LESSER LING. 



tion, covered tlirougliout the surface with cardiforin 

 teeth of uniform size. At the side of these projections, 

 on tlie uppermost part (the epibranchial bone) of the 

 tliird branchial arch a small, separate patch of teeth 

 may Ijc felt". The gill-openings are large and admit 

 of considerable expansion, but tlie l)ranchiostegal raem- 

 liranes are united underneath into a broad dermal fold, 

 free from the isthmus and extending almost to the 

 tops of the first branchiostegal rays. The preoper- 

 culum is crescent-shaped, the interoperculum rather 

 broad l^ehind, the operculum rather small and deeply 

 concave at the hind margin, and the suboperculum 

 comparatively large. The cephalic system of the lateral 

 line is well-developed, with distinct and sometimes open 

 pores along the long preorbital bone as well as at the 

 margin of the preoperculum and on the branches of 

 the lower jaw. Straight in front (jf each of the nasal 

 cavities, aJiout half-way bet^veen it and the tip of the 

 snout, lies a large muciferous groove, with a nostril- 

 like and sometimes open pore. 



The tirst dorsal fin resembles that of the Hake, 

 and liere too its height (the length of the longest ray) 

 is generally greater than the length of the base, but 

 subject to considerable variation, thus rendering it al- 

 most im})ossibIe to formulate any rule for this relation. 

 The fin begins at a distance from the tip of the snout 

 equal to about '/^ (26 — 25 ?^) of the length of the 

 body, the length of its base varies between about Vis 

 and '/u' of the length of the body, and the length of 

 its longest ray between ^^j and '/jj" thereof. The 

 shape of the tin also varies, being either triangular or 

 rounded. All the rays, except the first and the last, 

 may be bilid at the tip, tliough only indistinctly. The 

 second dorsal tin begins just behind the end of the 

 tii'st or at only a slight distance from it, and is sepa- 

 rated from the tip of the snout by a distance equal 

 to about "'3 (61 — 67 %) of the length of the fin itself. 

 It is always lo^ver than the first dorsal fin, and in the 

 middle third of the fin the rays are generally distinctly 

 shorter, but at the 40th — 50th ray the height again 

 begins to increase, about the 60th ray being the longest 

 and measuring about 6 or 7 % of the length of the 



body. The first three rays as Avell as the last are 

 generally undivided, the others more or less indistinctly 

 divided. The division is most distinct in the rays in 

 the hindmost part of the fin. 



The anal fin reproduces the; form and structure 

 of the second dorsal, l>ut is lower and shorter. It be- 

 gins a little behind the vent, the distance between its 

 beginning and the tip of the snout being about 40 — 

 42 % of the length of the body, and ends a little way 

 from the first lower supporting ray of the caudal fin, 

 usually a little behind the perpendicular from the end 

 of the second dorsal fin, but sometimes in a line with 

 this latter fin, or even a little further forward. 



The caudal fin is also invariably separated b\' a 

 distinct interval both from the second dorsal and the 

 anal fin. The middle of its base (the tip of the tail) 

 lies at a distance from the ends of these fins measuring 

 about 8 or 9 % of the length of the body. Its shape 

 is cuneiform, witli the hind margin somewhat convex 

 or nearly straight. 



The pectoral fins resemble those of the Hake, 

 being of an oval, obliquely pointed shape. Their length 

 — \'g or * JO of that of the body — is greater than 

 the postorbital length of the head, and more than iialf 

 as much again as the length of the snout. 



The narrow ventral fins, on the other hand, differ 

 widely from those of the Hake. As a rule they are 

 longer than the pectoral fins, this being due to the 

 great elongation of the tips of the rays, esi^ecially of 

 the second one. Still, in this species too, the ventral 

 fins become comparatively shorter during growth. 



The scales are thin and small, but close-set and 

 imbricated, extending over the whole body forward 

 along the snout and over the gi'eater part of the thick 

 membrane of the vertical fins. They are largest, as 

 usual, on the sides of the hind part of the body; but 

 among the larger scales Ave find small accessory scales, 

 the nucleus of which is sometimes extremely eccentric. 

 The scales on the anterior part of the head and on 

 the fins are equally small, but we have never found 

 their nuclei to be so eccentric. In all the scales the 

 nucleus is round and ratlier small. It always lies in 



" Kroter has remarked as a clinracterislic of tl.e common Ling that in the pharynx we find on each side four, denfated upper phar- 

 yngeals, three of tliem united, as usual, into an oval patch furnished with teeth, and a "fourth, small, isolated bone." The true state of 

 "the case is, however, that here, as in many of the Teleosts, especially in this species and the Burbot as well as in the Hake and the larger 

 species of the genus Gadus — with the exception of the Haddock — the epibranchial bones of the third branchial arch are furni.shed with teeth. 



i> 6-8 — 9-3 fi, according to our measurements of 4 specimens between 56 and 85 cm. long. 



' 7'2 — 8"! ?o, according to our measurements. 



