liLHIioT. 



531 



New. Ill the suutlicni heiuisphcre it lias an extremely 

 near relation among the marine fishes — from the Straits 

 of Magellan and the neighhouriiig waters — in the genus 

 Salihifd, wliieh ))y the deeper form of the body and 

 the larger scales forms a transiticjn to the following 

 genus {I'hjjcis). Nils.son" was the first to distinguish 

 Lotta from Jloltta: but like Jenyns'' before him, he 

 adopted the Linnanin specific name of Lota" as a ge- 

 neric name, instead of the older name of Lotto'', which 

 was introduced into the system by Ris.so'". 



The most striking external difference from the 

 jn-eceding genus lies in the close approximation of tlie 

 vertical fins, it being scarcely possible to detect any 

 finless part of the tail even in middle-sized specimens 

 of Jjitta, as the caudal tin can hardly be described as 

 distinctly divided from the second dorsal or the anal fin. 



The connexifjii is closest Ijetweeu the caudal fin and 

 the second dorsal, and is so intimate that the last rays 

 of the latter are generally set in the membrane that 

 unites the two fins. This cliaracter also belongs, iiow- 

 ever, to the primary stages in the development of the 

 Ling (cf. above, figs. 124 and 12.")), and in this capa- 

 city is an e\i(lent expression <jf the near relationship 

 of the two genera, pointing to the common original 

 forms in which the vertical fins were never differentiated. 

 How near iMta and Jloliia stand to each other in this 

 respect, also appears from the fact that the distance 

 lietween the tip of the tail (the middle of the liase of 

 the caudal fin) and the tcnuinatiitii cither of the second 

 dorsal or of the anal fin is remarkably alike in l)0tli 

 genera, ^•arying between about 7 and 9 % of the length 

 of the body, with the following averages: 



Thus we find from this table that the character 

 in point — the absence in Lotta of the peduncle 

 of the tail — is essentially due to the greater exten- 

 sion in a forward direction of the caudal fin with its 

 supporting rays at the upper and lower margins of 

 the tail. 



In common ^vitll the preceding genus, on the other 

 hand, and in contradistinction to Merlucius, Lotta is 

 furnislied with the pendulous barbel under the chin. 



Dui"ing life this Ijarbel projects more or less distinctly 

 forwai'd. 



The covering of the body consist in IMta of re- 

 markably small, thin, round or roundish quadrangular 

 scales, with almost central nucleus, and Avith the stria- 

 tion especially dense, but consisting almost exclusively 

 of concentric strite, the radiating striaj being present 

 only in the form of short, small, dentiform processes 

 on the outer side of the concentric strite. 



" Slcaud. Fn., Fish-., p. 579. 



>> Man. Brit. Vert. Anim. (1835), p. 448. 



' The name is taken from Rondelet (De Pise, laciistr., p. 164). 



'' The name occurs in Belon, and is a Latinized form of the Freneli Lotfe, whicli was applied to a suligcuus by CcviER in 1817, 

 and was not snppleniented by the Latin Lota until 1829, or later tlian tlie appearance of Risso's work. In CfviEn, however, tlie species is 

 always called Gadns lota. 



« Enr. Mi'r., torn. Ill (1826), p. 217. 



