87 



en Lycodes, fangne i Varangerfjorden i Finmarken, de 2 

 nedsendte af Lensmand Klerk i 1864, det 3die erhverVel 

 i 1865 pas Stedet af Professor Esmark. Senere har jeg 

 (1876) ander et Ophold i Finmarken erholdt 2 nye Indi- 

 vider' fra denne Localitet; alle ere de fuldstændig overens- 

 stemmende indbyrdes, og da deres Totallængde ligger mel- 

 575 og 622""», ndgjøre de Kjæmpe -Individer af denne 

 Slægf. 



Da de nævnte Individer i tiere Eenseender frembøde 

 en Uaverensstemmelse med Reinhardts Beskrivelse af L. 

 vahlii, hvilket end niere bestyrkedes, etterat jeg gjennem 

 Dr. Liitken havde erholdt et af Typ-Exemplarerne udlaant 

 til umiddelbar Sammenligning, opstilledes de i den nævnte 

 Afhandling som en ny Art. L. esmarkii. Senere har jeg 

 dog, hulen Dr. Liitken har ivserksat sine nye Undersøkel- 

 ser af L. rahlii. troet at burde opfatte disse Uoverens- 

 stemmelser som mindre væsentlige, og at opføre L. esmarkii 

 i Synonymernes Række, hvad jeg ved et Par Lejligheder, 

 og sidst i den omtalte foreløbige Beretning om Nordhavs- 

 Expeditionens Materiale, har gjennomført. 



Den ene af de Characterer. der adskilte L. esmarkii 

 L. rahlii. var Farven, der nemlig var brunsort med et 

 Antal smale, hvidagtige Tverbaand, som dels i Midten inde- 

 sluttede Felter af den mørke Bundfarve. dels vare opløste 

 i ringformige Tegninger, der nedtil kunde være indbyrdes 

 forbundne med Bingene af meste Tverbaand 1 . 



Det er overvejende sandsynligt, at Nordhavs-Expedi- 

 tionens nye Individer udgjøre de yngre Stadier af denne, som 

 L. esmarkii beskrevne Form. Overensstemmelserne mellem 

 dem ere gjennemgaaende ; i de samme Puncter, hvori Nord- 

 havs-Expeditionens Individer afvige fra den typiske L. vahlii. 

 stemme de overens med Typ-Exemplarerne af L. esmarkii, 

 ihvorvel en mindre Forskjel hist og her kan iagttages, 

 der dog vel kan tilskrives den store Forskjel i Alder og 

 Størrelse. Dette er saaledes Tilfældet med Farvetegnin- 

 gen : fremdeles har Skjælbekkedningen faaet en større Ud- 

 strækning bos Typ-Exemplarne af L. esmarkii. idet der for- 

 uden spredte Skjæl paa Panden og fuldt Skjælbelæg paa 

 Nakken, ogsaa her vil tindes et lignende paa den indre Del 

 af Pectoralerne; 



Det endelige Resultat bliver saaledes, at Xordhavs- 

 Expeditionens Individer, der samtlige ere yngre, vistnok 

 ere identiske med den hidtil blot i fuldt udvoxede Indivi- 



1 Den anden Character, ifolge hvilken, jeg ved Opstillingen af 

 den aye Art troede at burde adskilte den fra L. rahlii, og som var 

 hentet fra Sjælbeklædningen, er af mindre Betydning, men maa her 

 berøres, fordi den i den originale. Beskrivelse var Gjenstand for Mis- 

 tydning. Naar L. esmarkii nemlig opgaves som skjælbeklædt lige ud 

 til Snuden. medens /.. rahlii havde nøgent Hoved, var dette ucorrect, 

 idet de som Skjæl antagne Dannelser hos den førstnævnte Art blot 

 vare de tætstaaende, næsten cirkelrunde Indtryk i Huden, der vare 

 fremkomne under dennes Sarnmentrækning. Blot efter en senere 

 omhyggelig Undersogelse af de foreliggende 5 Individer har jeg kun- 

 net opdage enkelte isolerede Skjæl paa Panden, der utvivlsomt ere 

 tilkomne i den senere Alder. 



fr il"' Varanger Fjord, inPinmaxk; 1 of the individuals 



had I n presented by Lensmand Klerk, in L864, the third 



was obtained on the spot by Professor Esmark, in 1865. 

 During 8 short stay in Finmark (1876), I succeeded in 



procuring l' new examples from the same locality. All of 



these specimens agree closely inter se, and their total 



length, ranging from 575 fflm to 622 they must lie regarded 



as unusuallj large examples of the venns. 



These individuals differing, 1 conceived, in several 

 respects from L. rahlii as described by Reinhardt, a sup- 

 position still further confirmed by a direct comparison 

 with one of the typical specimens, lent me for that pur- 

 pose by Dr. Liitken, they were established as a new species, 

 L. esmarkii, in the said treatise. Subsequently, however, 

 before Dr. Liitken had completed his latest examination of 

 the original specimens of L. vahlii, 1 was lead to regard 

 these distinctive characteristics as comparatively unessential, 

 and to include L. esmarkii in the list of synonyms, a view 

 I continued to retain on one or two subsequent occasions, 

 the last being that of the above-mentioned preliminary re- 

 port of the North Atlantic Expedition. 



One of the characters distinguishing L. esmarkii from 

 L. rahlii was the colour -- brownish -black, with a num- 

 ber of narrow, whitish transverse bands, some of which had 

 patches of the dark ground-colour enclosed in the middle, 

 or were broken up into annular spots, continuous below 

 with the rings of the next transverse hand 1 . 



It is in the highest degree probable, that the new 

 individuals obtained on the North Atlantic Expedition re- 

 present immature stages of the form described as L. es- 

 markii. The resemblance between them is constant; in 

 the same features that serve to distinguish the former from 

 the typical L. rahlii they agree with the type-specimens of 

 L. esmarkii, though here and there some minor distinction 

 may be observed, doubtless arising from the great differ- 

 ence in age and size. This applies, for instance, to the 

 distribution of colour; the scaled surface, too. is of greater 

 extent in_ the type-specimens of L. esmarkii. which, ex- 

 clusive of isolated scales on the forehead, has also the 

 nape fully scaled and the inner portion of the pectorals. 



The final conclusion, therefore, is this, that the indi- 

 viduals from the North Atlantic Expedition, all of them com- 

 paratively young, are certainly identical with L. esmarkii 



1 The other character — derived from the scaling — which led 

 me, when establishing the new species, to distinguish it from L. 

 vahlii, is of minor importance; it must not however be passed by 

 unnoticed, having in the original deseription given rise to misunder- 

 standing. The scales in L. esmarkii were stated to extend as far as 

 the snout, whereas //. vahlii had the head maked; this was incorrect, 

 the closely set, almost circular impressions in the skin, resulting frem 

 its contraction, having been mistaken, for scales. Not till the 5 indiv- 

 iduals before me had been submitted to a close examination, did I 

 succeed in dotoeling a few isolated true scales on the forehead, which 

 had unquestionably developed in an advanced stage of growth. 



