494 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



which may 1)e fuuiid in one of the specimens sent bj' 

 Mr. Hanssox from StrSmstad to the Royal Museum. 

 I)ay speaks of five or six of these dark, broad bands, 

 but MoREAU of three broad, whitish gray ones. The 

 iris, according to Malm, is brown witli a golden lusti-e, 

 but has a narrow, brassy ring next the pupil. 



The Bil:) is one of the rarest fishes in Scandinavia, 

 and has only been met with a few times, in most in- 

 stances on the coast of Bohusliin. In May, 1827, it is 

 true, Faber (1. c.) took a Cod off the Skaw that was 

 determined at the Museum of Copenhagen as a (jadus 

 Insriis: but the specimen is missing, and Fabeh's de- 

 scription is not enough to decide tlie question whether 

 the specimen belonged to this species or to the follow- 

 ing one". FliiES, in the first edition of tliis work, was 

 the first to include the liil) with certainty in the Scan- 

 dinavian fauna, on the strength of a specimen that he 

 received at Fiskebackskil (Bohusliin) in November, 1836. 

 This specimen was 32 cm. long, and is still preserved 

 in the Royal Museum. At a more recent period, be- 

 tween 1849 and 1874, ^Ialm I'eceived 6 specimens, all 

 solitary, from the southern island-belt of Bohuslan, 

 which were between 20 and 33 cm. long. "Sir. C. A. 

 Hansson has fui-nished the Royal Museum witli t^vo 

 specimens, a female from Siicke Fjord, taken in August, 

 1880, in 40 or 50 fathoms of water, and a male, taken 

 in Strftmstad Fjord, in August, 1882. Both these spe- 

 cimens are 30 cm. long. The Bib is no less rare in 

 Denmark, though, according to Petersen, it has been 

 found in recent years once (in 1880) off the Skaw, 

 and once (1884) off Agger. On the Norwegian coast 

 it lias not yet l^een observed. All round Great Britain 

 and Ireland, on the other hand, it is connnon, and 

 still commoner further south, in the Channel and on 



the west coasts of France and the Spanish Peninsula. 

 On the Mediterranean coast of France, according to 

 Moreau, it is rare, and is only occasionall}' met with, 

 according to Giglioli'', on the coast of Italy. 



"It adheres," says Day, "pertinaciously to one spot, 

 according to ^Ir. Dunn, who observes that it is largest 

 and in the best condition when residing among I'ocks 

 upon precipitous coasts as Cornwall. Here it seeks a 

 secluded crevice or gully w-here it conceals itself dur- 

 ing the day time, sometimes thousands seeking the 

 same spot. At twilight it sallies out, as it usually 

 feeds only at night time, extending its excui'sions over 

 the hish grounds and on to the lo^v rocks and sands 

 beyond, l)ut not going very far. Assemblages of these 

 fish are known as "chains of bibs," two or more of 

 which mav l)e found so close together as to be merely 

 divided by a ledge of rock of a fe\v feet in width; one 

 chain of bibs may l)e light coloured and the contigu- 

 ous one banded with dark. In mild winters it re- 

 mains in these haunts, buc if cold and stormy it retires 

 to the deep sea, returning again in spring. It also 

 appears partial to living inside wrecked vessels. It 

 prefers rough ground or shelving rocks arising from 

 a sandy soil. The knowledge of the exact localities 

 where these fish reside has been kept in some fisher- 

 men's families for generations. It thrives pretty w^ell 

 in an aquarium, but after a time becomes of a lighter 

 colour." It lives on small fishes, crustaceans, and mol- 

 lusks. The spawning-season occurs in spring. It is 

 taken in the same wny as the other species of this 

 family; and large Bibs — Yarrell'' saw a specimen 16 

 in. long, and Blake'' states that they attain a weight 

 of 4 lbs. — are excellent eating. 



" "The second dorsal lin of the same shape as tlie tirst anal and set opposite it." Tlie greatest depth of the body (24"1 % of its 

 icnsth) also points to Gadns miimlus; but the depth of the tail in front of the caudal tin (5'5 \ of the length of the body) refers the spe- 

 ' inien to Gadits tii.s'rn.'i. 



'' Espos. Intern. Pesca, Berlino 1880, Sez. Ital., Cat., p. 'Jlj. 



<■ HI.H. Brit. Fi.'ih., ed. 2, vol. II, p. 2.39. 



'' Zoologist, 1800, p. 507. 



