1 70 Part III. — Eighth Annual Report 
Gurnard (Trigla gurnardus). 
The number of gurnards captured was 391, of which 151 were adult, 
and 210 immature. Tiie greater number were taken in shallow water 
(under live fathoms) near the shore, but specimens seven inches long were 
found in water over thirty fathoms deep and twenty-two miles from land. 
Only about twenty-seven per cent, of those obtained were under five inches 
in length, twenty-live specimens were three inches, and five two inches 
long. Most of these very small specimens were found in shallow water, 
but a few were taken in deep water at a distance from shore. The greater 
number were captured in May and June. Of those at or under three 
inches, the majority were taken in May and June. Two of the five under 
two inches were obtained in March and the rest in May. These must 
have been spawned in the previous season. The gurnard spawns on the 
East Coast of Scotland from January to August, but mainly in June, and 
both in the territorial and off-shore waters. Its floating ova are not in- 
frequent in the Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay, and they have 
been obtained in the tow-net as far off as 65 miles from shore. 
Lixg (Molva vulgaris). 
Only three immature ling were obtained. They were seven and twelve 
inches long, and were captured in deep water at the mouth of the Forth 
in September. While very young ling seem to be sometimes got among 
the tangle in shallow water, the presence of immature forms in the 
territorial waters may be considered uncommon. This agrees with what 
we know of the spawning habits of this fish. They spawn chiefly in April, 
May and June, at distances varying from 10 to 170 miles from shore. 
The floating eggs have been obtained twenty-five miles from shore. Very 
small pelagic specimens are occasionally caught in the tow-net. 
Saithe or Coal-fish (Gadus virens). 
Only ten immature specimens were captured. They were all obtained 
in July in water under six fathoms deep, near the shore, in the Moray 
Firth. The smallest specimen was one inch long, and the largest four and 
a half inches. It is known that, at certain parts of the coast, young 
coal-fish swarm around the shores, especially on rocky tangle-covered 
ground, but few are captured by the trawl. 
Other Fishes. 
Above 7000 other fish were obtained besides those enumerated above. 
Eight specimens of the cat-fish (Anarrhichas lupus) were caught in the 
special net, and fifteen in the ordinary net. The smallest specimen 
was fourteen inches in length obtained in May at the mouth of the Forth. 
The largest specimen measured forty inches. Specimens of from twenty- 
seven to thirty-seven inches long were found mature or partly spent in 
the Firth of Forth in February. 
Twenty-eight specimens of the frog-fish or angler (Lophius piscatorius) 
— one of the greatest enemies of the food-fishes — were captured in the 
special net and a very large number in the ordinary net. There were 
very few small specimens among them. One specimen measured five 
and a half inches, and was caught in twelve fathoms three miles from 
shore. Three specimens were nine inches long; a considerable number 
were from fifteen to twenty inches, but the greater number were above 
