270 



Fart HI. — Twenty-Jijth Annual Report 



comparatively near the surface of the water, and thus comes quite within 

 the reach of the herrings. It is a large species, much more so than 

 Calanus, but not too large for herring to swallow, seeing that the 

 Euphausiidse are so frequently captured by them. The Euchcetae are 

 also rich in oily matter, and apparently of as much value as Calanus for 

 herring food, yet the herring appears to reject them. 



The stomachs examined for this paper number, as already stated, five 

 hundred and twelve. Two hundred and forty-three contained food of a 

 more or less definite kind, while two hundred and sixty-nine were empty 

 or their contents could not be identified. Each of these two groups com- 

 prised a nearly equal number of spawners and milters. In the first the 

 females are rather in excess of the males, while in the other the number 

 of males is slightly the greater, but whether food was present or absent, 

 or showed variation in its amount or kind, nothing was observed which 

 could be ascribed to difference in the sex of the fish. 



" Gut-poke" in Herring. 



The term "gut-poke" in herring has long been familiar to fishermen on 

 the West Coast. 



In an interesting paper by the late GeorgeBrook, F.L.S., entitled — "A 

 Report on the Herring Fishery of Loch Fyne and Adjacent Districts,"* a 

 short paragraph is devoted to the subject of gut-poke in herring, and it is 

 stated that almost all the herrings in Loch Fyne are liable to the com- 

 plaint, and that in the month of June the majority of them were in this 

 condition ; he also directs attention to the deterioration in the market 

 value of herrings affected by gut-poke. 



In the summer of 1894, Dr. Fulton, the Scientific Superintendent of the 

 Fishery Board, desired me to visit Tarbert to make some inquiries into 

 the food of herrings, and suggested that the question— " What is gut- 

 poke in herring ?" might receive some attention. Certain inquiries were 

 accordingly made concerning this matter and the results embodied in a 

 short communication to Dr. Fulton, and in the remarks which follow I 

 have incorporated some of the results referred to in that communication. 

 And I would remark, first, that the term " gut-poke" is applied to that 

 condition in herrings when their stomach and intestines are distended 

 with food of a soft and oily nature, such as Calanus, post-larval 

 Clupeoids, and the like, the quantity of food in the stomach being so 

 great that it passes into the intestines without being properly digested. 

 When such herrings are captured decomposition rapidly sets in, and they 

 soon become useless and even dangerous as food. 



" Gut-poke" is not necessarily limited or peculiar to large or small 

 fishes, but, on the other hand, it seems to be most frequently observed in 

 those with immature reproductive organs. The gut-poke condition is 

 seldom noticed in herrings which are sexually mature or nearly so. But 

 though overfeeding appears to be the immediate cause of gut-poke, 

 herrings are frequently obtained which have a considerable amount of 

 food in their stomach without the gut-poke condition being present. 



It is doubtful if a really satisfactory explanation can be given about 

 the true cause of gut-poke in herrings, i.e., the reason why at certain 

 times a seemingly abnormal desire for food affects them, and they feed 

 ravenously till the stomach and intestines become gorged, but whatever 

 the cause may be it is apparently only of temporary duration. 



* Fourth Annual Report of the. Fishery Board for Scotland (1886), p. 47. 



