502 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



7 ' ., or 7 % of that of tlie body, and pointed, with tlie 

 second ray hiiigest l)ut onlj' slightly longer than the 

 first and thii'd. Their insertion, which moves forward 

 during growtli, to a point about 16 or 19 % of the 

 length of the body distant from the beginning of the 

 tirst anal fin, thus lies eventually in front of the per- 

 jiendicular from the tip of the gill-covei'. Tlie first 

 rwo rays are simple. 



The internal organs, of which Schageijstkom" has 

 given a minute description, are almost like those of its 

 congeners. The only differences are that, as in the next 

 species, tlie right lobe of the liver is oidy slightly 

 shorter than the left, and the pyloric appendages are 

 also extremely numerous. 



The coloration, which alters to some extent witli 

 age, is darker in old Coalfish than in young. As a 

 rule the back and the upper part of the head are dark 

 olive-green. This colour grows lighter downwards, the 

 sides a little below the lateral line', which is white and 

 in front almost moniliform, being yellowish gray. Still 

 lower down the sides turn white, the belly and the 

 under surface of the head being silver-gray or, at the 

 very bottom, milk}' white. All the fins are of a plain, 

 (lark olive-gray, except the anal fins, which are white 

 at the base, and the ventral, which are reddish white. 

 The forehead, the snout, and the lips are black, the 

 inside of the mouth in old specimens black, in young 

 gray, and the tongue always ^vhite with black edges'. 

 The iris is silvery, with a dark or reddish tinge. 



The Coalfish is a North Atlantic species, whose 

 true geographical range essentially coincides with that 

 of the Cod, but must probably be regarded as of a 

 rather more southern character. It is ti-ue that, accord- 

 ing to Day, this fish ^vas the only one found by Lord 

 MuLGRAVE on the shores of Spitzbergen, that Captain 

 SiMONSEN is said in 1872 to have obsei'ved enormous 

 numbers of Coalfish there in Green Harbour'', and that 

 Captain LindstkOm stated to Maemgken that he had 

 taken both Haddocks and Coalfish oft' the south point 



of Spitzbergen. But none of the numerous Swedish 

 Expeditions to Spitzbergen or the Norwegian Arctic 

 Expedition found a single Coalfish there. The species 

 is probal)ly ver}' rare on tlie coast of Greenland as 

 well, for Fabkicius never observed it in person. More 

 recently, however, it has been forwarded thence, ac- 

 cording to Reinhahdt'', to Copenhagen Museum; and 

 during Parry's first voyage the fry of the Coalfish 

 were found, it is stated, on the west coast of Davis' 

 Strait. ( )n the other hand, the Coalfish is common 

 from the Murman coast and Finmark, Iceland and 

 Newfoundland, on the American coast south to Massa- 

 chusetts, and on the European coast to France. There, 

 ho^vever, according to Moreau, it grows rare south of 

 the Loire (47° N. lat.) and is only occasionally met 

 with in the Bay of Biscay, wliile on the other side of 

 the Atlantic, according to Dekay, the extreme southern 

 limit of its geographical range is oft' New York (40° 

 N. lat.). Caxestrixi-'^ includes the Coalfish among the 

 Mediterranean forms on the south coast of Italj^; but 

 GiGLiOLi' states that he had never seen an Italian spe- 

 cimen, and neither Duiiamel nor Morkau give it among 

 the ^lediterranean fishes of France, nor did Steindach- 

 NER find it on the coasts of the Spanish Peninsula. In 

 Scandinavian waters the Coalfish is largest and most 

 common on the Norwegian coast all the Avay to Fin- 

 mark. In the north of the Cattegat the older speci- 

 mens become rarer, though young Coalfish are found, 

 in certain years at least, in fairly large numbers. Oft' 

 Kullen the species is common all the year round, but 

 only sometimes enters the Sound, according to l)oth 

 NiLSsON and Schagerstrom. Schonevelde describes it 

 from the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, and Walbaum 

 furnished Bloch'' ^vith specimens from Liibeck; but in 

 recent times it has not been found there'. Farther up 

 the Baltic it has never been met with. 



The Coalfish is less voracious tlian the Cod, if we 

 may judge by the fact that its food seems to consist 

 chiefly of small fishes and crustaceans. The Capelin 



" Vet.-Akad. Hantll. 1831, p. 149. 



' V. Wright's figure apparently shows Ihat in tlie living iish the lateral line may be of the same colonr as the body, in young spe- 

 cimens at least. 



"^ According to Collett (N. Mng. f. Naturv., 1. c.) SpAniiE-ScHNElDER received on behalf of Tromso Museum a Coalfish that was quite 

 red, like a Hehastes. 



'' Pelerni. Gcogr. Milth. 1872, p. 463; Heuglin Reisen n. d. Nordpolarmccr 1870—71, vol. 3, p. 221. 



" D. Vid. Selsk. Naturv. og Math. Afh., 7:de Decl, pp. 115 and 128. 



■'' Fauna d'ltnlia, Pesci, p. 155. 



'J Espos. intern, di Pesca in Bcrlino 1880, Sez. Ital. Cat., p. 96. 



'' Fische Deutsddands, II, p. 166. 



' See MGbius and Heixckk, 1. c. 



