252 
Part III. — Ninth Annual Report 
SCOMBRID^. 
Mackerel {Scomber scomber). 
Two specimens were examined, both caught on the 7th or 8th May off 
the Irish coast and landed at Kinsale. The details are as follows : — 
Length of 
Fish 
(in inches). 
Weight 
of 
Fish. 
Weight of 
Ovaries 
(in grains). 
Weight of 
part taken 
(in grains). 
Number of 
Ova 
counted. 
Total 
Number 
of Ova 
in Ovaries. 
1 
2 
16 
16 
1 lb. 8i oz. 
1 lb. 8| oz. 
1417 
1485 
10 
10 
4510 
4320 
639,067 
689,040 
The roes were brownish coloured and 6J inches in length. A large 
number of the ova ranged from 0*9 to 0*6 mm. in diameter, graduating 
down by intermediate stages to microscopic (0*05 mm.). The process of 
enumeration was laborious and necessitated the use of a lens. The 
fecundity of this fish has been investigated by a number of individuals. 
Harmer* calculated the number of ova present in three specimens, all 
caught in June, as follows : — 18 ounces in weight, 546,681 ; 20 ounces 
in weight, 430,846; 20 ounces, 454,961. Buckland calculated 86,120 
to be present in onef ; Bloch in another, weighing 1 lb. 2 oz., caught in 
June, estimated the number at 546,681 X ; and Blanchere, 55,000. The 
figures given by Harmer agree most closely with mine ; it is probable 
that Buckland and Blanchere were either dealing with partly spent fish 
or neglected to enumerate the very minute ova. 
CALLIONYMIDiE. 
Dragonet or Skulpin {Callionymus lyra.) 
' Two specimens were examined, both caught on board the ' Garland,' in 
the Firth of Forth, on 11th June. When the fish came into my posses- 
sion the ovaries were pale greyish- brown, and watery-looking. The 
particulars are as follows : — 
Length of 
Fish 
(in inches). 
Weight 
of 
Fish. 
Weight of 
Ovaries 
(in grains. ) 
Weight of 
part taken 
(in grains.) 
Number of 
Ova 
counted. 
Total 
Number 
of Ova 
in Ovaries. 
1 
1112 grains. 
246 
Large, 292 
Small (?)4300 
17,977 
(?) 264,450 
8| 
'{ 
4592 
282,427 
2 
7 
457 grains. 
48 
* 1 
Large, 244 
Small (?) 
2928 
(?) 
A large part of the ovaries consisted of hyaline ova, about 1 '05 mm. 
in diameter. Others ranged from 0*6 to 0*05 mm., as in the whiting, &c. 
Professor Prince, in the present Report (p. 349), describes certain features 
of the egg of this fish. 
* Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ivii. Part I. pp. 285, 291, 1768. 
t Report on the Sea Fisheries of England and Wales, p. 247, 1879. 
X Ichtyologie ou histoire naturelle gen^rale et particuliere des poissons, Part II. 
p. 86, 1785. 
