of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



125 



[IL— THE OVARIES AND OVARIAN EGGS OF THE ANGLER 

 OR FROG-FISH (LOPHIUS PISGATORIUS), AND OF 

 THE JOHN DORY {ZEUS FABER). By T. Wemyss 

 Fulton, M.D., F.R.S.E., Scientific Superintendent. (Plates 

 IL, IIL) 



1. The Angler or Frog-Fish {Lophius piscatorius). 



The embryonic development of this fish has been described by Agassiz 

 and Whitman,"^ and by Prince,! but hitherto no detailed account appears 

 to have been given of the ovaries and ovarian eggs. Some years ago I 

 described the ovaries in a female caught in January as forming a wide, 

 flattened, thin-walled tube, about twenty feet in length, the eggs being 

 arranged in a layer in the form of a band occupying half the circumfer- 

 ence of the tube, and I stated that they were coiled up in the abdominal 

 cavity and exhibited worm-like or gliding movements.J More recently 

 I have been able to make a more complete study of the ovaries and 

 ovarian eggs. 



The ovaries are confluent, and, as stated, form a single, long, flattened 

 tube or band, whose dimensions vary with the size of the fish and the 

 season of the year. In the following Table are given the dimensions and 

 particulars of some of the ovaries examined : — 



Date. 



Length of 

 Fish. 



Place of 

 Capture. 



Ovaries. 



Length. 



Breadth 



Thick- 

 ness. 



Weight. 



Condition. 



Feb, 18, 1891, 



4 feet 



E. Coast. 



36 feet. 



10 



in. 





101- lbs. 



Nearly ripe 



Mar. 28, „ 







§91 feet. 









over 25 lbs. 



May 25, „ 



3 feet 8 in. 



Firth of Forth. 



17 feet 7 in. 









4 lbs. 2 oz. 





July 7,1897, 



3 feet 



24 miles E. of 



17 feet 1 in. 



6|' 



'in. 



3mm. 



5 lbs. 13 oz. 



Not ripe 





May Isle 











Feb. 9,1898, 



4 feet 



3 miles W. Bell 



8 feet 10 in. 



H 



in. 







,» 







Rock. 















„ 11, „ 



4 feet 2 in. 



7 miles S. S. E. 



29 feet Lin. 



iH 



in. 



4mm. 



14 lbs. 6 oz. 



Almost ripe 







May Isle. 











„ 12, „ 



19 It 



5 miles S. S. E. 



9 feet 8 in. 



4| 



in. 





2 lbs, 5 oz. 



Not ripe 





May. 











» 17, „ 





OfifM«y Isle 

 ,» 



29 feet. 



7 



in. 





9 lbs, 2 oz. 





„ 24, „ 





23 feet 2 in. 



8 



in. 





6 lbs. 3| oz. 





Mar. 5, „ 





,> 



3 feet 2 in. 



1 



in. 





Immature 



As the floating gelatinous band in which the eggs are imbedded has been 

 found as late as July, it would appear that the spawning period of 

 Lophius extends from February to about the end of June. Large females 

 examined on the 9th and 11th July were spent ; a female three feet 

 nine inches long, caught on 20th May, had the eggs scarcely half 

 developed; one, two feet six inches in length, caught on 21st May, was 

 in the same condition ; one, two feet three inches long, caught on 22nd 

 November, was less advanced. 



In the specimen with almost mature eggs, caught on 11th February, the 

 ovaries measured a little over 29 feet in length, the greatest breadth was 

 13J inches and the thickness was only 4 millimetres. It formed a long, 



* Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. xiv., 

 No. 1, Part i., p. 16 (1885). 



t Ninth Annual Report Fishery Board for Scotland, Part iii,, p. 343 (1891). 

 + Ibid, p. 245. 



I Dimensions and weight given by Fishery Officer. 



