432 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



from the first locality, and Malm 14 from Gullmar 

 and the neighbouring waters and '2 from the island- 



The spawning-season of the Megrim occurs appa- 

 rently in the summer-months, between May and August. 



belt of Gothenburg. The Royal Museum possesses two j At the end of June Collett took a female 162 mm. 

 Scandinavian specimens, one, as we have mentioned, j long that seemed to have already deposited its spawn, 

 from Gullmar, and the other from the Skaw, where it ! The two specimens tliat Esmark took in Christiania 

 was taken in 22 fathoms of water, on a clayey bottom, i Fjord in May and at the beginning of June, 1863, 

 On other occasions the species has been found in shall- j w^ere both gravid females. In one of these two speci- 

 ower water, sometimes no more than 5 fathoms deep, j mens, according to CoLLicrr, the ovaries extended back 

 and on a bottom of pure sand or sand mixed with : to a point, the distance between wjiich and the base of 

 clav. In Scandinavia the Megrim is usually taken in ! the caudal tin was onh' slightly more than the length 

 the seine, while fishing for Herrings and Sprats. A 1 of the head; and the number of the eggs was about 

 specimen was once received by Malm that "had been 50,000. Malm found specimens ready to spawn be- 

 taken in a Flounder-net at a depth of 17 fathoms."' tween the 9th and 21st of August, 1861, off Kristine- 

 The food of the Megrim is prol)ablv of the same berg; but he remarked tliat it was only towards the 



nature as that of the other small Flatfishes: crustaceans, 

 mollusks, and iish. In the stomach of a Megrim 165 

 mm. in length Collett found a (johius minuhis about 

 63 mm. long. In the stomach of a female 138 mm. 

 long Malm found two specimens of Aphya inimita, the 

 larger 44 mm. in length. These circumstances indicate 



end of this period that tlie roe began to ripen and 

 "run." 



As the Megrim is so small and thin, it can scar- 

 cely l3C employed as human food in any other form 

 than noititnt. In Venice, according to Ninni", it is 

 sold among other tish under tlie name of menuaggia. 



no little voracity. Again, the Megrim itself constantly j It might certainly be of some importance as bait; but 

 falls a prey to all kinds of deep-sea fishes, and has j in Scandinavia it is found far too seldom to be of any 

 been found in the stomach of the Cod and the Conger. | economical importance even in this respect. 



Genus BOTHUS. 



J(ur-fccfli of iniifon)! si^e (iriflinut cnnmes), pointed, recurred, snudl, and set in a card idi tlie iidermaxillari/ 

 Ijones ((S iceJl as in the Joircr Jair. Head of the romer also furnished icith small teeth; but the ])alatine bones 

 and tongue smooth. Lnirer ])hariingeal teeth set in several lows. Most of the fin-rays usually branched. Branchio- 

 stegal membranes inferiorhj free, at least in part, from each other, but meeting in different planes and crossing 

 each other. Branchiostegal rays '/'. Median irall of the branchial cavity unbroken below the lower pharyngeals. 

 Ventral fins free from the anal fin. Scales, when present, cycloid. Anal and prcanal spines wanting. 



The name of Bothus — which, according to Ra- 

 i"iNKS(iUE, occurs even in Aristotle, but also reminds 

 ns of the Fi'ench tnrhnf, the (.ierman Butte and the 

 Swedish Butta'' — was applied by Rafinesquf/ to a 

 genus meant to represent Klein's Bhombus and to be 

 typified l)y Linn^eus"s I'lenronectes rJiombus. As Klein's 

 Ilhomhus, however, is an ante-Linmeaii nanie which 

 Lacepede has transferred to another genus'', the name 



given the genus l)y Rafinesque claims precedence, 

 though it must be regarded as partly synonymous with 

 the jjreceding genus, for which it ^vas employed by 

 Bonaparte. 



Only three species of Bothus are known, which 

 belong to the north of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, 

 and the Black Sea. One of these species, the North 

 American Bothus maculatus, is so thin and transparent 



" Espos. Int. ili Pesca in Bcrliuu 1880, Sez. IlaL, Cat., p. 180. 



'' Agassiz {Nomenclator) endeavoured to explain this name by tlic Greek (iulioL;, di'pth. 



'■ (,'araUeri di alcuni iiiiovi generi etc. (1810), p. 2.3. 



'' .'Vrtelji's atromateus. 



