31 Part IIl1.—Twenty-eighth Annual Report 
Small and medium sized fishes, chiefly Gadoids, appeared to be the food 
mostly sought after by the halibut, and fully 60 of the stomachs examined 
contained nothing else. Crustacea, on the other hand, were only sparingly 
met with, and were usually associated with other kinds of food, such as small 
fishes, but cuttlefish remains were also occasionally present. 
FISHES. 
Fishes, as stated above, formed the principal part of the food of the 
halibut examined in April ; haddocks and whitings were the species most 
commonly met with, and, though they were usually comparatively small, 
moderately large specimens were also occasionally obtained ; generally, 
however, they were so much broken up by the digestive fluid that the 
accurate measurement of the fish itself was impracticable, but as the earstones 
were frequently found to be uninjured, a careful measurement of these always 
afforded a fairly correct indication of the size of the fish they belonged to. 
Their reliability as a guide to the approximate size of the fish has been 
frequently tested in the case of such species of haddocks, whiting, codfish, 
and some other Gadoids, and generally with satisfactory results:* 
Three fishes, all hadcocks, were found in one of the halibut stomachs 
examined in April; their earstones measured 18 mm., 17 mm., 16 mm., 
showing that the first two were from 16 to 17 inches in length, and the 
third about 14 inches. In another stomach a whiting about 14 inches 
long and two haddocks about 17 or 18 inches respectively were observed, and 
the earstones of these three fishes measured—the whiting 20 mm., the larger 
haddock 18°5 mm., and the smaller 16 mm.; while in a third stomach, viz., 
that of a halibut over four feet long, were found the remains of a haddock 
over 18 inches in length (earstones 21 mm.), a moderately large flat-fish, the 
species of which was doubtful, and the jaws of a cuttlefish, probably an 
Eledone. Among other fishes met with in the stomachs examined in April 
were a few Norway pouts, Gadus esmarkit, a lemon sole, Pleuronectes 
microcephalus, the remains of a moderately large flat-fish that appeared to be 
a witch sole, Plewronectes cynoglossus, and measured about 12 inches long, a 
considerable number of sand-eels, a smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, about nine 
inches long, a herring about 104 inches long, and remains of others, and also 
a young piked dog-fish, Acanthias vuglaris, of moderate size; in this 
specimen the spine in front of the first dorsal fin measured from the base of 
the exposed (coloured) part to the tip about 20 mm. 
CRUSTACEA 
Crustacea were not very plentiful in the stomachs examined in April, and 
those met with were usually associated with other forms. The species 
observed were chiefly Hyas coarctatus, Portunus sp., hermit crabs (Hupa- 
gurus bernhardus), and Nephrops. 
CUTTLEFISHES. 
Cuttlefishes, or their remains in the form of dark horn-coloured jaws, were 
met with on several occasions. They all appeared to belong to the eight- 
armed group Octopoda, and those of thein sufficiently perfect for identifica- 
tion were all apparently Hledones. Some of them were tolerably large, but 
accurate measurements were hardly attainable, as the delicate extremities of 
the tentacles were usually wanting, besides being otherwise injured. One 
that was tolerably perfect gave the following measurements :—Body to base 
of tentacles, 52 inches; length of tentacles, or at least what remained of 
* Cf. “Observations on the Otoliths of some Teleostean Fishes.” T'wenty-fourth 
Annual Report of the Fishery Board vr Scotiana, Part III., p 48-82, Pls. I-IV. 
