(:i!i:NAi>ii;i!-nsiii;s. 



r)9i 



tla' liiiih, liitt ;ils() tli;it in llir (lui-s;il iii;ir,L:iii, in IVunr 

 (if the lii'st (listincl r,-i\- of tlie sccduil (i(irs;il lin, tlicrc 

 lies ,-i I'ow (if sdfl. wliitisii, (Icrni.-il |ifiituii('i'anccs, wliiic 

 frdUi cMcli (if till' |)ostcri()V anidii^' these |irdtul)(_'ran(:c'S, 

 fdrwaril td a [mint ' ,,, of tlic \\a\- aloni;' the hoch' fnini 

 the tip df the sniint, there prdjeets tlie tiji of a ray. 

 e\ti'euiel\' small an(_l scai'ceh' |ieree|itilile. There can 

 lie nd other explanatidn of this than that the secdiid 

 ihirsal iiu oriijinalh' extended inneh further foi'ward 

 even than it does in adult speciiueiis, lint that its aii- 

 teridi' part undergoes a reduction. Still, it is a rule 

 — though with eonsideralile indi\idiial Nariations — 

 as ('iii.i.KTT has pdinted dut, that the nunilier of rays 

 in this fin as well as in the anal ha increases with age 

 tluring the latter ]jeriod of growth, even while the length 

 of the body increases fi-oui half a metre to a metre. 

 This inci'ease — from aliout KM) to ahout 200 in the 

 former fin" — is in its magnitude an extremely uii- 

 connudu phenonienun in the idass of fishes. Cotxett 

 also coiineets it with another great ahnormitv, the in- 

 crease in the number of tiie vertebra' — 13 — 14 ab- 

 dominal and 49 — 75 caudal \ertebrw — wliieli proceeds 

 according to the same rule and with the same excep)tions''. 



The first dorsal fin is set further forward than in 

 the rest of the Scandinavian Macruroids, its beginning 

 Iving in front of the end of the first fifth of the body. 

 It moves somewhat further back, howe\er, with age. 

 The length of its base is less than ■* - (79 — 58 ?») of 

 the least breadth of the interorbital space. The first 

 rav is as usual rudimentarA', the second ray Ijoth the 

 longest and the thickest, unarticulated, and measuring 

 rather more tlian half (50 — 55 ?«) the length of the 

 head. The other rays — except the last, which is also 

 simple — decrease in length uniformly, but shar])lv, 

 the till thus ac(juiring a more triangular form than in 

 Macnniis Fabricii. 



The anal fin begins at a distance from the tip of 

 the snout \\hich in voting specimens measures about ' j 

 of the length of the bodj', in older ones about ' ., thereof. 

 It is of fairly uniform height, with slightly concave 

 margin: the first ray is slightly shorter than the next 

 ones, the length of the rays increases or decreases ac- 

 cording to the curxature of the belly, and beliind the 

 middle of its lena:th the heiuht of the fin is greater than 



the depth of the bodx' at the same point. Kdiiiid the 

 tip of the tail the anal fin coalesces with the second 

 doi'sal tin into a s\inmetrieal tip. The vent is situated 

 just in front of the begiiuiing of the anal lin. 



The ]ieetdi-al fins are set just in front of the per- 

 pendiculai' tVdm the beginning of the first dorsal fin. 

 Tlie\' are excnh' rounded at the tip, and tlieir length 

 is perceptibh more than ' ., (58 — ()!',_, "o) oi' that of 

 the head. The first raA' is extremely short, and the 

 ninth (8 — 10) is the longest. 



'l"he ventral fins are situated in old specimens in 

 front of the iierpendicular from the begiiuiing of the 

 first ddfsal lin; but during \-otith tliex' lit! considerably 

 behind it. The usual remo\al in a forward direction of 

 these fins thus takes yjlace in this species too, the distance 

 between the foremost point in the insertion of the venti'al 

 fins and the beginning of the anal fin in young speci- 

 mens (12 cm. long) being only slighth' moi'c than ' - 

 (22'8 ?») of tlic distance between tlie anal fin and the 

 tip of the snout, but in old specimens nearly '/.; (30 or 

 31 %) thereof. The first ray is elongated to a long tip, 

 hairlike at the extreme end, which extends to the be- 

 ginning of the anal fin; the second ray is about "3 as 

 long; and the length of the other rays is such that the 

 margin tjf the fin is somewhat convex. 



The jaw-teeth form a kind of transition from the 

 preceding species to the folhjwing one. On the inter- 

 maxillary bones (in adult specimens) they are set in a 

 card containing 5 or fi rows, but behind this card, for 

 tlie greater part of the length of the l)ones, they are set 

 in onh- 2 rows. In the lower jaw the case is similar, 

 but here there is onlv one row behind. In front tlie two 

 intermaxillary cards have an empty space between them. 

 The pharyngeal teeth — 2 or 3 I'ows on the two anterior 

 up[>er ])hafyngeals, 4 rows on the posterior up])er pha- 

 ryngeal; 6 rows on the oblong, curved lower pharyngeals, 

 with the largest teeth in the innermost (hindmost) row- 

 — are straight and conical, without the sharp break at 

 the apex which characterizes them in JfacrKnis Fabricii. 



The anterior nostrils are as usual round, the posterior 

 oblong and set transversely ju.st in front of the orbital 

 margin; but the latter are generally remarkably narrow, 

 this being due to the projeetiou tlirougliout the whole 

 of their lensth of the marsinal membrane in front. 



" Still, it is not a superfluous reumrk that mistakes may easily be made in the counting, partly on account of the magnitude of tbe 

 numbers, and partlj- because the two lateral halves of the otherwise simple rays easily fall apart, and the rays are thus counted twice over. 



'■ Butli the rule and the exceptions should be kept in mind, when one has to judge of the systematic significance of the varieties or 

 laces whiili. especially among the Salmonidii; and Uliipeidie, have liccn based upon the variations in the number of the vertebra;. 



