94 



Micltlinie lige ud til Caudalen. Den nedre Gren, den v en- 

 tr ale, lober skraat uedad mod Analen. og naar dennes 

 Grund omtrent ved den 16de Straale, hvoretter den følger 

 langs denne Finne henimod Caudalen. Paa Stykket fra 

 Gjællespalten til det Sted. hvor den ovre (mediolaterale) 

 Linie nanr Legemets Midtlinie (hvilket finder Sted omtrent 

 ved Pectoralens indre Trediedel). tindes omtrent 24 Porer, 

 idet de paa dette Stykke ere særdeles tætstaaende; paa det 

 næste Stykke indtil Perpendiculæren over Anus staa om- 

 trent 14 Porer. 



Hos de fuldt udvoxede Individer fra Finmarken, der 

 henge have været opbevarede paa Spiritus, ere Sidelinierne 

 idethele lidet synlige, og kunne blot efter omhyggelig Un- 

 dersøgelse paavises. men ere dog ikke ganske ibrsvuiidne. 

 Den mediolaterale er dog undertiden neppe til at paavise. 

 og synes saaledes under Opvæxten efterhaanden ganske at 

 forsvinde. 



Hos den mindste Unge (a, Totall. 81""") ere begge 

 Linier endnu utydelige, men allerede synlige hos den større 

 Unge (b, Totallængde 114"""/ 



Farven. Denne er hos alle Expeditionens Individer, 

 ogsaa hos de smaa Unger, dyb brunsort med smale, skarpt- 

 begrændsede. hvidgule Baand. hvis Antal varierer fra 5 — 8. 

 løbende verticalt nedad Legemet. Desuden findes, som An- 

 tydning til et yderligere Baand. en hvidgul Plet paa hver 

 Side af Nakken, umiddelbart over Gjællespalten. Bugsiden 

 er ubetydeligt lysere. 



Af Tverbaandene begynder det første noget bagenfor 

 Begyndelsen af Dorsalen; det sidste kan bedække Hale- 

 spidsen. eller ligge kort foran denne. De stige alle fra 

 Dorsalens yderste Band ret nedover Legemet; de bagre 

 gaa lige ud over Analen, de forreste naa blot til, eller noget 

 over Midtlinjen. Baandenes Bredde er omtrent lig en 

 Lindsediameter ; deres Farve er hvidgul, og da de ere 

 temmelig skarpt begrændsede. staa de særdeles tydeligt mod 

 den sorte Bundfarve. Hovedet er graabrunt, med mørkere 

 Skygning paa Gjællelaagets Flig ; Skjællene ere noget lysere, 

 end Bundfarven. og have paa de Partier af Legemet, hvor 

 de lyse Tverbaand lindes, ligeledes disses hvidgule Farve. 



Den ovenfor beskrevne Farvetegning tilkommer sand- 

 synligvis alle Individer, hvis Totallængde ikke overskrider 

 400""". eller der omkring, ligesom den allerede findes hos 

 Ungerne, naar disse have naaet en Totall. af 80"™ (den 

 spæde Yngel af denne Art er endnu ukjendt). Hos Expe- 

 ditionens 2 Unger er imidlertid Nakkepletten endnu ikke 

 fremkommen; men Baandene, hvis Antal hos begge er 8, 

 ere alle tydeligt ansatte. 



Derimod har Farven hos de fuldt udvoxede (Fin- 

 markske) Individer, som det vil sees af den medfølgende 

 Figur, undergaaet en ret mærkelig Forandring, der synes 

 at være constant, da den (blot med visse uvæsentlige Varia- 

 tioner) har optraadt hos alle de hidtil paaviste 5 Individer. 



perior, mediolateral branch, which is the most distinct, 

 running parallel to the mesial line of the body, and passing 

 straight to the caudal. The inferior, ventral branch des- 

 cends obliquely towards the anal, reaching the base of that 

 tin at about the 16th ray, after which it accompanies the 

 latter to the caudal. In the portion extending from the 

 branchial opening to the point at which the mediolateral 

 branch reaches the mesial line of the body (about at the 

 inner third of the pectoral) there are about 24 pores, their 

 arrangement here being exceedingly close; the succeeding 

 portion, reaching to a point perpendicular to the vent, has 

 14 pores. 



In the full-grown specimens from Finmark, preserved 

 a long time in sjfirits, the lateral lines are far less distinct, 

 nay very considerable difficulty is experienced in tracing 

 them ; but they are not wholly obliterated. Li some indiv- 

 iduals the mediolateral branch can hardly be distinguished, 

 and would seem therefore to disappear altogether during 

 the progress of growth. 



In the smallest of the immature examples (ft, total 

 length 81'"'"), both branches are as yet indistinct, but al- 

 ready perceptible in the largest (b, total length 114"""/ 



Colour. — In all the specimens taken on the Expe- 

 dition, including the immature examples, the colour is a 

 deep brownish-black, with narrow, clearly defined whitish- 

 yellow bands, from 5 to 8 in number, extending vertically 

 down the body. Exclusive of these, there is a rudimentary 

 indication of another band, in the shape of a whitish-yellow 

 patch on either side of the nape, immediately above the 

 branchial opening. The ventral surface is a trifle lighter. 



The first of the transverse bands commences a little 

 posterior to the origin of the dorsal ; the terminal band 

 sometimes covers the tip of the tail, or, if not, extends 

 in close proximity to it. They descend all of them from 

 the margin of the dorsal straight down the sides of the 

 body; the posterior bands extend across the anal, the an- 

 terior ones reaching only as far as, or a short distance 

 above, the mesial line. The width of these bands is about 

 equal to the diameter of the lens; they are whitish-yellow 

 in colour, and being rather sharply defined form a strong 

 contrast to the black ground-colour. The head is greyish- 

 brown, with a darker clouding on the flap of the gill-cover ; 

 the scales are a trifle lighter than the ground-colour, some- 

 times of the same colour as the transverse bands. 



The coloration described above is probably common 

 to all individuals with a total length not exceeding 400"™, 

 or thereabouts ; it is characteristic, too. of young examples 

 which have attained a total length of 80""" (the fry of this 

 species is as yet unknown).. In the two young specimens 

 taken on the Expedition, the nuchal patch, however, has 

 not yet developed, but the bands, numbering 8. are all of 

 them distinctly obvious. 



On the other hand, the colour in the full-grown 

 (Finmark) specimens, as will be seen from the accompanying 

 figure, has undergone a remarkable change, which would 

 appear to be constant, seeing that it characterises (with 

 but few and immaterial variations) each of the 5 indi- 



