592 



SCAN'DIXAVIAN l-ISIIKS. 



Ill this species tiie scales extend o\er tlie whole of 

 the head, even below the suhorhital ring, on the branches 

 of the lower jaw, and in a large patch on the; sjjacc 

 between llie branches of the lower jaw {iiii'i/tinii); (Hiiv 

 the branchiostegal nienibrane and the isthmus are as 

 usual bari'. The scales" arc; of essentiallv the same form 

 as in the preceding species, lait show no longitudinal 

 carina- or curves, and are deiiseh" c(nered throughout 

 their free surface with short s|)ines, which are arranged 

 in a (piincunx of oblique, curved rows. These spines 

 give the surface of the body a velvety ap])earance. The 

 lateral line does not |)ierce any scales in this species 

 either, its o|K'iiing pores lying in the form of grooves 

 witliout spines on each scale. 



Among the internal organs the liver and the pyloric 

 appendages are especially remarkable for their advanced 

 ^ development. The abdominal cavit^•, witii the peritoneum 

 coloured lilack in front and chocolate behind, extends to 

 a line with about the ninth ray of the anal fin, and 

 the li\er extends equally far b;ick on the left side. 

 The ovary is simple and triangular, whli the oviduct in 

 the lower, blunt corner. 



The body is plain grayish violet shading into yel- 

 low. The tins arc of a dark brownish violet, with a 

 dash of the lilue tinge of dew. The iris is whitish 

 yellow, shading into silver and rose-pink. The mouth, 

 the pharynx, and the branchial cavity are black. 



Macrurus rupestris, which attains a length of at least 

 a metre, has been found not so very seldom — for a deep- 

 sea, fish — on the south coast of Norway, up to Helge- 

 land, at dejiths between 1.50 and 500 fathoms. Accord- 

 ing to Stokm it is t:ikeii very often on long-lines in 

 Trondhjeni Fjord, even at the very head of the fjord, 

 but seldom in less than 1.50 fothoms of water. In a 

 single da}' in 1880, according to CoLi.ET'r, 20 specimens 

 of this species were caught oft' BjOrnor (in the south 

 of the Government of Trondhjem, lat. 64°10'N.). Off 

 the extreme south of Norway, young specimens between 

 10 and 12 cm. long vceve taken oft' Arendal during the 

 expedition of the Swedish gunboat Gunhild in July, 1879, 

 at a depth of iSo.") — 870 fathoms and on a bottom of fine, 

 i)rown ckiy. It is thus ipiite at home in these regions. 

 It also i)Ciietrates into (.'hristiania Fjord, at least to the 

 latitude of Horten. On the coast of Bohusliin it was 

 fir.st found by Fries, who has left in the Royal Museum 



a specimen 78 cm. long, taken in May, 1888. ^Ialm 

 found a stuft'ed specimen in Uddevalla Museum that had 

 been purchased in the fishmarket there in March, 1872. 

 Ill reccait years Mr. ('. A. IIaxsson has forwarded to the 

 Royal Museum two specimens. The first, which has 

 been aliout 8.'; cm. long, but is now bri.ikcn oft' short 

 40 cm. from the snout (tin- caudal part is lost), \vas 

 found fi(_)atiiig d(.'ad at the surface, between the Koster 

 and Weatlier Islands, on the 20th of June, 1882. The 

 second specimen, the original of our figure, is a female 

 88.5 mm. long, and was taken on a long-line in about 

 80 fathcjins of water, oft'Svangen in S(juth Hamso Fjord, 

 twelve miles south-\vest of StrOnistad, on the .5th of 

 November, 1889. In M;irch, 1 877, according to WixTiiEii, 

 two specimens were cast ashore near the Skaw and 

 forwarded to Copenhagen Museum. This is all that is 

 kn(jwn of the occurrence of the species in the Skager Rack. 

 In the ("attegat (south of the line from the Ska-\v to Mar- 

 strand) it has not yet been found. To the west, according 

 to GuNTHER, it has been met with by the English I'or- 

 cupirip. and Knight Errant expeditions in 200 — .5r»0 fa- 

 thoms of water between the Shetland and Faroe Islands. 

 In 1880, during the Blake expedition, aeeording to 

 Brown-Goode and Bean, A. Agassiz obtained a specimen 

 804 mm. long, at a depth of .524 fathoms, in lat. 4r38' N. 

 and long. (i,5° .5,5' \A'. It is included among the fishes 

 of (ireenland by the younger Reinhardt'' and Lltken". 

 Macrurus rupestris in all probability leads the same 

 life as other deep-sea fishes, though it seems not to be 

 of so pronounced character as our other Jlacriiri, for, 

 as we have mentioned above, it has been taken in 80 

 fathoms of water. Its food seems to be composed chiefly 

 of crustaceans: Decapods, at least as large as shrimps, 

 and Hyperioids have been found in its stomach. The 

 spawning-season seems to occur in winter, perhaps even 

 in autumn. On the 12th of November Collett met 

 with a, gravid female oft" Langesund. The female secured 

 by Mr. ('. A. IIaxsson from Svangeu and the original 

 of our figure had eggs 1 millimetre in diameter in its 

 ovary on the 5th of No\ember; and as, according to 

 Collett, the diameter of the ripe eggs is 2 millimetres, 

 it had still some time to \vait before depositing its 

 spawn. According to Collett the number of the ripe 

 eggs wdien the roe is deposited is al.)oat 12,000 or hardly 

 more than that number. 



" See Kroykr's plate in Gai.mard's voyage. 



' Rink, Griinlaiul, Bd. 2, Naturli. Till.Tg, p. 2.'). 



'• ArrtU: Mdiiiial an.l r,isl,-actiui,s, 187.5, ji. 120. 



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