266 
Part III. — Ninth Annual Beport 
than the ventral : in the thh^d it was scarcely so heavy as the ventral. 
The combined gross weights were — dorsal ovaries, 2563 grains ; ventral 
ovaries, 2415 grains. In specimens 1 and 2 the fish v/ere on the point of 
spawning. The mass of the ovaries was composed of opaque eggs of 
an almost uniform size (0*66 to 0*54 mm.), mixed with large ripe trans- 
parent ova considerably larger. As in the plaice, scarcely any of 
sizes intermediate between these were found, so that the expansion of 
buoyancy is very rapid. In No. 1 there were in the 40 grains 1240 of 
the large transparent ova and 22,640 of the smaller opaque forms; in 
No. 2 there were in the 30 grains 1150 of the large clear eggs and 13,265 
of the smaller sizes. The third and smaller specimen, although obtained 
later (March 26), was not so far develofjed. There were no large clear 
ova ; the whole mass was made up of the small, opaque, whitish eggs, 
nearly uniform in size. 
Harmer* gives the fecundity of specimens examined by himself as 
follows: — One weighing 24J ounces, 1,357,400 ova; one weighing 6J 
ounces, 351,026 ova; one weighing 3J ounces, 225,568 ova; and one 
weighing 2 J ounces, 133,407 ova. 
Common Sole (Solea vulgaris). 
Four specimens were examined, all caught in the North Sea — the 
first on 3rd April, the second on 24th April, the third on 26th April, 
and the fourth on 3rd June. Specimens examined in March had too 
large a proportion of very minute ova to make enumeration worth while. 
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 
t2 
3 
4 
m 
18 
16 
1 lb. 15^ oz. 
2 n 5i „ 
1 „ 10 „ 
1461 
1950 
2226 
992 
12 
10 
10 
3040 
3850 
2486 
Large, 42 
Small, 4090 
4132 
370,120 
750,750 
553,383 
4,166 
405,728 
409,894 
The common sole is therefore, compared with most flat-fishes, rather 
fecund. In each case a large proportion of the ova were very minute, 
showing that the spawning period is prolonged. The diameter of the 
opaque ova varied in my specimen from 0*9 9 to 0*5 mm. Mature hyaline 
ova were got in only one of the specimens — that caught in June — but 
they were present in inconsiderable proportion, namely, 1 per cent. They 
varied from 1*29 to l"'i-2 mm. in diameter. 
Harmerij: found in one, weighing 14|^ ounces, in which the ovaries 
weighed 542J grains, 100,362 ova; in another, weighing only 5 ounces, 
and possessing ovaries weighing 179|- grains, he estimated 38,772 ova to 
be present. Both were caught in June. Buckland§ states that he 
calculated 134,500 to be present in a sole caught in April, weighing 
16 ounces; the weight of the ovaries is not given. 
* Phil. Trans., vol. Ivii. parti, pp. 287, 291. 
t In this specimen the dorsal ovary was twice folded upon itself ; it weighed 1422 
grains, while the ventral ovary weighed only 657 grains. 
X Ojp. cit., pp. 287, 292. 
§ (^. cit., pp. 206, 248. 
