KIVK-BKAIiDKI) HOrKMNO. 5',7 



!-i(l<; of the hfiso of tlio iiiutl fin, is an ev;inc-><<-iil foi-- (jno^ tiiK.vtela is nn i:la.st Atiantii- wpecios, witJi range 



matioii. In fuU-^'rown specimens we now and then find extcnditi;^.' from the extreme north of Norwaj where 



these carinii- replaced })y longitudinal grooves. They it has been found, according to (jtU.KTi; in (")x Fjord 



seem to be most ncjirly represent(,(l in the family J ?k- | — and from Iceland (Fabeu) southwards at least to the 



inodi/iida; of whicii fishes we are also strongly reminded north-west of Spain (Stkixijaciixek) and Portugal (Lowe, 



by the coloration and the silvery white, naked skin. in the IJi-itish Museuin). Great Britain thus seerns to 



'llif truncate or even somewhat, though only slightly, be the centre of its range; and to ;i]i appearances it 



conca\ e (raudal fin, contrasted with its shaq^ly rounded is on the British coasts that the Five-Bearded Rockling 



form in adult specimens, also reminds us of the Am- | is commonest. The secluded haunts frequented by the 



modytoids. Even in young specimens.41 nun. in length, adult specimens render this species, like the other spe- 



liowever, we raaj' find the coloration of the adult spe- cies of the genus, hard to find, except when it is left 



cimens almost perfectly represented, though a steel-blue behind in pools, under stones etc., by the ebb-tide, and 



longitudinal band is still present as a trace of the ori- 

 ginal boundary between the colours of the back and of 

 the sides. A specimen of this kind, which is preserved 



it is caught only by accident when the fishennan is 

 engaged in fishing for other species. It is, therefore, 

 difficult to decide how rare or common the species is; 



in the Koyal Museum, was taken, together with a but, while English naturalists state that it is common 



number of others between 25 and 42 mm. long, all on the British coast, the information on this point from 



in CoKchia-dress, by Fisherman Tobias Axueksson, on [ Scandinavia is less definite. Even in Strom's time the 



the fishing-bank X.W. of Bergen, where the depth of ' species was known off .SOndmfir", but Coi.lett does not 



water was about 1.50 fathoms. In this specimen the regard it as plentiful on the coast of Norway, though 



length of the head is 20'5 %, the longitudinal diameter he points out that the large numbers in which the fry 



of the eyes 4"6 %, the breadth of the interorbital space sometimes appear at the surface, seem to show the 



.')"1 %, the length of the u])per jaw 9'7 %, of the lower contrary. In Bohusliin the species has received a spe- 



jaw Itj %, the postorbital length of the head ITS %, \ cial name (I'ennuck), and is, therefore, well-known to 



the depth of the body at the beginning of the anal fin ! the fishermen — EkstrOm, Nilssox, and Mat^.m state 



14'6 ?6, and the least depth of the tail 4'9 %, of the that it is common there — but HorxBERG described it 



length of the body. The specimen can hardly be re- j as rather rare, and in recent times the Koyal Museum 



ferred, therefore, to Onos septeutrionaUs, though three has had ver}^ great difficulty in procuring specimens 



tubercular swellings appear at the lower preorbital thence. According to Kroyer it is also ■extremely 



margin on each side of the slightly more developed 

 rostral barbels. Amoncf the barbels the rostral ones 



rare" in the north of the Cattegat. Schaoei'^trom found 

 it rare in the Sound. In the Baltic it has never been 



are developed last, though the length of the body at met with. 



this period varies considerably, but generally measures In its adult state the Five-Bearded Rockling seems 



about 21 mm., at which time the breadth of the inter- to prefer a rocky bottom, but is also found on sandy 



orbital space may already be greater than the longi- ground, when this is firm and studded with tufts 

 tudinal diameter of the eyes, though as a rule it is ; of seaweed. It belongs to the littoral fishes, and, so 



less. Not until the rostral barbels are developed, though far as is known, does not descend into deep water, 



they may still have the form of small, terete protuber- beyond the limits to which the green ^^gm extend, 



ances, can we distinguish this species vrith certainty Thus it is often met with between the tide-marks; and 



from the preceding one. on the coast of Iceland, after the storms of winter, 



The internal organs of the Five-Bearded Rockling F.vber saw hundreds of specimens that had been cast 



resemble those of the preceding forms in all essential ashore by the waves to furnish a dainty meal to the 



respects; but the few (8 — 10) pyloric appendages are ravens and seagulls. Malm assumes that on the coast 



still longer, and their tips lie rather near the vent. The of Bohuslan this species is commonest at a depth of 



air-bladder is wanting. The peritoneum, the inside of 8 — 12 fathoms; while the Koyal Museum ]rx>«sesses se- 



the mouth, and the walls of the pharynx arc white. veral specimens taken at less depths, but one from a 



" Bei>kr. Sondm.. pt. I. p. 314: Dit andet Slags T'lng-Brofme. 



