268 
Part III. — Ninth Annual Report 
The ova of the saithe are minute. The first specimen contained no 
large clear ova, and the ova were not of uniform size. The ovary of 
the second specimen was much more developed ; the great mass was 
composed of white and opaque ova from 0*65 mm. to 045 mm. in 
diameter, but there were considerable numbers of large clear ova about 
0'9 to r8 mm. in diameter, scattered over the surface and throughout 
the substance of the ovaries. Of the number counted, 739, or over 9 per 
cent., were of the large size. 
From the above figures, it is evident that the saithe is one of the 
most fecund of sea-fish. Earll* states that a pollock 39^ inches long 
and weighing 23| lbs. had 4,029,200 eggs, and one weighing 13 lbs., 
^,569,753. Day f sta.es that a coal-fish at 21 lbs. had 8,260,000 eggs. 
Ling (Molva vulgaris). 
Four specimens were examined, all caught in the North Sea ; one 
east of May Island on 22nd April, another in the same area on 25th 
March, the third on 7th May, 100 miles east of May Island, and 
the fourth on 29th May. The details are given in the table appended : — 
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 
61 
54 lbs. 
48,240 
15 
8,819 
28,361,904 
2 
45 
25 „ 
26,920 
30 
20,640 
18,520,960 
3 
45 
18i „ 
20,708 
15 
8.914 
12,306,074 
4 
62 
40 „ 
26,250 
6 
3,320 
14,525,000 
In each specimen, the ovaries, which are pale, were composed of a 
great mass of small opaque white eggs, of practically uniform size 
(0-5 to 0*7 mm.). There were no large hyaline eggs, which shows that 
the ovaries were not mature. The condition of the ovaries was very 
different from that in the gurnard, whiting, &c., in which perfectly 
mature hyaline ova may be escaping from the oviduct, while a considerable 
number of the other ova are very small and immature. In the ling the 
ova seem to ripen almost simultaneously, at least up to the hyaline stage. 
MTntosh X gives the diameter of the pelagic ova of the ling at 0*0916 of 
an inch, which shows that a considerable and probably sudden expansion 
occurs. The data given in the tables show the ling to be extremely fecund 
— the most fecund, indeed, of all sea fish. I:reither Harmer, Bloch, 
Buckland, nor Blanchere gives figures representing its fecundity, but Day§ 
states that one weighing 100 lbs. was estimated to possess 160,000,000 
ova, an estimate almost certainly erroneous. In April last, there was 
landed at Kirkwall a ling 69 inches long, and 86 lbs. in weight, with a 
roe weighing 14 lbs. This fish is one of the largest recorded, and on the 
basis of the figures in the above table, the ovaries of this fish would 
contain 60,432,750 ova — an enormous number, but very much less than 
that given by Day, 
Four-bearded Rockling {Motella cimbria). 
One specimen, caught at Dunbar on 21st May, was 9i inches long,; 
and weighed 1025 grains. The ovaries weighed 106 grains. Two grains^ 
Avere found to contain 451 large (0-72 to 0*6 mm.) and about 2240 smaller,' 
~ " " * Op. cit , p. 733. 
€-^w,^'bt.T f British Fishes^ vol. i. p. Ixiii. j 
X Trqns. Boy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxv. part iii. p. 670. 1 
§ British Fishes, vol. i. p. Ixiii. j 
