of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
285 
remains in the centre. The specks on the lateral region are dotted with some 
regularity. Indications of two pigment-touches occur in the dorsal (mar- 
ginal) fin, viz., over above the tip of the pectoral, and another about the 
centre of the post-abdominal region of the body. Ventrally a single patch is 
situated midway between the anus and the hypural region. The pigment 
invades the fin, and thus resembles that in the pleuronectids generally. 
On viewing the dorsal surface from above, the cephalic and the two 
marginal touches, which extend on the fin, are best seen. Ventrally a little 
pigment over the abdominal surface and the patch in the anal fin are 
notice ible, while chromatophores are dotted round the anus. The pigment 
is alike on both sides. 
The eyes are of considerable size, and are lateral in position, that is, one 
on each side of the body. 
The marginal fin is considerably injured, but it seems to have been of 
moderate depth, traces of true rays appearing both dorsally and ventrally, 
and particularly in the caudal. 
The terminal bend of the notochord is pronounced, but does not taper 
much, and the embryonic fin forms apparently a shorter lobe than in the 
pleuronectids hitherto examined. A few black pigment-specks occur 
inside the abdominal cavity, as viewed from the ventral surface. 
At first sight the thickness and elongation of the body suggest the 
young of the halibut ; yet there is nothing in its structure which would 
militate against its being a young turbot. I am inclined, however, to 
connect it with the former. 
Specimens of very young halibut are extremely rare, apparently 
because they are found only in deep water on the great fishing grounds. 
The smallest examples hitherto examined here were two from St 
Andrews Bay mentioned in the Fourth .Annual Report of the Board 
(p. 209). They were obtained by a local trawler, but similar small 
specimens are occasionally caught on the lines. The larger of the first 
mentioned measured a foot in length. 
The laboratory attendant (A. W. Brown) procured in the deeps 
(105 fathoms) about 50 miles from the coast of Norway, and about 220 
from Aberdeen, on the 31st May this year, a young specimen, apparently 
of this species, measuring 97 mm., or a little more than 3f inches. It had 
been swallowed by a green cod. Its fin-formula is I) 97, A 73 (?), 
caudal 19, pectoral 11, ventral 6, though it must be stated that diges- 
tion had affected the fins considerably. 
The chief differences between this small sample and one a foot long 
are the proportionally large size of the eyes, and their proximity to the 
anterior border of the snout, the smallness of the gape — the posterior 
angle of the mouth being somewhat in front of the eye ; whereas in the 
larger (1 foot), it passes to the anterior fifth of the eye, and the 
maxilla is boldly marked. The arch of the lateral line behind the eye 
on the right side is much more pronounced in the larger example, for in 
the smaller it is gently bent upward, and runs forward with a very slight 
declivity. On the left side the arch is more distinctly curved. Variations, 
however, are frequent in the larger examples. The caudal rays proceed 
from a nearly vertical line in the smaller specimen, from a semicircle 
{i.e., a line convex backward) in the larger. The opercular region also 
differs, but the actions of the gastric juices have made changes in the 
small specimen. The thickness and narrowness of the body are more or 
less diagnostic at this stage. 
4. On the Eggs op the Halibut. 
Hitherto the ripe eggs of the halibut have escaped observation, at least 
so far as accurate description goes. The spawning period, indeed, even 
in the case of Fishery officers stationed where hundreds are landed 
