ir.:; 



mod Nord, end til Trondhjemsfjorden i Norge. Ved de 

 engelske Kyster er den ikke sjelden, men den forekommer 

 tdethele sparsommere længere mod Nord; i Kattegat er 

 den intetsteds talrig, og den gaar, saavidl bekjendt, ikke 

 iinl i Østersøen, 



[ Norge er den fanden paa adskillige Localiteter, 

 talrigst i Christianiafjorden, hvor den saagodtsom daglig i 

 Høstmaanederne sees paa Fisketorvene ; undertiden kunne 



20 — od Individer erholdes i det samme Dræt. Ved Lan- 

 dets Vestkyst er den tdethele sparsom: først i 1875 blev 

 den med Sikkerhed fundet ved Bergen, ligesom et Par In- 

 divider ere erholdte ved Florø og ved Christiansund. Nord- 

 havs-Expeditionens Individer vare. som ovenfor nævnt, fra 

 Lofoten og Finmarken, og vare optagne fra en Dybde 

 af indtil 150 Favne: disse ere de nordligste Punkter, fra 

 hvilke Arten hidtil vides erholdt (71" N. B.), ligesom den 

 hidtil ikke. saavidt vides, er observeret paa større Dybde, 

 end den ovenfor anførte. 



Ved de egentlig arctiske (Hande er den endnu ikke 

 paavist; derimod forekommer den atter paa Østkysten af 

 Nord-America, hvor den i 1872 fandtes første Gang, og 

 senere (i 1877) optoges i stort Antal udenfor Kysterne af 

 Xew England-Staterne, af l". S. Fish-Oommission, paa en 

 Dybde af indtil 90 Favne. Den horer saaledes blandt 

 denne Families Dybvandsformer. 



Fam. Ophidiidae. 



GJ-en. I?liodiclitli.vs, Coll. 1878 (n. gen.). 

 Forh. Vid. Selsk. Chra. 1878, No. U. p. 99 (1878). 



Legemet forholdsvis højt, uden Skjæl eller Side- 

 linie, halvt gjennemsigtigt, bag Bughulen stærkt sam- 

 mentrykt. Hovedet bredt og tykt; Caudalen distinct, 

 blot ved Roden tilvoxet Analen og Dorsalen. Anus 

 foran Pectoralerne, lige mi, Irr Gjællespalten. Ven- 

 tralerne beståa af 2 lange Filamenter, fast \voxet i le 

 til Tungebenet, og Uøvede i sin ydre Halvdel. 

 Analen begynder langt bagenfor Anns: Dorsalen 

 enkelt. Tiender tilstede paa Mellemkjæverne og i 

 Underkjæven. Gjællelaagene uvcebnede. 



Den norske Nordhavsexpedition. Collett: Fiske. 



shores ol' Kurope. but the species hail not previously been 



observed farther north than the Drontheim Fjord, On the 

 English coast it is anything but a rare fish; in the Catte- 

 gat it nowhere occurs abundantly, and it does not enter 

 the Baltic. 



In Norway, it is met with in several localities, more 

 particularly the Christiania Fjord: and may almost dayly 

 during the autumn months be seen exposed for sale in 

 the fish-markets; from 20 to 50 individuals are sometimes 



brought up at a single haul. Off the western shores of 



this country the species is on the whole but rarely met 



with; iml I its occurrence off Bergen was not ascertained 



with certainty till 1875; one or two individuals have like- 

 wise been obtained near Floro and Christiansund. The 

 specimens brought home by the North Atlantic Expedition — 

 taken at a depth of 1 50 fathoms — were, as previously ob- 

 served, from Lofoten and Finmark, the most northerly 

 localities and the greatest depths in which the species is 

 as yet known to have been met with (71" N'.). 



On the islands in the Polar Sea the species has not 

 been shown to occur; it inhabits however the eastern shores 

 of North America, where it was first observed in 1872, and 

 subsequently ( 1877) captured, in large numbers, off the coast 

 of the New England States, by the l'. S. Fish-Commission, at 

 depths reaching 90 fathoms. Hence it must be classed 

 among the deep-sea forms of this family. 



Fam. Ophidiidæ. 



G-en. PWioclicnth.vs, Coll. 1878 (n. gen.). 

 Kuril. Viil. Selsk. Ohra. 1878, No. 14, p. 99 (1878). 



Body comparatively deep, without scales or lut- 

 ein/ line, semi-translucent, posterior to the abdom- 

 inal cavity much ' compressed. Head broad and 

 thick; caudal fin distinct, at the base only connate 

 with the anal and dorsal. The rent placed an- 

 terior to the pectorals, immediately beneath the branch- 

 ial opening. The ventrals consisting of two long 

 filaments attached to the hyoid bone, the exterior 

 half bifid. The anal originating a considerable 

 distance posterior to the rent. The dorsal single. 

 Teeth on the intermaxillary and the lower jaw. 

 < ) perries unarmed. 



