DISTRIBUTION AND GENERAL NOTES ON THE SPECIES 337 



N. wiltotti is somewhat larger than the shallow-water nototheniids discussed previously, attaining 

 a length of 34 cm. with individuals of more than 20 cm. fairly common. It is very easily confused 

 with small specimens of N. ramsayi, and resembles A^. longipes Steindachner so closely that Norman 

 (1937. PP- 8°~2) found it impossible to give complete synonymies for the two species, and believed 

 that they might yet prove to be identical. However, Norman was able to give characters that should 

 prevent confusion with the deeper-water A^. ramsayi in the future. 



Bennett's interesting notes on the occurrence of this species in shallow harbour waters at the 

 Falkland Islands are also quoted by Norman. It is common inshore during summer, becoming scarce 

 in autumn, when the gonads are enlarged. Hence Bennett concludes that its departure may be for 



Fig. 40. Approximate relative importance of the main food categories of N. ramsayi, the data 

 being arbitrarily weighted as shown in Table 34. 



breeding purposes. N. wiltoni is known as ' rock-cod ' locally, but this vernacular name, perhaps the 

 most promiscuously applied of all fish names m English-speaking countries throughout the world, is 

 also eiven to several other Notothenia spp. in the Falkland Islands. 



Notothenia longipes Steindachner. We have just mentioned the possibility of confusion between this 

 snecies and N. wiltoni. Such scanty distributional evidence as we possess favours the view that they 

 really are distinct. All the specimens referred with any confidence to A^. lorigipes seem to come from 

 the west coast of southern Chile or the western end of the Magellan channels, where they show a 

 depth distribution rather similar to that of A^. canina at the eastern end of the straits (Fig. 42) and very 

 different from that of the more exclusively littoral distribution shown by A^. wrltont and various other 

 Notothenia spp. We took no N. longipes at regular trawling stations, but specimens obtained as shown 



