LYCODIN^. II 



Body moderatel}- elongated (zoarciforin), height o\-er the anus ca. 7 — la'/i times 

 in the total length. Teeth on the in terniaxill ar>- and mandible, vomer and palatines. 

 Undei'jaw withont barbnles. Scales .small, covering a greater or less part of the trnnk 

 and tail, sometimes wanting. Lateral line ventral or m e d i o 1 a t e r a 1 or both medio- 

 lateral and ventral. Branchiostegal ra\s 6. 



- & ' 



The characters which are of special importance for distingnishing between the nnmerous 

 species of this genns have been mentioned in detail in the introduction (p. 3 — 7). A detailed diagnosis 

 is given under each species and I shall here endeavour (p. 11 — 12) to draw up a Key for the deter- 

 mination of the North European and Greenland species — the many difficulties in the wa>- of separa- 

 ting such nearly allied species must be the excuse for the apparent shortcomings. 



Tentative key for the determination of the European and Greenland species') (and varieties) of Lycodes. 



I. Vahlii-esmarkii group: Lateral line \entral or both \entral and mediolateral. Distance between 

 the snout and the anus 36,5 — 45 (47)% of the total length. D. 94 — 118; A. 81 — 102. 



A. Lateral line single, \-entral. 



a. Rays in the pectoral fins 23. (East coast of North America; 516 — 1423 fathoms). 



L. atlanticiis Jensen; p. 25. 



b. Ra\s in the pectoral fins 17 — 21. 



1. Colour (at all ages) uniform, without spots or bands. (Polar Depths from Spitzbergen to 

 Iceland and Fseroe Isles; (260?) 450 — 1455 fathoms). L.frigidus Coll.; p. 22. 



2. Body with dark cross-bands, in adults ring-shaped markings or more uniform; in the 

 anterior corner of the dorsal fin almost always one or more dark spots. (Kattegat, 

 Skager Rak, Norway, Iceland, southerly West-Greenland; 30 — 3CX3 fathoms). 



L. vah/i't Reinh.; p. 13. 



B. Lateral line double, ventral and mediolateral. 



a. Body naked. (Polar Depths between Jan Mayen and Iceland; loio fathoms). 



L. platyrkimis Jensen; p. 51. 



b. Body with scales. 



a. Pyloric appendages absent. Rays in the pectoral fins 22 — 23, in the dorsal 113 — 118, in 

 the anal 97 — 102. Hind-margin of pectoral not indented. (Finmark and towards Bear Island, 

 Norway-Shetland Slope, Faeroe Channel, east of the Faeroes, Fseroe-Iceland Ridge, east of 

 Iceland, Nova Scotia; 150 — 300 (620) fathoms). L. esmarkii Coll.; p. 27. 



/9. Pyloric appendages present. Rays in the pectoral fins 20-22(23), in the dorsal 100 — -103, 

 in the anal 88 — 92. Hind-margin of pectoral indented. (Polar Depths west from Norwa\-, 

 north from the Fieroe Isles and east from Iceland, Spitzbergen, northerly East- and West- 

 Greenland; 150 — 470 fathoms). L. eudiplenrostictus Jensen; p. 2)i- 



') A North American species, L. atlaniicus Jensen, is included in the key because I know it at first hand. /,. inicro- 

 cephalus Jensen (from the Atlantic Ocean south from Iceland, 799 fathoms; p. 53) is omitted, because the course of the lateral 

 line in this species cannot be determined with certainty — only one small specimen being known; for the rest, it is easily 

 distinguished from all the above species by reason of its small head, which is only 17,3 °o of the total length. 



