87 



Nordhavs - Expeditionens [ndivider havde følgende 

 StraaleantaJ : 



1 D. 8; 2 I). 19; A. 15. Spitsbergen 1878. 



1 - 8; 2 - 20; - 15. Jan Mayen 1877. 



1 - 8; 2 ■ 20; - 15. Jan Mayen 1877. 



Iste Dorsal har saaledes 8 eller 9, sjelden 7 Stråa* 

 ler; af disse er den første altid klovet til G runden, et 

 Forhold, der er ganske mærkeligt, og som jeg ikke hidtil 

 har rundet omtalt. De øvrige ere alle enkelte. 2den Dor- 

 sal, der tæller 18 — 20, sjelden 17 Straaler, er linjere, end 

 Iste Dorsal: omtrent den 6te Straale er den Iængste. Alle 

 Straaler ere her enkelte. Analen. der har 13 — 15, eller 

 hos enkelte Individer 16 Straaler. har omtrent den Sde 

 Straale længst. 



Pectoralerne have alle noget fri Spidser, især de ne- 

 derste, der tillide, som det er Regelen hos de cottoide Fiske, 

 ere noget fortykkede; den 7de eller 8de Straale fra neden 

 af er den Iængste. Caudalen er tydeligt emargineret. med 

 afrundede Hjørner. 



Til Krovers og Malmgrens détaillerede Beskrivelser 

 af Arten kan yderligere føjes. at der. hvad allerede af Es- 

 mark er bemærket, hos uskadte Individer tindes o særdeles 

 line Hudtrevler paa Hovedet. Den største af disse sidder 

 ovenfor Øjets bagre Rand, og er fiadtrykt, samt haandfor- 

 mig fryndset i Randen; de øvrige ere enkelte, korte Hud- 

 trevler. Alle ere særdeles løstsiddende, og gaa tabte ved 

 den mindste Berøring, hvorfor de i Regelen kun tindes hos 

 forholdsvis særdeles faa af de i Musæerne opbevarede In- 

 divider. 



Medens fremdeles Bundfarven hos Individet fra Spits- 

 bergen var temmelig lys. næsten hvidagtig, og viste de re- 

 gulære 4 Tverpletter over Ryggen særdeles tydeligt. vare 

 de i 1878 ved .lau Mayen erholdte Individer oventil sau 

 rigeligt forsyuede med brunsorte Smaapletter og Streger, 

 at Bundfarven var næsten ganske skjult, og Tverpletterne 

 kun utydeligt markerede. Dette tor maaske antages at 

 staa i Forbindelse med de Buudforholde, under hvilke Iu- 

 dividerne levede; ved Jan Mayen bestod Buudeu af vul- 

 kansk sort Mudder, hovedsagelig af Lava; ved Spitsbergen 

 var der Lerbund. 



Udbredelse. I. hamatus horer til de i den arctiske 

 Zoue hyppigt optrædende Arter, og gaar (tilligemed Cottus 

 quadricornis) saudsynligvis længere mod Nord. end nogen 

 anden af de hidtil kjeudte Cottoider. Fra Grønland ei- 

 den oftere nedsendt til Musæet i Kjøbenhavn; i Vest- 

 Grønlaud er den afden engelske Nordpol-Exped. (1875 — 76) 

 fondet at være en af de ahnindeligste Fiske mellem 80 og 

 82° N. B., og gydefærdige Individer fandtes her i August. 

 I Fjordene i Øst-Grønland er den af Germania- og Hansa- 

 Expeditiouen i 1869 fundet i 2 smaa Individer under 

 75° N. B. 



I et temmelig stort Antal er den fremdeles indsamlet 

 under de svenske Polar-Expeditioner 1861 — 72 ved Spits- 

 bergen, hvor den neppe har manglet paa noget under- 



Number of fin-rays in examples obtained on the North 

 Atlantic Expedition : — 



1 I). 8; 2 1). L9; A. L5. Spitzbergen 1878. 



1 - 8; 2 - 20; - IT). Jan Mayen L877. 



I - 8; 2 - 20; - 15. .lan Mayen 1877. 



The first dorsal has accordingly, as a rule. 8 or 9 

 rays, rarely 7; the first ray is invariably furcate to the 

 base, a feature truly remarkable, and which I have not 

 met with mentioned in any description of the species; the 

 rest are all simple. In the 2nd dorsal, the number of 

 rays is 1H — 2<>. rarely 17; height greater than that of 

 1st; the 6th ray generally the longest; all rays in this 

 fin simple. Anal furnished with 13 — 15. sometimes Hi rays; 

 longest ray about the eighth. 



Points of pectoral rays all somewhat detached, in 

 particular the undermost, which, too. as is mostly the ease 

 witbCottoid fishes, are somewhat thick: the seventh or eighth 

 counting from below, the longest. Caudal emarginate, with 

 rounded edges. 



A specific character not found enumerated in the 

 detailed descriptions by Kroyer and Malmgren, but men- 

 tioned for the first time by Esmark. is the occurrence, on 

 the head, of three exceedingly slender membranous filaments. 

 or cirri. The largest of these, thin, compressed, and 

 fringed along the edges, is located above the posterior 

 margin of the eye; the rest are short, simple cirri. 

 They are all of them most slenderly attached to the skin, 

 the slightest touch sufficing to detach them, and hence 

 but rarely observed on specimens preserved in museums. 



The ground-colour in the specimen obtained off 

 Spitzbergen was rather light, nay almost whitish, exhibiting 

 with great distinctness the 4 transverse bands across the 

 back, whereas the individuals obtained in 1878 on the coast 

 of Jan Mayen were streaked and maculated to that extent 

 with interjacent brownish-black stripes aud spots as to con- 

 ceal almost entirely the colour of the ground; and the 

 transverse bauds were very indistinct. The character of the 

 bottom may possibly have had something to do with this; 

 off the coast of Jan Mayen the bottom consists of black 

 eruptive mud; off Spitzbergen of clay. 



Distribution. — /. hamatus is a common species in 

 the Arctic zone, and probably occurs (in company with 

 Cottiix qnadricornis) further north than any other of the 

 Cottidæ yet known. From Greenland specimens have been 

 frequently sent to the Museum in Copenhagen ; off the 

 coast of West Greenland it was found on the English 

 North Pole Expedition (1875 — 76) to be one of the fishes 

 occurring in greatest abundance between lat. 80" — 82" N, 

 and individuals about to spawn were met with here in the 

 month of August. On the eastern coast of Greenland it 

 was taken ou the Germania and Hansa Expedition. 1869, 

 in lat, 75" X. 



A considerable number, too. were obtained on the 

 Swedish Expeditions in 1861 and 1872. off Spitzbei'gen ; 

 indeed it can hardly fail to have been observed in every 



