EKSTKOM « TOPKNOT. 



455 



tliim that of till' head. The last ray is ahout liall' as 

 long as the iiii. 'I'hc Idtal length of the fin in \ cnuig 

 specimens is as nuieh as ' . of the length of ihc IxxU-, 

 in old about 13 % thereof. The pectoral fin (jf the 

 blind side is considerablv siiorter, measuring somewhat 

 more than ' ,, (in young speeiniens '^ «) of the length 

 of the head, and more rounded, witli the middle rays 

 branched. The ventral iins, as in most of the Hothoids, 

 are set luider the h<'a(l, just behind the lower jaw, 

 look like the vertical Iins, and a]iiiarently form an 

 immediate, re(luplicated eontinuation of the anal lin, 

 though they are separated from the lattei-, not b\- any 

 inter\al or l)y shorter rays, but only by the absence 

 of tiie tin-membrane lietween their last rays and the 

 tirst ray of the anal tin. Their relative length decreases 

 with age, the base of the left ventral fin varying be- 

 tween about S and 6'^'., %, that of the right ventral 

 tin between about 7 and 5'/„ %, of the length of the 

 body. Their Jieight is about 5 or 4 % of the length 

 of the ))ody. Tlie right fin is thus rather smaller than 

 the left; I)oth are concave in the plane of the blind 

 side. The caudal fin generally has two supporting rays 

 on each side; the other rays are trebly bifid, and fairly 

 e(jual in length, giving the fin a rounded shape when 

 it is expanded. 



The anal spine is wanting. The vent lies far for- 

 ward, vertically under the opereula and between the 

 ventral fins. The viscera are exactly like those of the 

 preceding species, but the intestine is still shorter, and 

 we have failed to discover any pyloric appendages. Tiie 

 largest two specimens we have examined, the ty|)e- 

 specimens of Fkies, are females, the one with extremely 

 small eggs, the other with some of the eggs of a larger 

 size, though tiie largest is only about ^, g mm. in diameter. 



The coloration of the eye side is yellowisli brown, 

 witli numerous, dark brown clouds along the dorsal 

 edge and the ventral margin. A large, more distinct, 

 almost band-sha|)ed spot crosses the lateral line, through 

 the angle, at the end of the first third of the body, 

 and another, wliicii is ratlier indistinct, at the end of 

 the second third. All these spots are arranged in such 

 a manner that they seem to be traces of 8 bnjad, trans- 



verse bands, namely, one indistinct band in front 

 of the eyes, a second across a gill-cover, a third 

 aci'oss tlie angle of the lateral line, three on the body 

 behind this point, a seventh, fairly distinct and con- 

 timious, across the nai-row ])art of the tail, between 

 the end of the dorsal lin and that of the anal fin, and 

 an eighth across the base of the caudal fin. The fin- 

 rays are also spotted. The blind side is white throughout. 



We are not in a position to give the sexual diffe- 

 rences, as L'oth the larger specimens we have seen were 

 females, and the smaller ones of uncertain sex. 



This species was first discovered and eiitei-ed in 

 the system by Fhiks, whose type-specimens are still 

 preserved in the Hoyal Museum, and were taken in a 

 dredge at the entrance cjf Gullmar Fjord near Fiske- 

 bjlckskil, in the island-belt of Bohuslan, on the 6th of 

 April, 1838. It was subsequently found off Bergen, 

 according to Nii.sson", in the winter of 1844 by v. Dubex 

 and KoREX, who referred the specimens, however, to 

 Lepidorhomhus irh'itf'. Coucn described and figured a 

 specimen that "was taken early in the year 1863, in 

 the Bristol Channel." Collett found the s]:)ecies fairly 

 common in Christiania Fjord. G. (). S.\HS met with 

 it off Bodo and Stavanger, Stoum in Trondhjem Fjord'. 

 In recent years the Royal Museum has received three 

 small specimens, between 40 and 65 mm. long, fnjiu 

 the Zoological Station of Kristineberg — the locality 

 from which Fkies also obtained his specimens — and 

 another, 74 mm. long, from the Weather Is. in Bohus- 

 lan. The geographical range of Ekstrom's Topknot 

 thus extends at least from the Bristol Channel to the 

 Lofoden Islands. It is prcjbably not rare on the coasts 

 of Scandinavia, though it has been found comparatively 

 seldom, partly on account of its small size, and partly 

 as it probably passes the greater part of its existence 

 in water deeper than that usually fished with the seine. 

 FiUES obtained his specimens "in deep water," v. DCben 

 and KoREX took theirs at a depth of 15 or 20 fathoms. 

 Collett, how'ever, found one specimen in 6 fathoms 

 of water. Nothing more is known of the haljits of 

 Ekstrom's Topknot. 



(SUXDEVALL, SmITT.) 



" Skand. Fnniict, Fiskarnc. p. 643, \o(e 2. mid |>. (!45. 



' "With a dredge small specimens may lie taken prettj' often on a rocky bottom, even in the innermost parts of the fjord:" Norsk. 

 Vid. Selsk. Skr.. Trondhj. 1883, p. 40. 



