127 



Localit. fra Nordh.-Exped. Havel melleni Beereil 

 Eiland og Spitsbergen, smut Magdalene -Bay paa Spits- 

 bergen. 



Locality (North Atl. Exped.): — The open sea, 

 between Beeren Eiland and Spitsbergen: Magdalene Bay, 

 on the coast of Spitsbergen. 



Bemærkninger til Synonymien. Det kan neppe 

 Længere være Tvivl underkastet, at alle de Former, som 

 ere beskrevne under Navnene G-. polaris, (Sab.) 1824, 



G. fahririi, Richards. 1836, eller G. agilis, Reinli. 1838,, 

 fra Spitsbergen, Island. Grønland og andre Punkter af det 

 arctiske America, i Virkeligheden gaa ind under den af 

 Lepechin i 1774 fra det hvideHay beskrevne Gaåus saida, 

 hvilket allerede Malmgren i sin Fortegnelse -over Spitsber- 

 gens Fiskefauna af 1864 har antaget for sandsynligt 1 , og 

 Prof. Smitt har udtalt samme Anskuelse i en Meddelelse 

 til Vetenskaps-Akademien i Stockholm i 1876. Vistnbk 

 er Lepechins originale Beskrivelse ingenlunde udtommende, 

 eller endog synderlig nøjagtig 2 . Men en umiddelbar Sam- 

 menligning, som jeg har kunnet anstille mellem Exempla- 

 rer af G. saida fra Archangel, afgivne til Universitets- 

 Musæet af Lieutn. Sandeberg, og de Individer, som Musæet 

 i de seneste Aar modtaget fra Gronland, Spitsbergen og 

 Novaja Zemlja, har bestyrket den Antagelse, at de alle ere 

 identiske. 



At Individerne fra Hvidehavet i Regelen have havt 

 morkere Finner, kan vistnok alene tilskrives, at de tilfæl- 

 digvis havde en betydeligere Størrelse, idet de Individer 

 fra de øvrige Localiteter. hvortil jeg har havt Adgang. 

 saagodtsoni alle have været mindre, end halvvoxne. Men 

 iovrigt stemme de alle i sin Skjælbeklædning, Tandbygning, 

 Stillingen af Anus og i ethvert Punkt af Legeiusbygningen 

 saa fuldkommen overens, at nogen Adskillelse mellem dem 

 som distincte Arter ikke er mulig. I Overensstemmelse 

 hermed opføres Arten under det ældste Lepechin'ske Navn, 

 Gaåus saida 3 . 



En- betydelig Lighed .udviser Arten med den af Peters 

 i ..2te Deutsche Nordpolar-Exp.-'. B. II. p. 172 (Leipz. 1874) 



1 <HY. Kgl. Vet'. Ak. Forh. Isii4. p. 531, Arten opføres dog ]>aa 

 dette Sted under Navnet Boreogadus polaris, iSali. ). 



- Det er saaledés sandsynligvis efter denne Tegning, at Gunther 

 i Diagnosen for G. saida beskriver Stillingen af Anus i Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus. vol. 4. p. 337. 



3 Navnet saida er dannet af det Trivialnavn, hvorunder Arten er 

 kjendt paa den russiske Kyst, og da dette utvivlsomt er det samme, 

 som Xnrdmændenes „Sei" (G, airens), antydes herved en Overens- 

 stemmelse i det Ydre mellem disse 2 Arter. Denne Lighed er dog 

 ikke større, end at Arterne allerede ved et hurtigt Blik kunne ad- 

 skilles, saaledés ved Skjælbeklædningen, Legemsbygningen, Stillingen 

 af Anus, etc. 



Remarks on the Synonymy. — There can be very 

 little reason to doubt, that the divers forms occurring on 

 the coast of Spitzbergen, Iceland. Greenland, and Arctic 

 America, described as G. polaris, (Sab.) 1*24: G. fabri- 

 <-ii. Richards., 1836;. or G. agilis, Reinh. 1838, are 

 identical with Gadus saida, the species diagnosticated by 

 Lepechin in 1774. from an example taken in the White 

 Sea: an assumption supported by Malmgren 1 in his List 

 of Spitzbergen Fishes, published 1864: Professor Smitt, 

 too, arrived at the same conclusion in 1876, as appears 

 from his communication to the Swedish Vetenskaps Aka- 

 demi. The diagnosis originally furnished by Lepechin 

 is doubtless far from complete, and leaves, too, not a 

 little to be desired in point of accuracy 2 ; but direct, au- 

 toptical comparison between examples of G. saida from 

 Archangel, procured for the University Museum by Lieut. 

 Sandeberg. and individuals sent to the Museum from Green- 

 land. Spitzbergen, and Novaja Zemlja, has still further 

 convinced me of the plausibility of this hypothesis. 



Tin' darker colour of the fins characterising the ma- 

 jority of the White Sea specimens, must be. unquestionably 

 ascribed to their having been of a larger size, since the in- 

 dividuals from other localities that I have had opportunity 

 of examining, were all of them in more or less early 

 stages of growth. For the rest, however, they agree so 

 closely, viz. in the arrangement of the scales, in the dental 

 characters, the position of the vent, " and every feature 

 connected with the structure of the body, as to preclude 

 the possibility of distinction. Hence the species is classed 

 here with Lepechin's original name, Gadus stada. '■''. 



This species bears a close resemblance to G. glacialis, 

 diagnosticated by Peters in -Zweite Deutsche Nordpolar- 



1 OfV. KgL Vet. Ak. Forh. lsiU, p. 531. The species is referred'. 

 here, however, t.> Boreogadus polaris, (Sab.). 



2 Probably, it was Lepeehin's representation from which GHinther 

 determined the position of the vent in his diagnosis of G. saida, hi 

 Cat. Fish. Brit Mus. vol. 4. p. 337. 



3 . The designation saida, is adopted from the trivial name by which 

 the species is known on the Russian coast; and this term being ob- 

 viously a corruption of the Norwegian L 'Sei" ('r', virens), serves to 

 indicate an external similarity in the two species. The resemblance, 

 however, is not greater, but that a glance will suffice to distinguish 

 them: viz. by reason of the deviation in the arrangement of the 

 scales, the position of the vent, the general structure of the body, &c. 



