AKCTIC CODS. 



481 



As wc ni'c still i^'iKiranl of the changes of (lc\e- 

 lo|)iuent of (Iddiis (H/ac in itfs younger stages, we niu.st 

 indeed confess the possibility that the limits of the va- 

 riations niaA' cross e\ en in the character derixcd from 

 the hreadlli of the interorhital space; and in this case 

 (lidliis of/dc nuist be regarded simph' as a forin-\arie(\' 

 of the same species as the; ("omnion ('od. In whatever 

 way this point \\\;\\ be decided b\- a more comjilete in- 



changes of growth, Gacha^ callarias is less removed froin 

 this origin, and G. oyac seems to be a more ])nrely 

 Arctic branch of this stock. The tlieorv propoiuided 

 b\- S. L(>\'EN to explain the pecnliai-il ies of the Baltic 

 fauna, \\i\\\ its innnerons coiniexions with Arctic forms, 

 on the hxpolhesis that tliere ancicnth' existeil an imnu'- 

 diatc comnnniieation between tiie ^\■aters whci'e these two 

 fauna- now lixc apart, finds another support here: a form 



vestigation of (1. lujav, it is (piirc certain that this form i of (i. (hjuc may once have inhabited the Baltic, though 



comes so near the Common Cod in its entire structure ' its cliaractei's, if this be tiaie, have gi'own moi-c in- 



that these two forms must have had a common origin distinct, while the\- lia\ e been persistent in the Arctic 



at no distant period. To judge by the tendency of the i Ocean itself, on tiie coast of Greenland". 



Fig. 110. Cadtis imcar/a, o^i "3 "jf t''^' niitural size. Archangel. 1878: Lieut. H. S.vxdeberi;. 



The other two Arctic species — or probablv varie- 

 ties of the same species — ^vhich come remarkably near 

 the Cod, are the Russian iianuia or iiovaga, as it has 

 sometimes been called, (fig. 119) and iruchiija'' (Plate 

 XXII, A, fig. 3: Gadiis gracilis, ' ^, the natural size. 

 Pitlekaj, 21st Oct., 1878; Vega Expedition). The for- 

 mer*^ has long been known in Russia, where it is canght 

 in large (piantities in the White Sea, and conveyed in 

 winter, in a frozen condition, to St. Petersburg and 

 Moscow, wdiere it ranks as a delicacy. The latter'', on 

 the other hand, was .stigmatized by Steller as neither 



of good flavour nor nourishing, being therefore thrown 

 to the dogs. Turner gives iraclnija the same character; 

 and it was long rejected by the crew of the Vega, ac- 

 cording to NoRDEXsivioLD, on acconnt of the grayish 

 green colonr of the bones. Both are distinguished from 

 the Cod by the comparatively smaller size of the head 

 and more elongated form of the body; and both are 

 remarkable for the singular lateral processes from the 

 air-l)ladder, which fit into the above-mentioned cavities 

 in the transverse processes of most of the posterior al)- 

 dominal vertebra?'. On this ground Fischei; proposed 



" The fin-foriinila in Gadiis ogac according I0 our investigations is: D. 14 — 15J9 — 2018 — 20; .-!. 20—23 18 — 19; J'. 18 — lit; 

 V. 0; C. ,i'+20 — 25+,c. 



'' Tlic name of iraclnija, according to Stelleb, is a Russian corruption of the Kanichatlcan uakal. According (o NoRDQVlST (Vega-exp. 

 Vet. laktt., l:sta Bd. p. 39G) tlie Chukchecs call tlie Cod urokacllin and the Polar Cod {saida) itukcin. The Esquimaux, according to Captain 

 J.\KOl!SE.v, pronounce ogak almost ns oouk. The root of all these words seems to be the same. 



■^ K6LREUTEii (Nov. Comment. Acad. Sc. I'ctrop., vol. XH', toin. I (1770), p. 484, tab. XII) is generally quoted as tlie inventor of 

 the specific name of Gadns navaga, though, like TiLESius (Mem. Acad. Petersb. torn. II (1810), p. 352), he expressly identifies navaga with 

 LixN.EUs's G. callarias. Leiechin declared the form to be a distinct species (Nov. Comni. Petrop., toni. XVIII (1773). p. 512, not.), but gave 

 it no systematic name. Pali..\s (Zool. liosso-As-iat.., Ill, p. 196) was the first to give it a full binomial designation. 



•' Gadtts gracilis, Til., 1. c, p, 354, tab. XVIII, XIX, XX; Johd., Gilb., Bull. U. S. Nnt. Mus.. Xo, 16, p. 804. Gadus irachna, 

 P.\L!,., I. c, p. 182. Gudiis navaga, Xohdexski., Vegas fard Iring Asien ocli Eiiropa, l:sta delen, p. 465; SJirrr, Gt. Intern. Fish. Exh. 

 London 1883, Sii-ed. Cat., p. 170. Ttlesia gracilis. Tuhneu, Nat. Hist. Ala.tka, p. 90, 1>1. 3. 



<■ Cf. Fischer, Mem. Soc. Natural. Moscou, lom. IV (1812 — 13. ri'imiirimes en 1830) pp. 257 et 259, tab. VII. figi.-. 2—4; B.\er, 

 Bull. Scient. Acad. Sc. Petersb., torn. Ill, p. 359. 



Scandinavian Fidhes. "^ 



