168 
Part III. — Eifjhth Annual Report 
2 5 beyond. The same result appears when the depth of water is 
considered, by far the larger proportions being obtained in the shallower 
waters. Thus, in depths under five fathoms, the average number per shot 
was 2G*7 ; in from five to ten fathoms 20 ; in from ten to fifteen fathoms 
2*8 j in from twenty-five to thirty fathoms 0 # 3. No other flat-fish shows 
the same regularity in the distribution of the young, and so far as plaice 
is concerned, the territorial waters may justly be described as a 'nursery.' 
It will be seen from Table IV. that the greater number of the imma- 
ture plaice caught were fairly large sized specimens, nearly eighty per 
cent, being above six inches in length, and none under three inches. 
Had smaller individuals been present, it is difficult to understand how they 
could have escaped capture, since above two thousand dabs under three 
inches were caught in the same hauls. The very small plaice remain close 
in-shore, and gradually pass out into deeper water as they increase in size. 
The greater number of the small specimens caught were got on sandy 
ground in shallow water, as close in-shore as it was safe for the ' Garland ' 
to go. On the margin of the shore in such localities very small plaice, 
about an inch long, may be caught in a hand-net in June and July. All 
those under six inches were obtained in May and June, in water only a 
few fathoms deep, and were clearly those spawned in previous years. The 
proportion of immature to adult plaice in the territorial waters is least in 
December, January, and February. 
It is worth remarking here that, while the results of the ' Garland's ' 
Trawling Experiments in 1889 do not show that an increase of fiat-fish 
generally has taken place in the area from which beam trawling is pro- 
hibited, they show that plaice have increased in numbers, both in the closed 
area and in the adjacent area where trawling goes on. It seems reasonable 
to suppose that, by the protection of the young plaice in the territorial 
waters, the numbers on both the in-shore and off-shore grounds are being 
increased. It has been ascertained by the experiments which the Scientific 
Department of the Board have made on the migration of fishes (p. 353) that 
plaice of at least twelve and thirteen inches in length probably do not 
migrate at the spawning time from the territorial waters to the off-shore 
grounds where the adults spawn. This confirms the results of the examina- 
tion of the reproductive organs as to the diagnosis of immature plaice. 
Lemon So^e (Pleuronectes microceplialus). 
Of 195 lemon soles obtained, 131 were adult and only 64 immature. 
This number is not large enough for any certain conclusions. The greater 
number of the immature specimens were obtained just beyond the three- 
mile limit, and in moderate depths. The average for the waters w 7 ithin 
three miles from shore was 0*3 per shot ; 0 - 8, or more than double, for the 
waters beyond. The largest average per shot was 0/9 at from three to six 
miles from shore. In regard to depth, immature individuals were obtained 
up to thirty fathoms, the largest proportion being found between fifteen 
and twenty fathoms. 
As in the case of the plaice, the majority of the immature specimens 
were fairly large, about half of them being above 6 inches in length. In 
the case of the lemon sole, however, the smallest specimens w 7 cre obtained 
in water above ten fathoms deep, three of the four specimens two inches 
in length being caught in March and May in about twenty fathoms. At 
Smith Bank, the great spawning ground in the Moray Firth, where few 
immature fish are obtained, a few lemon soles of four and a half inches 
were caught. The lemon sole spawns mainly in June, and generally at 
some distance from shore. 
