298 THE COD FAMILY. 



head, the front part of the sides, and across the occipital region ; 

 still the typical form of the species was already developed. 



The foregoing contains the chief information on the subject 

 until on the 29th October, 1894, a very young specimen was 

 procured by the Garland in the Moray Frith, between Coversea 

 and Burghead, the total length being about 9 mm. The out- 

 line of the little fish is remarkably clavate, the anterior end 

 rising somewhat abruptly upwards from the slender body, while 

 the prominent vent with its anterior ridge along the ventral 

 surface of the abdomen still further gives bulk to the region. 

 This anterior enlarged part of the fish occupies 4 out of the 

 9 mm. The skin seems to have been distinctly pigmented, a 

 large shield-shaped area of brownish-black chromatophores with 

 the broad end in front occurring between and behind the eyes, 

 with a few isolated specks behind. The cheeks below the eyes 

 are also speckled with the same pigment. The sides of the 

 body from the pectorals backward are minutely marked with 

 blackish-brown pigment, which in the preparation does not 

 reach the tail. On the ventral surface the pigment forms a V 

 with the point forward in the hyoidean region, and the angle of 

 the ventral fin on each side is marked by similar chromatophores. 



The snout is comparatively blunt, and the black eyes are of 

 moderate or even small size for so large a head in a post-larval 

 fish. They look forward, outward and slightly downward. The 

 nasal organ shows only a single large opening close in front of 

 the angle of the eye. The mouth is large, and a tongue-like 

 process of the hyoidean region projects forward, on its floor. 

 The breadth of the lower jaw inferiorly is considerable, so that 

 the little fish rests steadily on this surface. The vent occurs at 

 the end of a ventral ridge. 



The second dorsal fin, like that of the adult, begins a little 

 behind a line prolonged upward from the base of the pectoral, 

 and stretches almost to the tail. At this stage the fin-rays 

 are present, though the fragmentary condition of many of these 

 gives a degree of uncertainty as to the actual continuity of the 

 two. All that can be said is that the broken caudal rays rise 

 clear of the injured dorsal and anal rays as if a slight hiatus 

 existed. The anal fin commences immediately behind the vent, 



