12 
Fart III. — Ninth Annual Report 
other countries—particularly in France and Denmark — and ai'e now 
being carried out in the survey of the fishing-grounds on the West 
Coast of Ireland recently undertaken through the co-operation of 
the Government and the Royal Dublin Society. 
The Food of Fishes. — Mr W. Eamsay Smith, B.Sc, deals with 
this subject in a detailed report, based upon the determination of 
the organisms found in the stomachs of many thousands of the 
food-fishes by Mr Thomas Scott, F.L.S., during the trawling opera- 
tions of the ' Garland.' It appears from the results of last year's 
observations that the. kinds of organisms upon which the several 
species of the food-fishes subsist remain fairly constant for each 
species from year to year in a given locality—that, in other words, 
the different kinds of fish select a particular food — and this was 
one of the chief objects of the investigation. It will now be possible 
to state with certainty and precision upon what organism each of 
the food-fishes lives; and to ascertain to what extent worthless and 
valuable fish compete for the food-supply on the same ground. 
This has a very important practical bearing upon the proposals to 
enlarge the mesh of trawl-nets in relation to the capture of imma- 
ture (ish. For the past two years careful records have been kept 
of the organisms brought up in the trawl-net when working on 
various fishing-grounds ; and now that those which constitute the 
food of the edible fishes have been determined, a report will be 
prepared showing in what manner trawling affects the food-supply 
of the various round-fish and flat-fish. 
The Comparative Fecundity of Sea Fish. — The results of a 
research on this subject by Dr T. Wemyss Fulton will be found 
in the present Report, the fecundity of over a hundred specimens 
of the food and other fishes, comprising thirty-nine species, 
having been determined. The degree of fertility varies to an 
extraordinary extent among different fishes, and according to the 
sizes of the individual. The ling produces a greater number of 
eggs than any other fish ; 20,000,000 to 30,000,000 may be con- 
sidered an ordinary average among medium-sized and large 
specimens. On the other hand, the pipe-fish brings forth each 
season only a few hundreds, but in this case the eggs are taken 
charge of by the male, who carries them about in a compartment 
situated on his under surface. The cod produces from two or 
three to seven or eight millions ; the haddock from two or three 
hundred thousand to nearly a million ; the saithe from four or 
five to seven or eight millions ; the torsk or tusk from about 
one to two or three millions. In the herring the number ranges 
from about 20,000,000 to about 50,000,000, the average for six- 
teen specimens examined being over 30,000, showing a con- 
siderably greater fecundity than has been generally supposed. 
Among flat-fishes, the most fertile is the turbot, with from three 
or four to nine or ten million eggs, and the least so the long 
rough dab, which produces from about thirty to sixty thousand. 
In proportion to its size, the flounder produces more eggs than 
any other fish, the number ranging from over 500,000 to about 
1,600,000. The common or English sole is also very fertile. 
With the exception of skates and rays, and some other forms, 
