146 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



Chironectes pictus, Vli. tumidus, Ch. Imvigatus, Cli. nesogaUicus, 

 Ch. marmovatus, Cuv., Val., Hist. Nat. Pom., vol. XII (de 

 his synoiiyinis vide Gthr, Cat.); Ch. jiictu.% Steenstr., 

 Vid. Meddel. Natiirli. For. Kbhvn 18G3, p. 208, celt. 



Chironectes arcticiis, Dub., Koe., Vet.-Akad. Ilandl. 1844, p. 

 72, tab. 3, fig. 4 et 5; Nilss., Skand. Fn., FisL, p. 257. 



Antennarius mavmoratus, Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mns., Fish., vol. 

 Ill, p. 185; Coll. (forma picta), Vid. Selsk. Forh. Chr. 

 1874, Till,T?gsh. p. 69; Bleek., Atl. Ichth., tome V, p. 23, 

 tab. CXCVIII, fig. 4, tab. CXCIX, fig. 1. 



Obs. As CuviEH ha.s remarked, Linn.eus's Lophiiis hi.':trio com- 

 prehended all the species belonging to the group Aiitvnnnrius. When 

 LiNNSUS quoted Willughby in Syst. Nat., he clearly referred to 

 those species also in which the skin is covered with spines; and 

 Gt'STHEK (Cat., p. 188) has given the Linnaean specific name to one 

 of these species — Cuvier's (1. c.) Chironectes scaber. First among 

 his synonyms, however, LlNN^US quotes the Wast(jota-resa (where 

 the great length of the pectoral fins, among other things, shows tliat 

 he did not refer to Antennarius scaber) and Museum Ad. Frid., 

 Odhelius's thesis and last of all Osbeck's Ostindiska resa. Hence 

 Gil.L asserts that the Linnsean specific name is most correctly applied 

 to the species common in the Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic, an opinion 

 fully borne out by Lilljeborg's examination of the type-specimen 

 from LagerstrOm's collections, which is still preserved in the Zoolo- 

 gical Museum of Upsala University. 



According to Cuvier this species m^y attain a 

 length of 8 '/a in- (216 mm.), but specimens of" so large 

 a size are probably rare. The most usual length seems 

 to be about 1 dm.", with a depth of 4 or 5 cm., the 



latter varying according to the distension of the l^elly. 

 This fish, which creeps among the sea-weed, where it 

 feeds on tiny crustaceans, mollusks etc. Avhich have the 

 same home, occurs frequently in the Sargasso Sea (be- 

 tween the Azores and America), and in the West In- 

 dies is also common — the Royal Museum has received 

 numerous specimens of this species from St. Bartho- 

 lomew through Dr. A. von Goes. In the Indian Ocean 

 and the Pacitic, too, it occurs under similar conditions. 

 It is the intiuence of the Gulf Stream, which has car- 

 ried man}' other objects from the warmer parts of the 

 Atlantic as far as the extreme north of Norway, that 

 explains the fact tliat in 1826 two specimens of this 

 species were found among the Capelins, off VardO in 

 the Arctic Ocean. One of these specimens, 47 mm. in 

 length, which is preserved in Bergen Museum, has been 

 minutely described by v. Duben and Koren under the 

 name of Chironectes arcticus. Steenstrup restored it to 

 its proper species by showing that the singular penni- 

 form appendages mentioned in the specific diagnosis of 

 the above authors, are really parasitic crustaceans {Pen- 

 nella sagittata), which are known to be of frequent 

 occurrence in Antennarius histrio. 



Since this occasion the species has never been found 

 in Scandinavia. 



COTTOMORPHI or SCLEROPAKEI. 



The suborbital ring united to the preoperculum J>g an osseous conne.vion. Dorsal spinous rays strong and stiff. 



Ventral fins free, thoracic or jugular, often with less than .5 soft rags. Pectoral fins broad, with broad and 



flat basal bones. Branched rays in the caudal fin under 14. Head, as a rule, furnished with numerous spines. 



Jaw-teeth, where theg exist, cardiform, weak and of uniform size. Comparatively feu- pyloric appendages. In 



most cases a prom/inent u:art {gcnitcd papilla) behind the vent. 



These forms are otherwise known as the cheek- 

 armoured fishes ("Acanthopterygiens a joues cuirassees"), 

 under which name they were first adopted by Cuvier 

 as forming a natural whole, in the most essential re- 

 si>ects corresponding to the three genera Trigla, Scor- 

 pcBna and Cotfus, which Ahtedi set side by side. They 

 form a series of families with the most variable forms. 



from the almost typical and pure Percoid form of some 

 Scorpasnoids (Sebastcs) to the monstrous appearance of 

 others {Scorpmna) and their relatives {Pelor, Synanceia), 

 where the dermal appendages are still more developed 

 than in the preceding family, or, in another direction, to 

 Dactylopterus or Agonus. The universal character which 

 unites them all, the cheek-armour, is, however, by no 



" Accordine; to BuiEKicr, it attains a length of from 8G to IDO mm. in the Dutch East Indies. 



