448 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



THE WHIFF (sw. glashvarfven"). 



LEPIDORHOMBUS WHIFF. 



Fig. 115. 



Greatest depth of the hodij less than 40 %, total length of the head less than 25 %, length of the head heh'ind 

 the lower eye less than 14 %, vw.rillari/ hone of the eye side more than 10 %, maxillary hone of the hlind side 

 more than 9 %, hranches of the lower jaw more than 13 %, jyecforal fn of tlie hlind side less than 7 %, hase of 

 the dorsal fin {measured in a straight line) less than 75 %, its greatest height (longest ray — ahoat the 54th or 

 55th) less than 9 %, hase of the anal fin less than 60 %, its greatest height (ahoat the 42nd ray) less than 9 %, 

 distance between the anal fin and the tip of the snout more than 25 %, length of the middle caudal rays mea- 

 sured from the Jiind limit of the scales of tJie body less than 14^ \, %, greatest thickness (f the hody less than 

 6 %, of the length of the body. Length of the pectoral fin of the blind side less than \\ that of the lower jaw, 

 and the length of the middle caudal rays less than that of the lou:er jaw, but more than ' 2 tliaf of the liead. 

 Least deptli of the tail more than 17 % of the greatest depth of the body. 



R. br. 7; /). 85 — 01; A. 67—75; P. sin. 11 1. 12, dextr. 

 9 1. 10; r. 6; C. 2 + 13 + 2; Lin. lal. 110—125; Vert. 41. 



Sijn. Whitf, Penn., Brit. Zool. (1776), III, p. 209; Pleuronectes 

 whiff, Wai.b., Ichth. Art., Ill, p. 120; Jouv., Go&& {Lepido- 

 rhombus). Rep. Coinm. Fish., Fisher. 1886, p. 252. 



Pleuronectes megastoma, Donovan, Brit. Fi.ift.. vol. Ill, pi. 51; 

 YaRR. (Rhombus), Brit. Fish., ed. 2, vol. II, p. 342; DuB., 

 KOR., Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1844, p. 102; t^lhss. , SkanJ. Fn., 

 Fisk., p. 641; GthR) Uat. Brit. Mus., Fish., vol. IV, p. 

 411; Couch, Fish, Brit. IsL, vol. Ill, p. 167, tab. CLXIV; 

 Coll. {Zeuyopterus), Forh. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1874, TilL-egsh., 

 p. 138; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 76; (Lepidorhombus), N. Mag. 

 Naturv. Christ., Bd. 29 (1884). p. 100; M.\lm (Rhombus). 

 Gbgs, Boh. Fn., p. 516; More.\l- (Pleuronectes), Hist. Xat. 

 Poiss. Fr., torn. Ill, p. 332; Day (Arnoglossn.'^), Fish. Gt. 

 Brit., Irel., vol. II, p. 21, tab. XCVIII; Lill.i. (Zeugopterus), 

 Sv., Norg. Fn., Fisk., vol. II, p. 341. 



Zeugopterus ? velivolans, Richard.s. in Y.^rr., Brit. Fish., ed. 

 2, vol. II, suppl. 2, p. 1; Couch, 1. c, p. 163, tab. CLXIII. 



The Whitt' attains a length of at least about 6 

 dm.'' The body is as elongated as that of the Pole, 

 but far thinner, being so thin and transparent, accord- 

 ing to V. DuBEN and Koren, that "when a fresh spe- 

 cimen is held towards the light, the bones and viscera 

 are distinctly visible." The bodv is deepest somewhat 

 behind the middle point of the distance between the 

 tip of the snout and the beginning of the peduncle 

 (finless part) of the tail on tlie eye side, and in old 

 specimens, more than 5 dm. long, measures rather less 

 than half this distance, or about half the base of the 

 dorsal tin, measured in a straight line. In younger 

 specimens, up to a length of about 4 dm., this depth 



is even relatively less, being not even equal to the di- 

 stance between the tip of the snout and the end of the 

 curved anterior part of the lateral line. This species 

 is also recognisable at the first glance by the very pro- 

 jecting tip of tlie lower jaw Avitli its well-developed 

 chin-knob, and I)}- the comparatively long snout. The 

 distance betAveen the tip of the snout and the anterior 

 margin of the lower orbit is equal to the longitudinal 

 diameter of this orbit, which is by no means incon- 

 siderable, or to the distance from the posterior margin 

 thereof to the hind margin of the preoperculum. The 

 length of the lower jaw is greater than that of the 

 head behind the lower eye. The sides of the ti]) of 

 the snout are remarkalile for their unevenness, whicli 

 is caused partly l)y the anterior (upper) end of the 

 maxillary bone, and partly (on the eye side) by the 

 outer (upper anterior) articular process of the palatine 

 bone. Just behind the articulation of the maxillary 

 bone, and protruding still more than in the true Bo- 

 thoids, rises the lobate process of this bone that we 

 have noticed above in the Turbot. When the mouth 

 is closed, the tips of the nasal jtrocesses of the inter- 

 maxillary bones form a swelling that gives tlie ujiper 

 edge of the snout a depressed (concave) shai^e at the 

 begimiing of the dorsal tin. On the other hand, when 

 the UKJuth is open, and the intermaxillary l)ones pro- 

 truded, tlie profile of the snout is almost straight and 

 runs in a straight line with the even slope (only slightly 



" Malm, 1. c. 



' Couch assuines that it attains a lengtli of 23 or 24 in. (58 or 61 cm.). Thompson's largest specimen from Ireland was 23' ._, 



n. long. 



