Forii-BKAIJDEI) l;iKKLIX(;. 



547 



The coloi-atioii on tln' hiick is ;i more ov lu.s.s dark, 

 reddish hrown (bhickish hrowii, iKTOrdiiiij to LlLLJKliORO; 

 brownish ^'ray, accordingly- to Kkovki!), growing- lighter 

 and lighter down the sides towards the white belh', 

 which is tinely punctated wiili brown. As shown in 

 our tigure, irregular clouded spots of brown also occur 

 on the sides of the tail. On the sides, and still more 

 distinctly on the snout, the head shades into blue, more 

 and more closely approximating to the colour of the 

 ca\ity of the mouth. The tirst I'ay of the tirst dorsal 

 fin is blackish blue. The other vertical fins are for the 

 most [lart grayish blue or ash-gray, the margin of the 

 second dorsal tin, the hind margin of tlie caudal fin. 

 and the anterior jjart of the margin of the anal iin 

 shading into yellow or red. All these tins are marked 

 with bluish lilack, in a mainiei- that strongly reminds 

 us of the coloration oi the corresponding parts of the 

 body in Mohta dipteiijgia. This is the case -with the 

 black s])ot at the ends of the second dorsal and the anal 

 fins — the most persistent chromatic character in spe- 

 cimens preserved in spirits — and the l)lack colour of 

 the upper and lower margins of the caudal fin also call 

 to mind Moliia dipterygta. The coloration of the pec- 

 toral fins, consisting principally of bluish black, suggests 

 the same comparison, though these fins are grayish blue 

 at the base. The ventral fins are also grayish blue. 

 The iris is silvery -white, with a brassy lustre. 



The abdominal cavity is short in comparison with 

 that of the Cods. It terminates posteriorly in a line 

 with the beginning of the anal fin. The peritoneum is 

 black. The liver lies almost entirely on the left side, 

 and does not extend further back than to about the 

 middle of the abdominal cavity or to the beginning of 

 the last third thei-eof, while the bottom of the stomach 

 lies at about the middle of the cavity. The pyloric part 

 is almost cylindrical, and runs in a forward direction, 

 a little in front of the bottom of the stomach, on the 

 lower side of the latter. It is sharply contracted in front 

 and furnished there, at its termination, ^\•ith 7 — 9 com- 

 jiaratively large appendages. The intestine runs first 

 forward almost to the diaphragm, then back to the hind 

 extremity of the abdominal cavity, again forward within 

 the first coil, and finally back to the anal aperture. 

 The spleen is of a three-sided, prismatic form, and is 

 situated behind the bottom of the stomach. The urinary 

 bladder is long and often lies in angular curves. The 

 testes are divided into lobes, as in the Cods, and the 



" Kroveu had met uitli examples df this species witli n 



ovaries of normjil structure. The air-bladder is pointed 

 in front, and extends along the posterior two-thirds" 

 of the u[)])er wall of the abdominal cavity. 



Such is the appearance of the Four-Bearded Rock- 

 ling in its adult state. Its earlier {Conchia) stage was 

 first observed by Tuomas h>nwAHi) ott" Banff', and de- 

 scrilK'd l)y Corcii (1. o. The specimen was 41 mm. 

 long, more elongated than the young of other species 

 of the same size, and had longer and more pointed 

 pectoral and venti'al fins. The unpaired barbel was 

 considerably longer than the nasal ones. The dor.sal .side 

 was of a handsome, deep green colour, or the back itself 

 }-ellow, with a narrow stripe of pni-plish blue bountling 

 it from the lustrous, silvery white coloui- of the sides. 

 These young specimens have subsetiucntly been lonnd at 

 the surface of the sea by MoBirs ami Hkincki-; off 

 Heligoland. 



The Four-Bearded Rockling was originally known 

 only as a Swedish species and from the Sound. ScnxEi- 

 DEK gives as its geographical range the Atlantic and 

 (rarely) the Baltic. Kkoyek obtained it from Lyngen 

 Fjord in Norwegian Finmark, Maemgrex from Ox Fjord. 

 Pakxell found it in the Firth of Forth. Since then it 

 has l)een observed at several .spots, though rarely, on 

 the coast of Great Britain down to Cornwall. It seems 

 to be commonest in Norway, where it has been met 

 ■with in nearl)- all the fjords, in Christiania Fjord in 

 particular. Uere, according to Collett, it is taken on 

 long-lines shot for Cod, and during the autumn months 

 is almost daily brought to the fish-market of Christiania. 

 On the coast of BohuslSn it is compai-atively rare, and 

 occurs principalh- in spring. Wixtiiek considers the 

 Four-Bearded Rockling to be the commonest Danish 

 species of the genus, and gives two instances of its en- 

 tering Liim Fiord from the North Sea. In the Sound 

 it does not penetrate south of Saltholm, to the best of 

 our knowledge; but its range extends through the Great 

 Belt, where it is taken generally in spring, to the 

 west of the Baltic, Avhere it has been found now and 

 then off Flensburg, Kiel, and Travemiinde. These are 

 tlie only localities in the Baltic where the species is 

 known, with the exception of Gothland, where, accord- 

 ing to LiNDSTiioM, it lives at a depth of 50 — 70 fathoms, 

 and is occasionally caught \n winter. Here it attains 

 a size of at least ob cm. In the west of the Atlantic 

 the Four-Bearded Rockling- was discovered in 1848 in 

 Massachusetts Bay by Stoker, and again met with by 



smaller air-bladder. 



