230 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



that of the body, hut the sides are more yellowish, 

 and on tiie top we find very indistinct traces of spots. 

 The eye is of the same colour as in the preceding 

 species, the iris only being more whitish. The dorsal 

 fin is also pale, with a dash of yellow, and marked on 

 the rays with from 9 to 11 wavy I'ows of small, round, 

 brown spots, which run obliquely doAvn from the top 

 of the fin in a posterior direction. The anal and 

 ventral fins j)ale and -without s])ots. The caudal and 

 pectoral fins, on the other hand, have small spots on 

 the rays, forming a few more or less distinct, trans- 

 verse bands. 



The liver is of a pale colour, and is divided at 

 the point into two lobes, both of the same size, or the 

 left somewhat longer than the right, and extending to 

 the bottom of the stomach. It is concave at the top, 

 and is wrapped round the oesophagus, the stomach and 

 the pylorus. Tlie gall-bladder is very small, scarcely 

 larger than a canary seed, and lies between the upper 

 pai't of the lobes of the; liver. The a3Sophagus is \'ery 

 short, and the stomach small, with the pylorus set 

 laterally in an upward direction and furnished with 

 three, sliort, conical ap])endages. The intestine is fairly 

 long, and forms its first curve just in front of the 

 pylorus; behind the bottom of the stomach it forms a 

 slight bend, and tJien descends in an almost imper- 

 ceptible curve towards the vent. The air-bladder is 

 wanting. The urinary bladder long, narrow and trans- 

 parent. The male has tAvo oblong, terete testes, joined 

 to each other, and the female one single ovary, fairly 

 lai'ge and cylindrical, and towards the spawning-season 

 full of white ova of the size of poppy seed. 



This little fish, worthless to the fisherman, but 

 all the more valuable to the ichthyologist, has been 

 found, in Sweden, only on the north coast of Bohus- 

 lan, where it was discovered by Fries in 1 835 at the 

 entrance of Gullmar Fjord, and was subsecjuently met 

 with annually for some years after, in October, No- 

 vember and December. More recently Malm, Ceder- 

 STROM and Hansson have also found it during these 

 months; and the last-named gentleman has sent to the 

 Royal Museum a specimen which was caught at the 



end of April, 1887. It has also been ascertained that 

 this species lives along the whole coast of Norway, in 

 Spitzbergen, where the Norwegian x\rctic Expedition 

 found it in Magdalena Baj', and in Greenland, where, 

 according to the collections in Copenhagen Museum, it 

 is the most common species of this genus. 



It seems to be an inhabitant of deep water during 

 the greater part of the year, and to enter the shallows 

 onl)' in the spawning-season, which occurs during the 

 months mentioned above. As it is never caus'ht in 

 any quantity, but only one or two at each haul of the 

 seine, it is more than probable that, even during the 

 spawning-season, it does not congregate in shoals, but 

 lives in pairs. Immediately after its capture it is very 

 active, and, if put into a. vessel of water, makes stre- 

 nuous eft'oi-ts to escape, often leaping over the edge of 

 the vessel. Like its near relations, it is very tenacious 

 of life, and may be kept alive for several days in a 

 small vessel, filled with water, if the water be changed 

 dail)'. It then keeps close to the l)ottom, with the 

 body extended and the pectoral fins expanded, and 

 apparently supports itself on the free, lower rays of 

 these fins, which, in some way, look like fingers, and 

 serve as feet in the slow, creeping movements of 

 the fish. 



The great strengtii of the jaws indicates that, relat- 

 ively to its size, the Blunt-tailed Lumpemis is distinctly 

 a fish of prey, though the stomach is empty in most 

 specimens, during the period when it is found on the 

 coast of Bohusliln. In specimens from Greenland Kr0Yeu 

 found the stomach full of Annelids; and Collett states 

 that his specimen from Spitzbergen contained several 

 perfect specimens of Themisto UbeUula (a Hyperidian 

 crustacean), and a specimen of one of the scaly Annel- 

 ids {Lepidonote). 



The fisherman call this fish Ldngeharn (Ling-child) 

 on account of its small size and resemblance in shape 

 to the Ling. They know quite well, however, that it 

 is distinct from the fry of the Ling. All the speci- 

 mens obtained by Fries were taken in a large Herring- 

 seine at the entrance of Gullmar Fjord. 



(Fries, Smitt.) 



I 



