8o LYCOniN.E. 



Lycodes with respect to the development of the scaly covering', bnt snch a sndden jump as Liitken 

 here makes possible, would be quite singular. 



Again, the 27 specimens in comparison with the 28th belong to a relatively small-e}ed form, 

 the longitudinal diameter of the eye (in specimens of over 100 mm.'s length) amounting to only 3,4 — 

 2,7 " n of the total length; in the two largest specimens (185— 186 mm.) the horizontal diameter of the 

 eve is thus 3— 2,7"n of the total length, but in the 223 mm. long specimen 3,6 ",, of the total length, 

 although in consequence of its greater .size it .should have had relatively still smaller eyes than the 

 two named, if we had to do with the same species. 



Further, the number of rays in the pectorals .shows a very considerable difference: the 27 

 specimens have onlv 16-17 I'^ys, whereas the 28th has ig. Liitken indeed, has remarked this 

 difference, but lie endeavoured to explain it awa}- b\' supposing that the number undergoes some 

 increase with age . 



Although the colouration may seem quite .similar on a cursory view, when rightly seen 

 there is the difference that the 27 specimens have more numerous dark cross-bands, namely 9 — 12 (cf. 

 Liitken 1. c. Tab. XVI, fig. 2— 6), whilst the 28th has only 8 (ibid. fig. i). 



From all these important differences I drew the conclusion that the 223 mm. long specimen 

 must be specifically distinct from the others, and I was successful later in identifying it with L. rossi 

 Malmgr. (cf. p. 56). 



The remaining 27 .specimens seemed to me to l^elong to a form which retained its naked 

 condition throughout its whole life; in my preliminar\- report (1. c.) I gave it the name l.ycodes 

 agnostiis. 



Later I gained a welcome confirmation that I had judged rightly, as I found a specimen in 

 the Stockholm Riks-iVIuseum , which in all respects agreed with the form from the Kara Sea, also in 

 that it was perfectly naked even though its total length was still greater than that of the 

 specimens in nn' hands. F. A. vSmitt in his great work on the Scandinavian Fishes gi\-es a figure 

 of it (fig. 147) under the name L. reticitlatus, Tiiyiicrii , and in his later treatise «0n the genus 

 Lycodes (1. c. 1901) he has mentioned it under the name L. reticulatus forma seminuda' . Its most 

 important proportions are as follows: 



Total length 233 mm. 



Length of the head 56,5 — 



Distance from snout to anus 117 — 



Height over the anus 22,5 — 



In proportions of the total length, the length of the head is thus 24,3 "o, the distance between 

 the snout and the anus 50,2 °/o, and the height over the anus 9,7 "/o. The eyes are small, their 

 longitudinal diameter being only 2,7% of the total length. The body, as already- mentioned, is quite 

 free of scales. The lateral line is mediolateral. The colouration has now disappeared so that I cannot 

 decide if the figure in Smitt has struck the right proportion between the Hght and dark bands. 

 The pectorals contain 16 ra>s, the dorsal fin ca. 90 and the anal ca. 70 rays. 



The specimen, which is a male with well-developed testes [^t, unn. long), was taken on the 

 24th of August 1878 by the Vega Expedition on the east side of the Taimur peninsula, nameh" in 



