178 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



If it l)e borne in mind during examiniition of this the abdominid (•;i\ity ;ind extends slightly fni-tlier Iwck 

 table tliat the average lensjth of the body in the males i on the left side than on the riglit. The pyloi'ic appen- 



here measured is greater than in the females, it is clear 

 that in every line in the last three columns where the 

 numljers rise oi' fall in uniform succession, a distinct 

 (•hanjje of growth is indicated, and that where this is 

 not the case, an equally distinct sexual difference ap- 

 pears. With ]'espect to ihc length of the \entr;il tins 

 in ])roportion to that of the body, it is true that these 

 three numl)ers rise uniforndy; but here the difference 

 Ijetween the last column and the next to the last is so 

 gi-eat that the sexual difference is indicated in this way; 

 while, on the other hand, with regard to the length of 

 the maxillarv l)ones and of the lower jaw, the ditt'erence 

 l)etween the last column and the next to the last is so 

 slight tliat we may well suspect that here, too, difference 

 of sex has had some influence, in which case it becomes 

 a rule that the jaws are generally longer in the females 

 than in the males. The table also suggests that the 

 long and low lurm of tiie bodv, which is so character- 

 istic of the species, expressed in the ratios of tiie least 

 depth of the tail, and the relatively small eyes are most 

 strongly marked in the two specimens from tlie frozen 

 sea of Siberia, where, to judge by this circumstance, 

 the species attains its most perfect typical character. 



The colouring of the Four-horned Cottus is nuu'h 

 duller than that of tin; two following species, and thus 

 contributes to I'cnder its appearance still more repulsive. 

 The ])ack and ihe ujiiicr \r.\vt of the head are grayish 

 bi-(jwn, in some specimens tinely mai"bled with dai-k 

 spots, which arc partly coalescent. The sides are lighter 

 and towards the belly shade into light brownish yellow 

 with a brassy lustre. In the male the same colour, 

 with a. dash of I'ed, extends over the l)elh' as well; 

 but in the female the belly is white. The I'ound, rough 

 scales on the sides of tlie l)ody are yellowish whit(.'. 

 The iris is dark tlame-yellow, lighter at the inner 

 margin. 



The internal structure of the Four-horned Cottus 

 is essentially the same as that of tlie othei- species of 

 the genus, but is different in some respects. The liver, 

 the breadth of which is greater than its length, lies across 



dages, ^vhich are arranged in a wreath round the yiyl- 

 orus, are comparatively slR)rt and only from (i to 8 

 in number. The longest of them is situated on the 

 side next to the stomach; the others gradually diminish 

 in size. In this si)ecies, too, the ovaries are really 

 united into one, but this is more deeply cloven into 

 two lobes. According to Sundevall the colour of the 

 roe varies between dark bi-own and dark or light green. 



The geographical range of the Four-horned Cottus 

 is extremely singular and instructive. It is wanting, to 

 the best of our knowledge, on the west coasts of Scan- 

 dinavia" and Gi'eenland, as far north as the Danish 

 colonies extend'; but on the east coast of Greenland it 

 ^vas taken l)y the German "North Pole Expedition" of 

 1869 — 70''. In Spitzbergen it has not ^-et been foiuid, 

 but in the White Sea it was taken in 18(31 by the 

 Finnish naturalist Semn, and Lieutenant Sandeberg 

 brought home to Stockholm innnerous specimens from 

 the neighbourhood of Archangel. Even Pallas (1. c.) 

 stated that the Four-horned Cottus is not oidy an in- 

 habitant of the coasts of Kamchatka, but is also ol 

 common occurrence in fresh water in Siberia, as, for 

 example, in Lake Baikal and other lakes, and also in 

 the rivers flowing from these lakes all the way to the 

 Arctic Ocean, ^vhere it ■was fomid, on the coast of Si- 

 beria, by the Vega Expedition. It was from Copper- 

 mine River, in the middle of the extreme north of North 

 America, that Kichaudson obtained his ('offiis liiwa- 

 roi-itis, which he subsequently proved to belong to the 

 same species as the Four-horned Cottus; and during 

 Captain Feilden s expedition ]\lr. Egektox found a 

 small Four-horned Cottus dead on the shore of Duin- 

 bell Harbour in latitude H2\L° N. — "No other salt- 

 water tish," says GCxtukk'', "is known at present to 

 have been found at a higher latitude." 



In Sweden, luitil the ])nblication of the first edition 

 of this work, the Four-horned Cottus had been regarded 

 exclusively as a salt-water fish. Ekstrom and Fiues 

 wei'e then able to show that it occurs in fi'esh ^va-ter 

 in Scandinavia also, "probabh' in several localities, 



" According to information i;iven by Baron OviJ.HNsTJEiiNA to NlLssoN (1. c.j, il has been taken of( Kullen, Ijiit it lias never rcapjicarcil 

 tliere. According to GOntiiek (1. c), Gray once obtained a fresli specimen at Billingsgate, wliicli was perhaps a stray individual tliat bad 

 wandered into the North Sea. Malm (1. e.) obtained a specimen from Nordrc River, six miles from its mouth, which had presumfdily come 

 (l<i\vn th(' stream from LaUe Wcner. 



'' Cf. LOtkun, 1. c, p. .-iTG. 



' Die Zweite Deutsche Nordpolar/dJirl, Bd. 2, p. IG'.i. (I'ki'ERS.). 



'' Proc. Zool. aoc. 1877, p. 29;!. 



