.')«(; 



SCAXIJIN AVIAN FISHES. 



Icon. Fii. /tal., torn. Ill iPcsri), hih. 1-2:3, lig. 1; Gthk 

 (Macrurus), Cat. Brit. J/'is., Fi.<li., vcl. IV, p. 392; Coll. 

 Forh. Vid. Selsk. Chinia 1874, TilL-egsli., p. 129; Mor.., 

 I/ist. Xat. Poiss. Fr., toin. Ill, p. 278; Ln.u., .Vc., Norj. 

 Fi.<k:, vdl. II. p. 253; liniR, Deeji .SVa Fi.-ili., C'liall. Kxped., 

 p. 128. 

 Macriirus atlunticus, Lowk, Piuc. ZooI. Soc. LoikI. 1839. ]>. 

 88; G-rrm, Cat., I. c, p. 392. 



Tins s])ec'i('S is one of tliose in wliicii the ihicruroid 

 t\|ie .-ippcars in its inost developed .stage, ;i point wliicli 

 we oliserve |irinei[);illy in the sti-iicture and sliiqie of 

 the liead. Tiie species attains a. lengtii (jf o' o dm. 

 The coloration, according to Risso, is grayish with a 

 reddisii violet lustre on the back, silvery with mother- 

 of-pearl and golden lustre on the sides, bluish black 

 or , black on the liellv. The ventral fins, the branchio- 

 stegal membranes, the branchial cavities, the axil of 

 tlie pertoral, and the margins of the vertical fins are 

 also l)luish black or black. Tile inside of tiie mouth 

 and the tongue, on tlie other liand, are light (whitish 

 yellow). The snout is transparent as if of cartilage. 



To tlie above diagnosis we shall add merely that 

 the anterior nostril — the nostrils are set on eacii side 

 close to each otlier, as in most of the members of this 



genus — is I'ound. the ]iosteri(}r kidne\-sliapcd, on ac- 

 count of tiie semicircular dermal ti;ip that overlajis it 

 in front. 



Mitcriinis codorhijnchiis really belongs to the Medi- 

 terranean and the neighbouring part of the .\tlantir", 

 living in from 200 to oOO fathoms of water. In Mav, 

 according to liisso, the females repair to rocky shores 

 to deposit their eggs, which number about ;-),000. The 

 adult specimens are said to feed on ■■worms and zoo- 

 ])hytes." The dentition tells us distinctlv that they 

 cannot live on large or hard-shelled animals, but that 

 their food probably consists chietiy of W(jrnis and tliin- 

 shelled crustaceans. 



C)nly on one single occasion has this species been 

 met with in Scandinavia. In Feliruary, 1842, the elder 

 Saks found a specimen that had probably measured 

 aliout 2It cm., in tiie stomach of a Cod that had been 

 taken off flerlovivr, north of Bergen. This specimen 

 was so well preserved — only tlie tip of the tail and 

 a portion of the scales on one side of the l)ody were 

 wanting — that ('oi.lett justly concluded that the Cod 

 must have devoured its victim only a shoi't time liefore 

 its own ca])ture. 



" Still, it comes extremely iieai' — if it be not identieiil willi — Macrnrns ciii-il/hwii.^, wliieh Bruw.n'-Goode ami Bean have dcseribed 

 (Pioc. U. S: Nat. Mus., v(.l. VIII (188.5), p. o94) from a depth of 210 fatlmms in the north of the Gidf of Mexico, .and which apparently 

 differs from .1/. coelofliyiichus ehietly in the somewhat smaller lireadth of the infcrorbital space and the longer base of the first dorsal fin. 



