PKOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 209 



•'The swiin-bladder is similar to that of a cod. 

 ''Some of the fish 'bUster' like cusk when taken on deck." 

 " They were very abundant and bit freely." 



The largest of the individuals brought in by Captain Dempsey has a 

 bifid nuchal crest. 

 Smithsonian Institution, July 30, 1879. 



0> THK OCeURRKIVCE OF I-V€01»ES VAIIL,II, REIIVIT/lRnT. OIV I<A 

 HAVE AI\1> OR AND RANKS. 



By G. BROWN C;OOD£ asid TAKI.ETOIV H. BEAN. 



The United States Fish Commission has received from (Captain Z. Haw- 

 kins and the crew of the schooner " Gwendolen," of Gloucester, Mass., 

 a fine specimen of a species of Ly codes, obtained on La Have Bank in 

 latitude 42° 43' north and between the meridians of 62° 20' and 0;3o 30' 

 west, at the depth of 300 to 400 fathoms, the schooner having changed 

 position while fishing. A second specimen, 032 milUmetres in length, 

 was presented by Captain Wm. H. Greeuleaf and the crew of the 

 schooner " Chester R. Lawrence," who secured it on the Grand Banks. 

 After a careful comparison of this species with that described by Rein- 

 hardt under the name Lycodes VahUi* and previously recorded only 

 from Greenland, we are ^inclined to believe the two identical. 



Reinhardt's description of Lycodes Vahlii is very full, and is sujiple- 

 mented by a long table of measurements, which has been very service- 

 able in the study of the 8X)ecimens before us. 



The dentition of the La Have specimen agrees exactly with that of 

 L. Yerrillii. The lower jaw has the teeth in two series, with an imper- 

 fect series of smaller ones between. The upper jaw has a single series 

 of teeth, with a few smaller ones behind the symphysis. Ther«5 are 

 about seven teeth on the vomer and a single row of about seven on each 

 palatine. The teeth are obtuse-conic, not curved as in L. Verrillii. 

 In the specimen of L. Vahlii from La Have, the colors are somewhat 

 less regular in distribution than those described and figured by Rein- 

 hardt ; instead of showing six light bands, the arrangement of light 

 color upon the dark ground of the body is as follows : one white spot 

 on eacli side, above the posterior end of the opercidar flap, the spots 

 not meeting on the dorsal line. The first saddle-shaped marking begins 

 on the back, under the 8th ray of the dorsal fin, and extends on either 

 side nearly to the nn'ddle of the body. The second saddle-shaped mark- 

 ing begins under the 27th dorsal ray and extends nearly to the margin 

 of the fin, involving the width of about two rays and the connecting 

 membrane, and extends also downward neaily to the middle line of the 

 body, increasing in width as it descends. The next begins under the 

 54th ray, and resendjles the last in form and extent. The next begins 

 under the 79th, and, though smaller, resembles the others. The individ- 



* Iclithyolojriske Bidraj^ f il den Groenlandskn Fauna af Johannes Reinliardt, Professor. 

 Vid. Selsk. Naturvideusk. og Mjithem. Afh. vii, pp. 8ri-2«>8. Eight idates (p. 153, yd. v). 



Proc. Nat. Mus. 70 14 I>ec. «, 1 879. 



