LINGS. 



521 



the more forward position of the first dorsal fin". In 

 the Southern llcniispliere Molaa is reijlaeed by the 

 genus Lotdln, whieii should perhaps he united with it. 

 The body is eo\'ered in this genus with small, 

 thin, oblong, elliptical scales, with a more or less (some- 

 times considerably) eccentric nucleus, and with the 

 striations arranged according to the same type as in 

 the Cods but denser. The concentric stria' are so pre- 

 dominant that the radiating ones form OId^• narrow 

 connecting lines, very often incomplete, between the 

 concentric striae; but the radiating lines are far from 

 always opposed to or in continuation of each other on 

 each side of a concentric striation. In this manner, 

 however, a network is formed, as in the Cods, with 



quadrangular meshes; and in every mesh the scale- 

 substance is thickened or raised, at least on the hind 

 (free) part of the scale''. Where the radiating lines 

 are interru[>te(l, these thickened ])arts assume a con- 

 tinuous, moniliform appearance, witli one row of beads 

 for each of the concentric stria\ 



Only two or perhaps three species of the genus 

 Molua arc known. Tlioy belong to the Mediterranean 

 and tlie Nortii Atlantic. The two species wliicli occur 

 within the limits of the Scandinavian fauna may l)e 



distinguished as follows: 



A: Leust depth of the tail less tlian ', „ of 



the length of the head Molua dipteri/gia. 



B: Least depth of the tail more than "- of 



the length of the head Molua molca. 



THE LESSER LING (s\v. mnKELANGAN). 

 MOLUA DIPTERYGIA. 



Plato XXVI, fig. 3. 



Bodn elongated, almost Eel-shaped, its greatest depth being ahoiit ^|■^^, — ^i^„ of its length. Least depth of the 

 hodg {ahout ^' „ % of its length) less than 15 % of the length of the head or than half the length of the middle 

 caudal rai/s. Total length of the head (in adttlf specimens) less than Vs, Us postorhital length less than \;,,, of 

 the length of flie hodg. Base of the first dorsal fin less than Vio ^/ ^^"? length of the body or than V5 <>f the 

 base of the second dorsal fin, and less than or at most ^/j greater than its own height. The second dorsal fin 

 begins at a distance from the tip of the snout less than 35 % of the lengtli of the body, and its base occupies at 

 least half of the Icngfl/ of tlie body. Base of the anal fin also greater titan the distance bettveen this fin and 

 the tip of the snout, and measuring at least 45 % of the length of the body. Coloration above reddish or brown, 

 beloM- white or grayish: outer part of the pectoral fins, hind lobes of the second dorsal and the anal fins, and 



outer parts of tlie caudal fin, above and below, blaclish. Iris orange. 



R. hi: 7; I>. II — 14;74- 



V. .?,-+24 — .30 + .c: Vei't. 78. 



A. 70 — 81; P. 18—20; V. 6; 



Syn. Bijrkelaiige, Strom, Sondm. Beskriv., pt. I, p. 275; Id., 



Trondhj. Selsk. Skr., pt. Ill, p. 446, tab. 8; Gadus lii- 



pterygiiis, cirratus, max. infer, longiore, p. anal. LXX, Mt'LL., 



Zool. Bail. Prodv., p. 42. 

 Gadus dijplerigius, Pen'n., Introd. Arct. Zool., ed. II, vol. I, 



p. CXXIV. 

 Gadus Byrkelanije, Walb.. Iclitli. Art., pt. Ill (Gen. Pise), 



p. 135; Coll. (3foli;a), Forh. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1874, 



Tilla;gsl)., p. IIG; Malm, Gb;js, Boh. Fn., p. 492; Mela, 



Vert. Feiiii., p. 302, tab. IX; Storm (Lota), Norsk. Vid. 



Selsk. Skr. (Trondhj.) 1883, p. 35; Coll. (il/oZfa), N. Mag. 



Natiirv. Christ., Bd. 29 (1884), p. 84; Lillj., Sv., Norg. 



Fid:, pi. 2, p. 139; Hansen, Zool. Dan., Fiske, p. 83, 



tab. X, fig. 3, a. 

 Gadus abyssorum, Nilss., Prodi: Icht/i. Scand., p. 4; Kr., 



(Lota), Damn. Fiske, vol. 2, p. 167; Nilss. (Molva), Skand. 



Fn., Fisk., p. 577. 



Ol/s. The question whelher the Mediterranean Molua macro- 

 phthalma {Phycis macroplitl/almus, Rafls'., Caralteri etc., p. 2C, tab. 

 IX, fig. 3; Lotta elongata, Risso, Eur. Mir., torn. Ill, p. 217, fig. 47) 

 is a distinct species from Molua dipterygia, seems to require further 

 elucidation. Both Nilsson {8kand. Fn.) and Lilljeborg have pointed 

 out the great similarity between them, the latter writer with the 

 reservation that a difEerence exists in the texture of the scales. This 

 difference seems to consist in the fact that in tlie Mediterranean form 

 the radiating strias are entirely wanting, and that the moniliform 

 appearance of the concentric rings has thus disappeared. To judge 

 by the measurements givep by Lilljeborg, the Mediterranean form 

 has also ff still shallower peduncle of the tail (least deptli of the tail 

 only 1 1 ' 3 :'= of the length of the head) and a shorter first dorsal fin 

 (its base only 11 fo of that of the second dorsal fin), this form being 

 thus still further removed from the common Ling than Molua di- 

 pterygia. To judge by Costa's figure (Fauna del regno di Napoli, 

 Pesci, parte prima, JIalacotterigii Sottobranchiali, p. 15, tav. XXXX'III) 

 Molua macrophthalma seems also to be of a peculiar coloration, with 

 transverse spots, perhaps traces of the earlier stages of its develop- 

 ment, on tlic sides of the body. Still these differences cannot be of 



" Distance between the first dorsal fin and the tip of the snout less than 30 % of the length of the body. 



* Cf. the scales of the Eel.s — see Baudelot, Arvli. Zool. Exper.. torn. 2 (1873), p. 198, pi. VIII, fig. 1—4. 



Scandinavian Fishes. 



m 



