of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 1 9> 



Professor M'Intosh, who has also identified the young fishes 

 procured. Mr Masterman, in his paper dealing with this sub- 

 ject, describes their distribution in the Firth of Forth and St 

 Andrews Bay. At the inner group of stations in the Firth of 

 Forth — that is to say, to the inside of a line between Fiddra and 

 Elie Ness — pelagic eggs seem to be usually abundant, and the 

 bottom abounds with all the common forms of larval, post-larval, 

 and young fishes. The eggs first appear in February, those 

 of the plaice and long rough dab being in great abundance, 

 succeeded towards the end of the month by the haddock and cod. 

 During March and the first half of April the eggs of the haddock 

 predominate, the majority appearing to hatch about the middle of 

 the latter month. 



Cod are rather later, but fairly plentiful, as also are plaice. 

 Towards the end of April the eggs of the common dab become 

 abundant, and those of the gurnard and sprat make their first 

 appearance. About the same time the eggs of whiting, bib, 

 flounder, and poor-cod are found in small numbers. In May the 

 larval and post-larval forms, with young fishes, are abundant, and 

 the dominant forms of eggs are those of the gurnard, sprat, and 

 rockling, among rarer forms being the lemon sole, brill, and 

 dragonet. The predominance of sprat, gurnard, and rockling is 

 continued steadily throughout June, and in this month the eggs of 

 turbot and ling are met with, though in limited numbers. In July 

 the number of floating eggs undergoes a distinct diminution, the 

 sprat, gurnard, and rockling being all at the stage of hatching, and 

 turbot and lemon sole are still encountered. In August the ova are 

 still less in number, but the young fishes at the bottom become 

 very plentiful, especially gobies, herrings, and sprats. In October 

 young clupeoids swarm, together with pleuronectids, gobies, and 

 dragonets, and in December they are sparse. At the middle group 

 of stations, within the Isle of May, the general features of the 

 distribution of the floating fish-eggs seem to resemble those of the 

 first group, but those of the long rough dab occur later. In May 

 the eggs of the whiting and poor-cod seem most abundant, taking 

 the place of the immense quantities of sprat eggs at the inner 

 stations. Abundance of young clupeoids and sand-eels occur all 

 over this area, and in August there are great quantities of post- 

 larval flat-fishes. At the stations beyond the Isle of May enormous 

 quantities of haddock eggs were obtained in March and early April, 

 with those of plaice and long rough dab in abundance, and lesser 

 quantities of cod and a few whiting. 



Comparing the three groups of stations referred to, Mr Masterman 

 points out that, as a general rule, the eggs of gadoids and flat-fish, 

 such as cod, haddock, plaice, and long rough dab, are most numerous 

 at the seaward stations, beyond the Isle of May; in the inter- 

 mediate group, the eggs of the lesser gadoids, such as whiting and 

 poor-cod, are more abundant, and the eggs of the sprat and gurnard 

 seem to be most frequent at the inner group of stations. As re- 

 gards development, it appears to be a somewhat general rule that 

 the eggs at the inner stations are at a slightly later stage than 

 those further down the estuary. 



