POUTASSOU. 



513 



the socoiid dorsal tin and the U\t of the snout is ab(jut 

 4.3' ,,—50 % of tlio length of the body, and the base 

 (if this tin nieasuves about 9' ., ov '.) % of the same 

 length. In most cases ouh' the tirst rav is sinipk', but 

 sometimes tlie secund rav as well, and the latter is the 

 longest ray in the iin, its length l)eing about ll'A, % 

 of that of the bod\-. The third dorsal tin, whieh be- 

 gins at a distance from the tip of the snout measuring 

 between 66 and 74 % of the length of the body, re- 

 sendjles an obtuse-angled triangle with the longest side 

 at the base, the length of this side being about 15 — 

 lr> % of that of the body. The tirst three or four rays, 

 in young specimens the first eight, are simple, and the 

 fourtli is the longest, measuring about 8\'jj — 7'/^ % of 

 the length of the liod-w 



The tirst anal tin begins at a distance from the 

 ti|) of the snout eipial to about 33 — 35 % of the length 

 of the body, thus almost in a line with the first dorsal 

 tin or even a little in front of it, and extends very 

 neaidy back to the beginning of the second anal fin, 

 its length being about 31 — 36 ^/o % of that of the body. 

 The first four or five rays are simple, and the fifth 

 ray is generally the longest, though its length is only 

 about 7^ — 10 % of that of the body. The fin is also 

 of fairly uniform height, becoming only gradually lower 

 Ijehind. The second anal fin almost exactly corresponds 

 in position and form to the third dorsal, but is some- 

 what longer, its length being about I7V2 — ^^^U "^ of 

 tliat of the body. 



The caudal fin is deeply forked. The length of 

 its middle rays is about 7 — 572 ^ of that of the bodj-. 



The most important characteristics of the internal 

 oi'gans have already been noticed above. The abdo- 

 minal cavity extends back to a line with the end of 

 the second dorsal fin or even with that of the first 

 anal fin. The peritoneum is of a lustrous black. 



The covering of scales resembles that of Gadus 

 Esmarkii. The scales of the body are fairly large, 

 especially below the lateral line. Above this line about 

 12 scales may be counted in an oblique roM' from the 

 anterior dorsal fins and from the beginning of the third 

 dorsal fin. The head is also thickly covered with scales, 

 and small scales clothe the snout out to the very tip. 

 All the vertical fins are also covered with scales, at the 

 base at least; l)ut how far this scaly covering extends, 

 is as yet unknown. The Poutassou has some of the 



bod}' and the looseness of the skin. The fins are co- 

 vered with a, thick skin at the base, but on their outer 

 parts, as v. DC'iiKN and KouhN have alreadv remarked, 

 the membrane is "more fragile than in the kindred 

 species, which acc(junts for the fact that the fins are 

 seldom found perfect and entire." 



The coloration reminds us of that of the Herring. 

 From the bluish gray back it grows lighter and lighter 

 down the sides, becoming silvery and finally milk-white 

 on the belly. The skin is finely ]nmctated everywhere 

 with small, round, Iilackish brown spots of pigment, 

 thickest in the region of the pectoi-al fins, -wheie, in 

 the axil of the fin, they leave a trace of the black spot 

 which we have seen in several of the jtreccding species. 

 It is the black colour of the phar^•nx, the i-oot of the 

 tongue, and the inner surface of the opercula that has 

 given the Poutassou its Swedish name {kolmuhn = 

 Coal-mouth). 



The Poutassou, like Gadus Esmarkii, is one of 

 Esmark's discoveries in the Scandinavian fauna; but 

 almost simultaneously with his discovery of it in Chri- 

 stiania Fjord (1843) it Avas also found by v. Dubex 

 and KoREN off Bergen, where it had long been knoAvn 

 to the fishermen. It was originally described, however, 

 though but little knoAvn to science, as a Mediterranean 

 species. In this locality it was taken in quantities off 

 Nice, and in spring the fry were seen in large shoals 

 at the surface of the sea. It has sometimes appeared 

 in the same way on the English coast. "In June, 

 1861," says Dunn as quoted by Day, "our bays were 

 full of the young of this species. In 1871, if possible, 

 they were in greater quantities, some shoals covering 

 acres of sea-water, these leaping over each other in 

 hungry haste to devour the young herrings, which were 

 plentiful in the sea." Steindachner found the Pou- 

 tassou oft' Barcelona, Giglioli includes it, as a rare 

 sjjecies, among the fishes of Italy, and, according to 

 AvosTOLiDES, it is common on the coast of Greece. The 

 geographical range of the Poutassou thus seems essen- 

 tially to coincide with that of the Blue-mouth (Scor- 

 2)(ena dactyloptera); and this similarity also extends to 

 their bathymetric ranges. 



On the coast of Scandinavia the Poutassou goes as 

 far north as Norwegian Finmark. From this region 

 the Royal Museum received from Mr. F. Bull in 1850 

 a specimen '2 dm. long, and according to Collett the 

 characters of the true deep-sea fishes, not only in the Museum of Christiania also possesses young specimens 



large size of the eves but also in the softness of the 



from Ox Fjord, a little south of Hamraerfest (70° 13' N.). 



Scandiaavlttn Fishes. 



65 



