. a 

 single egg measuring 1*1 mm. was discovered, and in the one atl20mm., 

 another measuring 1'13 mm. Since the fully ripe ovarian egg measures 

 rS mm., these specimens evidently indicated the approach of the 

 spawning season. On 27th November the following measurements 

 were made : — 



Length (mm.) 



47 



53 



66 



70 



81 



85 



90 



100 



1]0 



Diameter of 

 largest Eggs 

 (mm.) 



•08 



•1 



•15 



•19 



•41 



•41 



•44 



•56 



•49 



In the eggs of "1 mm. and upwards the yolk was fully formed, but the 

 ovaries were small. Larger eggs may have been present in some cases, 

 but they were not observed. On 30th December a considerable number 

 were examined, as given in the Table below, and the larger females 

 were found to contain ripe or nearly ripe eggs. Females as small as 

 78 mm. (3J inches) would obviously spawn in the ensuing season, 

 but in such specimens both the ovaries and the eggs were much 

 smaller, the latter measuring from 1*1 to 1*3 mm. Occasionally a 

 large fish had also the smaller eggs. The smaller females had eggs 

 up to 0*17 mm., and clearly belonged to another series; some at 60 

 and 61 mm. had yolked eggs of 0'12 mm., and others at 52 mm. and 

 53 mm. eggs also yolked measuring O'l mm. Many of the males at 

 70 mm. and under had well-developed testes, white and soft ; in one at 

 59 mm. they were quite minute. On 14th March a number were 

 examined. One female of 106 mm. contained nearly ripe eggs, 

 measuring 1-3 mm. ; one of 120 mm. was spent, with two or three large 

 eggs retained ; others of 98, 95, 96, and 97 mm. were spent, and others 

 of 86, 89, 92, 96, 97, and 100 mm. were ripe. A male at 101 mm. was 

 ripe. In others the diameter of the largest eggs were as follows : — 



Length (mm.) 



74 



73 



71 



69 



68 



65 



63 



68 



60 



59 



Diameter of 

 largest Eggs 

 (mm.) 



•19 



•18 



•21 



•17 



•2 



•17 



•16 



•14 



•16 



•06 



On 30th April most of the females were found to be spent, the ovaries 

 being small and shi-unken ; in several cases a few fully -sized eggs which 

 had failed to be expelled were present. The sizes of females which 

 appeared to have spawned were as follows: — 120, 118, 112, 111, 110, 

 109, 106, 105, 104, 102, 94, 93, 80 mm. The diameter of the eggs 

 present in some cases is shown here : — 



Length 



*120 



*118 



♦111 



109 



106 



104 



68 



58 



56 



Diameter of 



Eggs 



•19 



•16 



•16 



•21 



•18 



•18 



•14 



•14 



•14 



*A few large old eggs also present. 



