of the Fishery Board for Scotlcmd. 



191 



It is obvious that the two specimens about 14 cm. (5J inches) taken in 

 March and April — one of which was obtained by the " Garland " on 16th 

 April at Station I, in the Firth of Forth, and the other found on the 

 beach at St. Andrews after a storm* — belong, at least, to the preceding 

 year. That is no doubt also the case with the specimens in May, two of 

 which measured 168 and 170 mm., the third 181 mm., and the others 

 186, 187, 190, 193, and 194 mm., all being procured in the deep water 

 to the east of the Shetlands. Those obtained in September — of which 

 three, measuring 165 mm., 178 mm., and 190 mm., were got in sixty -five 

 fathoms, south-east of Sumburgh Head, on the 3rd of the month, and two 

 on 6th and 11th by the "Garland," one in St. Andrews Bay and the 

 other in the Forth — are doubtless also fish of the ]3receding year. The 

 others were procured as follows. In June, two, each 190 mm., at the 

 beginning of the month, one in the Moray Firth, and the other in Aber- 

 deen Bay ; a third about the same length was taken by the "Garland " on 

 6th June in St. Andrews Bay, and the fourth, measuring 200 mm., at the 

 beginning of the month in the Moray Firth. In July, three were 

 obtained in the Moray Firth between the 1st and the 4th of the month, 

 and they measured 195, 198, and 198 mm.; another 192 mm. long was 

 taken in Aberdeen Bay on 30th July. I think it is evident that all these 

 specimens, ranging from five-and-a-half to seven-and-three-quarter inches, 

 belong to the previous year. 



The November specimens, liow^ever, appear to be in another category. 

 The smallest measured 127 mm. and 128 mm., or just about five inches, 

 and judging from what we know about the rate of growth of the haddock 

 and whiting, and the absence of comparable sizes in the preceding months, 

 it is highly probable that these young anglers — one, the smallest, got in 

 the Dornoch Firth on 5th November, and the others off Lybster on 8tli 

 November, in from twenty-three to thirty-four fathoms — were spawned in 

 the same year. This would show fairly rapid growth from the spawning 

 period, as above assigned. Those obtained in March and April, which 

 measured five-and-a-half inches, may be regarded as about, or nearly, one 

 year old. 



With the view of determining if possible the limits of the yearly groups 

 or generations of the smaller anglers, I have tabulated the measurements 

 of those under 60 cm. (23| inches), and give them in the following Table 

 in centimetre groups : — 



^MTntosh and Masterman, Brit. Food Fishes, p. 155. 



[Table. 



