133 



Coast North America fromGreenl. to Georgia" (Proc. Acid. 

 Nat. Sci. Philad. 1861, append, p. 48) under Navnet Mo- 

 tella reinhardt, Kr., fremdeles af samme Forfatter i 1863 

 i lians "Synopsis of the North America Gadoid Pishes" 

 (samme Tidsskr. t'. 1863, p. 241) ander Navn af Onos 

 reinhardii, Gill, samt endelig 1873 i den reviderede Cata- 

 log af 1861, der er indtaget i V. S. Fish Commission. Re- 

 port 1871—72, p. 796 (Wash. 1873). 



Gill giver iøvrigt ingen anden Oplysning om Arten, 

 end følgende Ord. tilføjede i hans "Synopsis": "Closely 

 related to the 0. mustéla, of Europe, and agreeing in hav- 

 ing five barbels, one to eaeli nostril, and one at the chin." 

 en Diagnose, som det vil sees, er ganske ucorrect. 



Den sidste Gang. Arten tindes omtalt, er i 1875 i 

 Liitken's "Revised Catalogue of the Fishes of Greenland" 

 (Man. Nat. Hist. etc. Greenl., prep, for the Arct. Exped. 

 of 1875). Den kaldes her Motella reirihardti, Kr., men er, 

 ligesom de øvrige i Fortegnelsen opregnede Arter, ikke 

 meddelt 1 (iagnose eller Beskrivelse. 



Flere end de 4. i Kjøbenhavns zoologiske Musæimi 

 opbevarede (udvoxéde) Individer have hidtil ikke været 

 fundne. Opdagelsen af 2 nye Exemplarer, der desuden for 

 første Gang optræde paa det europæiske Gebet, er derfor 

 ikke uden Interesse. 



Endskjout det ikke er i Overensstemmelse med Pri- 

 oritetslovenes strengeste Principer, at en Arts Benævnelse 

 blot begrundes ved et i en Catalog og paa en Etikette 

 nedskrevet Navn. bør Arten dog fremdeles opføres under 

 dette hidtil benyttede Navn, der ikke kan volde nogen For- 

 virring ; dog lader dette Navn sig ikke med fold Sikkerhed 

 henføre til det bestemte Aar. 1852. 



.Imidlertid omtaler Reinhardt i en af sine tidligere 

 Meddelelser om Grønlands Fiske en anden Art, som han 

 kalder Motella argentata, der øjensynlig udgjør Ungdoms- 

 stadief af en af de 3-traadede Moteller / <). reirihardi, eller 

 0. ensis). Af M. argentata erholdt Reinhardt i Aarene 

 1831 — 36 fra Syd-Grønland, især fra Julianehaabs District, 

 talrige Exemplarer. der samtlige havde en jevn Størrelse 

 af 2 Tom. 7 Lin., til 2 Tom. ULinier. I Oversigten for 

 1835 — 36 af Danske Vidensk. Selskabs Skrifter characteri- 

 serer Reinhardt M. argentata ved dens „sølvblanke Farve. 

 det forrelagtigc stumpe Hoved, og især ved den fladt ind- 

 skaarne Haletinne". I 1838 giver han i 7de Del at samme 

 Selskabs Skrifter, p. 128, yderligere en Del Bemærkninger 

 om denne Art. der omtales som hårende 2 Hudtrevler paa 

 Snuden. og 1 paa Hagen: Gjællestraalernes Antal var 7, 

 Appendices pyloricae 8: Svømmeblære manglede. Tydelige 

 Forplantningsorganer fandtes ikke hos ile aabnede Exem- 

 plarer. 



Eiter den Undersøgelse at disse i Kjøbenhavns zoolo- 

 giske Musæum endnu opbevarede talrige Individer af M. 

 argentata samt af 4 i Berliner- og Wiener-Musæet, i sin 

 Tid sendte af Reinhardt, som jeg i 1878 og 1879 havde 

 Anledning til at foretage, fandtes deres Størrelse at være 

 mellem 70 og 80 ""\ hvoraf Hovedets Længde indeholdtes 



the species in his -('atal. Fishes Easl Coast North Ame- 

 rica from Greenl. to Georgia" (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 

 L861, Append, p. 48), by the name ol' Motella reirihardi, 

 Kr.; also (1863) for his -Synopsis ol' tin' North American 



(iadoid Fishes" (same journal tor 1863. p. 24! (. where it 



is termed Onos reinhardii, Gill; and finally (1873), forthe 



revised Catalogue ol' 1861, inserted in l'. S. Fish Com- 

 mission. Report 1871 72. p. 796 (Wash. 1873). 



All that (Jill says about the species is contained in the 

 following words in his Synopsis: — "Closelj related to the 

 (). mustéla ol' Europe, and agreeing in having live barbels, 

 one to each nostril, and one at the chin." — as «ill he 

 seen, a diagnosis absolutely incorrect. 



This species was last noticed in Liitken's - "Revised 

 Catalogue ol' the Fishes of Greenland" (Man. Nat. Hist. 



etc. Greenland, prep, for the Arct. Exped. of 1875). Here 

 it bears the name of Motella reinhardti, but, like the other 



species enumerated in the List, without being made the 

 subject of any diagnosis or description. 



Other individuals, exclusive of the 4 full-grown pre- 

 served in the Zoological Museum. Copenhagen, have not as 

 yet been observed. Hence, this addition to the extant 

 specimens of the species, and moreover from within the 

 European limits of its range, cannot but prove of interest. 



It is not indeed in strict accordance with the prin- 

 ciples determining the right of priority, that the designation 

 of a species should be derived solely trom a name taken 

 from a manuscript label or a Catalogue; but it will be 

 best to retain the synonym hitherto employed, seeing that 

 no confusion can arise from so doing: this name, however, 

 will hardly admit of being referred to the year 1852. 



But Reinhardt records in one of his earlier com- 

 munications on the fishes cff Greenland another spe- 

 cies, "MoteUa argentata," clearly one of the three- 

 bearded species (0. reinhardt or 0. ensis) in an earlj 

 stage of growth. Of M- argentata Reinhardt obtained, 

 during the period extending from 1831 to 1836, from South 

 Greenland, chiefly from the distinct of Julianehaab, numer- 

 ous examples, all of which averaged in length from 2 inch. 7 

 lines to 2 inch. 11 lines. In the "Oversigt" of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the "Danske Vidensk. Selskah." Reinhardt 

 characterises M. argentata by its -'bright silvery hue, ob- 

 tuse head, resembling that of the trout, and more espec- 

 ially by the slightly forked caudal tin." In 1838, he com- 

 municated in Part 7 of the Proceedings of the said Society. 

 p. 12S. divers supplementary observations on this species, 

 which is stated to have 2 cirri on the snout, and 1 on the 

 chin. Brancheostegous rays 7; pyloric appendages 8 ; swim- 

 ming-bladder wanting. I hi dissection, no trace of sexual 

 characters could be detected. 



From an . examination which I had opportunity of 



making in 1878 and 1879 of numerous specimens ol' M. ar- 

 gentata still preserved in the Zoological Museum of Copen- 

 hagen (and of 4 in the Museums of Berlin and Vienna, ori- 

 ginally sent by Reinh. sen.), their extreme length may be 

 given as averaging between 70""" and 80 mm , to which the 



