540 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



THE GREAT FORKED BEARD (8w. barteln or kumrillen). 

 PHYCIS BLENXOIDES. 



Plate XXV, fig. 2. 



First dorsal fin in adult specimens much hir/lier than the second, the third or the fourth raij being elongated like 

 a filament. Scales of the hodij so large that a transverse row from the first dorsal fin to the lateral line contains 

 only 4 — (j scales. Length of the loiver jaw greater than the postorhital length of the head and more than half 

 the total length thereof. Breadth of the interorhital space less than ^/,, least depth of the fail at most about Vs 

 (34 %), of the length of the lower jaw. Length of the base of the anal fin less than the distance between this fin 

 and the tip of the snout, and the distance between the insertion of the ventral fins and the beginning of the anal 

 fin at least about '5 of the length of the base of the latter fin. Coloration above of a more or less light choco- 

 late colour, below whitish iritli a dash of violet and on the belly nearly tvhite. Vertical fins blachish at the margin, 

 as well as nearly the whole surface of the pectoral fins. Ventral fins red. Branchial cavity and the posterior 



part of the pharynx, as ivell as the peritoneum, hlachish. 



R. hr. 7; D. 8 — lOjoT"— 63; A. 63 — 57''; P. 15—19; V. 3; 

 C. .(■+ 15 — 18+.r; Lin. lat. 105—108'-; Vert. 5Q''. 



Syn. Barbtis major (Great forked Beard) Jago apiul Ray, Syii. 

 Meth. Pise, p. 163, fig. 7; Penn. (Forked Hake), Brit. ZnoL, 

 torn. Ill, p. 170 (ed. 1776), tab. XXXI. Merlu barbii, 

 Duu., Peches, part. II, sect. I, p. 147, tab. XXV, fig. 4. 



Gadus Blennoides, BrOnn, Ichth. Alarsil., p. 24; Bl.-Schneid. 

 (Phycis), 1. c.; Cuv., Eegn. Anim., ed. I, torn. II, p. 217; 

 NiLSS., Prodr. Ichthyol. Scand., p. 49; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Miis., 

 vol. IV, p. 351; Steind., Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. 

 Naturw. CI., LVII i (1868), p. 708; Coll., Forh. Vid. Seli^k. 

 Christ. 1874, Tillregsh., p. 114; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 67; 

 N. Mag. Naturv. Christ., Bd. 29 (1884), p. 83; M.\LM, 

 Gbgs, Boh. Fn., p. 490; Winth., Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvn, 

 ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 32; Mor., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., torn. 

 Ill, p. 264; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit.. IreL, vol. I, p. 303, 

 tab. LXXXV, fig. 2; Storm, N. Vid. Selsk. Skr. (Troiidhj.) 

 1883, p. 35; Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fish., vol. II, p. 156; 

 Hansen, Zool. Dan., Fiske, p. 78, tab. IX, fig. 10. 



Gadus bifurcus, Walb. (ex Penn.), Iclith. Art., pt. Ill, p. 137. 



Gadus albidtis, G.MEL., (ex BrOnn.) Syst. Nat. Lin., ed. XIII, 

 p. 1171. 



Blennius yadoides, Lacep., Hist. Nat. Poiss., toin. II, p. 484. 



Physcis fiircatiis, Flmng, Brit. Anim., p. 193; Kr. (Pliyris), 

 Damn. Fiske, vol. I, p. 609, vol. II, p. 214; Malsi, Gbgs 

 Vet., Vitt. Sanih. Handl., H. 2 (1851), p. Ill; Nilss., Skand. 

 Fn., Fisk., p. 584; Thomps., Nat. Hist. IreL, vol. IV, p. 187. 



The iiiaxiinuiu length of the Great Forked Beard 

 is apparently between about 6 and 7 dm." The body 

 is comparatively deep and compressed — reminding us 

 someAvhat of Gadus liiscus, though more elongated — 

 especially in its hind i>nrt, where the depth is also 



seemingly increased by the loose skin which covers the 

 bases of the dorsal and anal fins. In adult specimens 

 the greatest breadth (thickness) of the body is only 

 "/j — ^/j of its depth at the beginning of the anal fin, 

 and the thickness at the middle of the body, vertically 

 above the middle of the base of the anal fin, is only 

 about "4 of the depth at the same point. In young 

 specimens, however, we meet with different proportions, 

 more resembling those which we have observed in the 

 form of the bod}^ of the genera immediately preceding 

 the present one. In specimens 18 cm. long (from the 

 Mediterranean) the body is almost terete in front, and 

 at the perpendicular from the middle of the base ot 

 the anal fin — \vhere in young examples of this species 

 we find a round Ijhick s])ot on the dorsal fin — the 

 thickness is about '/g of the depth. In general (except 

 in gravid females) the curves of the dorsal and ventral 

 contoui's are the same, but at the occiput we often find 

 a perceptible depression, which may perhaps be ascribed 

 to the violent contraction at death of the dorsal muscles. 

 In adult specimens — witli the exception of gravid fe- 

 males — the greatest depth of the body occurs at the 

 beginning of the first dorsal fin, and measures about 

 21 % of the length of the body or a little more than 

 (sometimes equal to, and in young specimens even less 

 than) the de|)t]i at the beginning of tlie anal fin; and 



" Sometimes 54, according to Day. 



* ,, 51, ,, ,, LiLLJEBORG. 



„ 58, „ ,, Day. 



' 112, according to Day. 

 '' 15 + 35, according to Malm. 



* In Trondhjem Fjord, according to Colle'I't, Storm obtained a specimen 665 mm. long. Thompson mentions an Irish specimen 25 

 in. (635 mm.) in length. 



