The Pelagic Young and Early Bottom Stages of Teleosteans

Abstract

The present report deals with the young fish which were collected in the neighbourhood of Plymouth during the summer and autumn of 1919, from the beginning of July to the end of September, by small meshed nets operated from the Association's steamer Oithona. It is a supplement to Dr. Allen's report on the “Post-larval Teleosteans collected near Plymouth during the Summer of 1914,” published in Vol. XI, No. 2 (May, 1917), of this Journal, and to the writer's “General Report on the Larval and Post-larval Teleosteans in Plymouth Waters” in Vol. X, No. 2 (June, 1914).The total number of fish examined amounts to 16,400, which are referable to 24 families, 39 genera and 71 species. All the forms are stages in the life histories of fishes, which are well known as adults.The pelagic young of the species of Gadus and Pleuronectes are poorly represented in the catches, but this is not surprising when one considers the lateness in the year when the hauls were made. Similarly the young of early spawners like the Herring are absent.The pelagic young of the Hake (Merluccius merluccius) appear for the first time since investigations with small meshed nets have been undertaken in the Plymouth area, the only other records of their occurrence in the western area of the English Channel being those which were taken by the Danish research steamer Thor, vide Schmidt (1909).