490 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



dark l)aiKl above and below the latter. The fins plain 

 and of the same colour as the body, the upper ones 

 dark, the loAver very pale, with the extreme tij) or the 

 uiargin pure, lustrous white; the pectoral fins yellowish, 

 with the insertion itself Avhite and a blackish spot at 

 the upper part of the axil. This spot, though it 

 varies in distinctness, is always present, and is thus 

 a characteristic of Whitings of all ages. The ventral 

 fins are milky white. 



The abdominal cavity extends a good distance 

 beiiind the vent, almost to the end of the first anal fin. 

 It is lined with a silver-gray membrane of a yellow 

 lustre and thickl}- strewn with small black dots. The 

 intestinal canal is long, with the stomach produced into 

 a long blind sac and, when empty, of almost the same 

 diameter as the (L'sophagus, and extending to a line with 

 the vent. The pylorus lies fairlj^ far forward, the pyloric 

 part of the stomach being somewhat compressed and 

 elongated, and the origin of the intestine is furnished 

 with numerous appendages of different lengths, the gall 

 duct opening just in front of them. The intestine 

 subsequently forms four bends before it terminates. 

 The liver is large, of a whitish yellow colour, and is 

 made up of three lobes, the longest of which is of 

 almost uniform breadth and triangular, and extends to 

 the end of the abdominal cavity on the left side. The 

 middle lobe is short and the broadest of the three. 



with thin edges. 



The right lobe is somewhat longer 



than the middle one, Init narrow and sharply pointed. 

 Under the base of the last lobe lies the gall-bladder, 

 Avhich in a specimen 50 cm. long is of the size of an 

 acorn, transparent, thin, and filled with a clear, light 

 greenish fluid. The spleen is of a dark chestnut-brown, 

 triangular, and oblong with pointed corners. The ovaries 

 are united at the middle into one single chamber, and 

 the oviduct, wliich is rather wide, and opens just be- 

 hind the rectum, issues from the lower Avall of this 

 chamber. The testes, as in most of the Cods, are lobate 

 and laid in folds resembling the cerebral convolutions 

 in the Mammals. From the kidnevs, which lie along 

 the spine and are supported b}- the air-bladder, the 

 urethra passes through a fine aperture, and entci's the 

 abdominal cavity about half-way between the vent and 

 the end of the cavity. It widens suddenly into an 

 oblong, vesicular duct, which runs for^vard, again con- 

 tracts, and opens into a small papilla just behind the 



genital opening. The air-l)ladder is very large and 

 extends along the whole dorsal side of the abdominal 

 cavit}- from beginning to end, being attached on each 

 side by transverse ligaments and covered by the peri- 

 toneum. In front, on the inside of the bottom of the 

 air-bladder, Ave find a large, glandular SAvelling (vaso- 

 ganglion) furnished with capillary vessels. The air- 

 bladder also sends out in front two long, curved ducts 

 that ascend toAvards the head. 



The geographical range of the Whiting extends at 

 least from North Cape along the \vest coast of Eurojje 

 to Spain; and if Steindachner is right, as seems quite 

 probable, in his identification of the species with Gck^iis 

 euxinus, the Whiting is also common in the Adriatic 

 and the Black Sea. Heuglin" states that he took a 

 specimen of the Whiting off Waigatz (between Nova 

 Zenibla and Russia); but up to the present no other 

 instance has been recorded of the occurrence of the 

 species in the Arctic Ocean east of Norway, even in 

 Varanger Fjord, or in the White Sea. Throughout 

 the west coast of Scandinavia the Whiting is plentiful, 

 especially among the islands. It is also common all 

 round Denmark and by no means rare in the south 

 of the Baltic, in certain years at least, as far north as 

 Blekinge. On the coast of Gothland, though there it 

 may be merely an occasional visitor, one specimen was 

 taken off Wisby in the spring of 1 865, according to 

 LiNDSTROiNi. According to Fabek it occurs, though 

 only seldom, on the south coast of Iceland and oft" the 

 Faroe Islands, but is wanting on the north coast of 

 Iceland. Nor has it been met with off Greenland or 

 on the North American coast. In the Pacific its place 

 is taken by a near relation, Gachts jit'OTmus. 



In the island-belt of Bohuslan the Whiting is one 

 of the commonest species of the genus, and is taken 

 in quantities all the year round. When other fish fail 

 him, the fisherman of Bohuslan can always procure 

 enough Whiting for his daily Avants. This fish, espe- 

 cially Avhen the Herring is scarce, thus gives the poor 

 man an unfailing supply of food to fiill back upon; 

 and in this capacity the Whiting is of no small ser- 

 vice, though its inconsiderable size is a drawback which 

 deprives it, to a considerable extent, of value from a 

 commercial point of view. On the west coast of Scan- 

 dinavia the Whiting is also an object of sport; and on 

 a fine sununer or autumn night one maj' often see 



" Heiscii nath rleni Niirdix.lnrnipor 1870 iiiul 1871, Th. 3, [i. 21',). 



