Denne Slægt, der endnu hører til de i Musæerne sdler- 

 sparsomsl repræsenterede Former af den axctiske Fauna. 

 synes saaledes i Virkeligheden af alle Dybvandsfiske at være 

 blandt de talrigste i Ishavets Dyb paa jevn Lerbund, og 

 maa forekomme her i store Mængder; maaske udgjøre de 

 hev Bovednæringen for Heve andre Rovfiske (Somniosus, 

 linjar, etc.) paa Grund ai deres noget træge Niesen, hvilken 

 sidste Egenskab det sandsynhgvis væsentlig skyldtes, at de 

 saa otte erholdtes i Trawlnettet. 



Det samlede Udbytte under dette sidste Aars Togt 

 adgjorde ialt 33 Arter, hvoraf 6 vare nye'for Videnskaben; 

 af de under de l' foregaaende Togter erhvervede 11 Arter 

 gjenfandtes de 10, hvoriblandt ogsaa den ny opstillede 

 Lycodes muraena. De 6 Arter, der maa ansees som tidli- 

 gere ubeskrevne, ere Raja hyperborea, Liparis {Paraliparis) 

 batliybii, Lycodes frigidus, Lycodes pcdlidusi Lycodes lutkeni, 

 samt Ehodichthys regina, den sidstnævnte tillige repræsen- 

 terende en ny Slægt. Ialt har saaledes Expeditionen bragt 

 7 nye Arter (og 1 ny Slægt) for Dagen, alle udprægede 

 Dybvandsfiske. 



Flere at de øvrige Arter vare kun ufuldstændigt 

 kjendte eller beskrevne, hvilket saaledes var Tilfældet med 

 flere af Lycoderne. En Art. Onos reinhardt, (Kr.), havde 

 aldrig været tildelt endog deu korteste Diagnose eller Be- 

 skrivelse, men dens Benævnelse er alene grundet paa en 

 haandskreven Etikette, og dennes [ndførelse i en Catalog. 

 Flere vare ikke tidligere paaviste i den europæiske Fauna, 

 men blot tundne. tildels for længere Tid tilbage. og blot i 

 enkelte Exemplarer. ved de grønlandske Kyster. Vil man 

 saaledes udstrække et Lands eller en Landsdels faunistiske 

 Omraade indtil i omkring 100 Kilometers Afstaud fra Ky- 

 sterne. kan der til Spitsbergens Fauna føjes næsteu et Dusin 

 Arter, som tidligere ikke have været omtalte fra denne 

 Øgruppe. 



Det i 1878 undersogte Areal omfattede Strækningen 

 mellem Hammerfest og Varangerfjorden i Syd. Havet hen- 

 imod Novaja Zemlja i Øst og Jan Mayen i Vest. samt i 

 Nord til Spitsbergens Nordvest-Spidse. 



Af de fleste Arter bar jeg hos et eller flere Individer 

 undersogt Ventrikelens Indbold, og til Bestemmelsen af de 

 her forefundne Dyrelevninger har jeg bavt en beredvillig 

 Hjælp af Prof. G. 0. Sårs. hvis Navn er den bedste Ga- 

 ranti for Bestemmelsernes Bigtigbed. Denne Undersøgelse 

 af Maveindholdet har desuden bart Interesse ikke blot a f 

 den Grund. at den har givet Bidrag til vor Kundskah om 

 visse Evertebraters Fdbredelse mod Nord. men ogsaa fordi 

 derved er bleven constateret det ret mærkelige Factum, at 

 flere af disse pelagiske Dyreformer. der væsentlig have 

 været anseede for at have sit Tilhold i Overfladen. formåa 

 at trænge ned til de største Dybder, hvorfra Dybvandsfiskene 



preceding voyage. Hence this genus, which must still be regarded 

 as one of the Arctic forms most sparingly represented in 

 museums, would appear to he more numerous than an] 



other of the deep-sea fishes inhabiting the depths of the 



Polar Sea over a smooth ckvj bottom; and it occurs no 

 doubt in very considerable quantities. There, perhaps, it 

 constitutes the chief food of other predatory tishes (Somni- 

 osus, Royce), owing to its somewhat sluggish movements, a 



circumstance which probably to a great extent accounts for 

 this fish having been so often captured in the trawl-net. 



The number of species secured on this voyage, tin- 

 last undertaken by the Expedition, amounted in all to 33. 

 6 of which proved new to science. Of the 1 1 species 

 obtained on the two preceding voyages. 10 were again met 

 with, including the new species Lycodes mwrcena. The 6 

 species that must be regarded as not previously known 

 are: — -I>'"j" hyperborea, Liparis batJiybU, Lycodes frigidus, 

 Lycodes pallidus, Lyt-atles lutkeni and Rlwdichthys regina, the 

 last-mentioned also representing a new genus. The Ex- 

 pedition has thus brought to light 7 new species, (and 1 

 new genus), all of them true forms of deep-sea tishes. 



Several of the remaining species were hut imperfectly 

 known and described; this, for instance, was the case with 

 divers of the genus Lycoi ' s. One pecies. ( )nos rt 'n. ' ardi, (Kr.). 

 had not even been made the subject of the briefest diag- 

 nosis or description : its designation is traceable to a manu- 

 script label, copied into a catalogue. Several had not 

 previously been shown to occur in the European fauna, 

 but merely found, in some cases years ago and as solitary 

 examples, on the coast of Greenland. Hence, if the area 

 inhabited by the fauna of a country or region be assumed 

 to extend to about 100 kilometres from its shores, we may 

 add to the fauna of Spitzbergen nearly a dozen species of 

 fishes not previously mentioned as occurring off that group 

 of islands. 



The region investigated in 1878 comprised, southward, 

 the tract between Hammerfest and the Varanger Fjord, 

 eastward and westward, the expanse of ocean stretching 

 towards Novaja Zemlja and Jan Mayen, and northward, 

 that extending to the north-western extremity of Spitzbergen. 



In most of the individuals I have examined the con- 

 tents of the stomach, and in determining the animal remains 

 found there. Professor G. O. Sars, whose name is a suffi- 

 cient guarantee for accuracy, has kindly favoured me with 

 bis valuable assistance. Moreover, an examination of the 

 stomach and its contents has proved of considerable interest, 

 not only by contributing to our knowledge of the distribu- 

 tion of divers invertebrate species in northern latitudes, but 

 also from its having substantiated the very remarkable 

 fact, that several of these pelagic forms of animal life, 

 whose habitat was generally believed to be near the surface, 

 possess the power of descending to the greatest depths 



