238 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



Blue Sea-cat the length of the head is less, in the two 

 preceding species greater than the greatest depth of 

 the body, loses its validity. The same remark applies 

 to the character which might else be derived from the 

 greater breadth of the interorbital space in An. minor 

 and An. denticulatus, Avhich, as a rule, is more than 

 ' , of tlie length of the head, while in An. hqnis it is 

 less. But in the largest specimens of the latter species 

 measured by Bean, the breadtli of the interorbital space 

 is nearly 25 % of the length of the head. In the dental 

 equipment of the mouth, on the other hand, the Blue 

 Sea-cat is always distinguished by the smaller and more 

 pointed, or at all events conical, but more numerous 

 palatine teeth. The palatine rows are also distinctly 

 longer in every case than the vomerine row. In the 

 specimen from which our figure is drawn, and which 

 we have received from \^adso by the kind co-operation 

 of Mr. Sparre-Schneider — the largest specimen he 

 had even seen — the ro^\• on the left palatine bone 

 was 30 mm. long and contained 11 pointed teeth of 

 fairlj- uniform size, while the vomerine row was only 

 21 mm. long and contained 6 blunt molars, the first 

 pair, however, being somewhat pointed. Another in- 

 ternal character of this species which was first observed 

 by Steenstrup, is the greater breadth of the top of 

 the skull and the more spongeous nature of the frontal 

 bones, in which respect the three species form a series, 

 with An. minor in the middle. Steenstrup has also 

 pointed out the singular form of the rays of tlie dorsal 

 fin in the Blue Sea-cat. They are anteriorly convex 

 and ])osteriorly concave, thus being sectionallj^ crescent- 

 shaped. The front ones, at least, are also extraordi- 

 narily broad at the base; and Collett remarks that 

 it is chiefly this circumstance, in conjunction with the 

 thick envelope of adipose tissue, that causes the re- 

 markable thickness of the dorsal fin throughout its 

 base, which is so prominent in this si)eeies that the 



boundary between the dorsal fin and the body is almost 

 imperceptible. 



In colour the Blue Sea-cat is an intermediate form 

 between the two preceding species. It is without the 

 transverse bands which are generall}^ so distinct in the 

 common Sea-cat, l)ut tlie black spots Avhich appear in 

 the Spotted Sea-cat, are also present here, though only 

 indistinctly visible on the dark l)rown ground-colour. 

 The cavity of the mouth is for the most part gra\ish 

 black (Collett); but in the specimen mentioned al)ove 

 l)oth the anterior part of the mouth and the back ^\••d\\ 

 of the gill-openings were pure white. 



The most important distinction between this spe- 

 cies and the two preceding ones, however, is of eco- 

 nomical nature. "In the quality of the flesh," says 

 Sparre-Schneider, "it dift'ers considerabl)- from its 

 kindred species: even the Russians regard it as un- 

 eatable, and most of the specimens taken are therefore 

 thrown a^vaj' at once, though I have seen a feAv flayed 

 and hung up to dry." In Iceland the Bldgoma (Steenstr., 

 Vid. Meddel., 1. c,, p. 164) enjoys no gi'eater esteem; 

 and it therefore seems highly probable that the fisher- 

 men of the North distinguished between three species 

 of Sea-cat, two edible and one inedible, long before 

 the zoological determination was made. 



The Blue Sea-cat occurs on the coasts of Green- 

 land and Iceland, as well as in Noi'wegian Finmark. 

 In the more southern parts of Scandinavia it is un- 

 known. It attains a length of about 11 dm. Our 

 specimen was 1,105 mm. long. Its home is the same 

 as that of the preceding species — at all events it is 

 taken among them in deep water: but the difference 

 in its dentition undoubtedly indicates that its food is 

 also in some way different. Sparre-Schneider found 

 in the stomach of all the specimens which he examined, 

 nothing but the offal of Codfish, which he supposed 

 had been thrown overljoard hv fishermen who had gutted 

 their catch at sea. 



