514 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



So far iioi'th, however, the Poutassou does not seem to 

 he common, tliough it is so in Trondhjem Fjord, ac- 

 cording to Storm, as well as in the south of Xorway. 

 According to v. Dlben and Koren it is taken with hook 

 and line all the year round off Bergen, in 80 — 100 

 fathoms of water. In Christiania it is daily exposed for 

 sale, according to Collett, in October and November. 

 On the coast of Bohuslan it is again rare, though, ac- 

 cording to Malm, young specimens in pursuit of Herring- 

 frv and Sprats sometimes come -within reach of the 

 seine in shoals. The first Swedish specimen preserved 

 for scientific purposes was obtained by S. I^oven in 

 18(51 in central Bohuslan. This specimen is about ?> 

 dm. long. In more recent years, according to Malm, 

 three solitary specimens between 3 and 4 dm. long have 

 l)een taken on hand-lines and Haddock-lines in 16 — 20 

 fathoms of water off Domso, Vinga, and Paternoster 

 Rock. During the winter of 1866 a larger number of 



specimens, 15 — 17 cm. long, were taken off Fjelllmcka 

 in a seine during the Sprat-fishery. In 1881 the Koyal 

 ^Museum received from Mr. C. A. Hanssox a specimen 

 36 cm. long that had l)cen taken in Mav on a long- 

 line shot at a depth of between 50 and 70 fathoms, 

 between the Koster and Tister Islands. Two more spe- 

 cimens have since been taken in the north of Bohusliln 

 by the same indefatigable collector, in 1890 and 1892 

 respectively. 



It is very probable that the Poutassou is moi'e 

 frequently taken in Sweden, for the fishermen in ge- 

 neral set no value upon it, and therefore do not take 

 the trouble to preserve it. Still the flesh, according to 

 Day, is of good flavour, but soft, and rapidly decom- 

 poses. The spawning-season occurs probably at the be- 

 ginning of the year. In July Couch found multitudes 

 of young specimens a])out 5 in. long, on the English 

 coast and not far from land. 



Genus MERLUCIUS. 



Tivo falhi developed dorsal fins, the posterio)-, as irell as the single anal fin, heiitfj, Jioirerer, liiore or less incised 

 at the margin hehind the middle, sometimes so deejili/ that the fin seems to he divided in tiro. Caudal fin in adult 

 specimens truncate or fiorked. Peduncle (finless part) of the tail distinct. Ventral fins normal, hut with 7 rai/s. 



Jans and vomer furnished ivitli teetli. Branchiostegal rays '}'. 



This genus comes so near the preceding one {Gadus) 

 that it is only for the sake of systematical consistency 

 that we keep tliem apart, as we are in any case com- 

 pelled, for the pi'esent at least, to employ the different 

 degrees of differentiation shown by the vertical fins as 

 the most important generic characters of the Gadoid 

 family. The number of rays in the ventral fins seems, 

 however, to give ns a constant character, if we except 

 Faber's" description of 3Ierlucius argentatus, ii species 

 whicli, to the best of our knowledge, has never reap- 

 [leared. In the |)yloric appendages this genus corre- 

 sponds most nc:irly, as we have mentioned aliove, to 

 the last species of the preceding genus, there being only 

 one appendage at the pylorus. But in this genus the 

 two lobes of tile liver are developed to such an extent 

 that, in some eases at least, the liver is large and broad, 

 ot'Cup)ing the whole breadth of the abdominal cavity 

 below and behind almost to a line with the vent, where 

 in some Hakes it is continued, in the posterior pro- 

 longation of the cavit}-, by a lobe on the right side, 

 the left lobe being wanting beliind. Still thi're is con- 



siderable variation in this respect, for in one specimen 

 of our Hake we find oidy a narrow lobe of the liver 

 and this on the left side of the stomach, which extends 

 nearly to the vent. In the form of the body, however, 

 which is terete and elongated, the genus Merlucius 

 comes nearer the small Gadoids, especially saida, and 

 in this respect forms a transition from the Ling-type. 

 This state of transition also appears in the form of the 

 caudal fin, which in young Hakes, as in the Ling, is 

 rounded, but in older specimens becomes truncate or 

 even forked. In the structure of the skeleton the Hake 

 is most nearly approximated to navaga, by the large, 

 In-oad, and inferiorly concave, transverse processes of 

 most of the abdominal vertebra^; but the structure of 

 the skull is characteristic of the genus, the two frontal 

 bones proper being distinctly separated from each other 

 by a suture, and the occipital ridge, which in the genus 

 Gadus advances without a division and with sharp edge, 

 forward over the forehead to the middle or at least to 

 the hind part of the orbits, being here divided, and 

 I'unning in an oblique, forward and outward direction 



" Fischc Islands, p. 90. 



