of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
171 
For instance, 173 little long rough dabs, from one inch to an inch and a 
half in length, were obtained in May, in one haul in twenty fathoms, four 
miles from shore ; and 61, equally small, in September, in twenty fathoms, 
at six miles from shore. In October, 250 under two and a half inches in 
length were taken in a haul in twenty-four fathoms, at the mouth of the 
Forth, five miles from shore. Ten miles from shore, 165, between two 
and three inches long, were captured in May, in one haul. Specimens 
under three inches long were got in fifty fathoms, twelve miles off. 
It may be therefore said that the immature long rough dabs show a 
converse distribution to the young plaice. They are comparatively scarce 
within the three-mile limit, especially near shore, and exist in numbers in 
the deep off-shore waters. 
Turbot (Rhombus maximus). 
The evideuce as to the distribution of immature turbot is chiefly of a 
negative character. Only four specimens, each about sixteen inches long, 
were obtained by the special net, and they were caught in about four 
fathoms of water about a mile from shore. I have carefully examined the 
records of the ' Garland's ' trawling work for the past two years, in order to 
ascertain as much as possible about the distribution of immature turbot. 
The total number of turbot obtained during the ordinary trawling opera- 
tions of the ' Garland ' in 1888 and 1889 was 56, which shows how 
scarce this fish, once abundant in the Firth of Forth, is becoming. The 
largest specimen was twenty-eight inches long, and the smallest nine and 
a quarter inches (in St Andrews Bay), the next smallest being thirteen 
inches. The total number under eighteen inches in length, and there- 
fore presumably immature, was thirty-one, most of them ranging about 
fifteen or sixteen inches. Most of the smaller specimens were got near 
the shore in St Andrews Bay, in water under ten fathoms deep. In 
the Firth of Forth turbot were obtained only near its mouth. It is a 
curious circumstance that no very small turbot have ever been obtained 
by the ' Garland. ' The special fine-meshed trawl-net, and the ordinary 
trawl-net, which retains large numbers of immature plaice and dabs, have 
been very extensively employed in the territorial water, and only one 
turbot under thirteen inches has been captured. Where are the young 
turbot between three and twelve inches 1 Professor M'Intosh records the 
capture of one specimen, five and a half inches long, by a salmon stake-net 
near St Andrews; but I think it will be found, on the East Coast of 
Scotland at least, that the great majority of young turbot are on the off- 
shore grounds. It will be seen from my report on the Spawning and the 
Spawning Places of Marine Food Fishes (p. 257) that the turbot spawns 
at great distances from the coast. The eggs of the turbot are pelagic, and 
float at the surface of the sea, but none have been obtained in the tow- 
nets of the ' Garland ' near shore. According to Professor M'Intosh, the 
young fish — up to at least an inch in length — are likewise pelagic * (thus 
differing from nearly all other flat-fishes at this size) and may be carried 
long distances by marine currents, but few, I think, reach the sandy beaches. 
It has been sometimes stated before the Commissions on fishery questions 
that thousands of young turbot may be found at some places in the shallow 
waters and pools on the beach, and that they are largely destroyed by 
shrimp fishers. This statement appears to stand in need of confirmation, 
for it is easy for the uninitiated to mistake the young of a very common 
species for the young of the turbot or brill. Buckland, however, states that 
he has seen 1 turbot, brill, plaice, and soles, not much, if at all, larger than 
1 a thumb-nail ' in such situations. 
* Report of Commission on Trawling, 1885, p. 60. 
