800 



SCANDINAVIAN KISIIES. 



fins, to the beginniiijr of the anal tin, it is straight. 

 The forepart of the back, as well as the top of the 

 iiead, is transversely convex; l)ut towards the beginning 

 of tiie dorsal fin it grows more and more compressed, 

 while behind this tin the dorsal margin is again con- 

 vex or even flat. Along the median line of the dorsal 

 margin there runs, however, interrupted only by the 

 dorsal tin, "a thin keel, with the appearance of a coarse 

 thread laid under the skin. This keel begins on the 

 liead verticallv al)ove the anterior margin of the eyes, 

 and ends at the caudal tin" (Ekstrom). The anterior 

 part of the keel, almost to the dorsal tin, is naked; 

 but at this point one or two scales generally begin to 

 overlap the margin with their lateral part. Behind the 

 dorsal fin, on the other hand, the keel itself consists 

 of curved scales. The belly in front of the ventral tins 

 is convex or Hat underneath, but between these tins 

 and the anal aperture sharp, with the median line scale- 

 less. At the sides of the straight base of the anal tin 

 the lowest scales project, forming a groove in which 

 this fin may be partially concealed. 



The length of the head measures in adult speci- 

 mens (19—34 cm. long) about 22'/:..— 21' ., "'''' of tliat 

 of the body. Just in front of the eyes it is more or 

 less tumid; but the most chai-acteristic point in its ap- 

 pearance is the prolongation of the snout, as in the 

 Haddock or the Houting. The projecting tip of the 

 snout is obtusely rounded, and the length of the snout 

 measures in young specimens about 29 % of that of 

 the head, in old as much as 35 % of the same, being 

 less ill the former than the breadth of the interorbital 

 space, but in the latter at least equal to or, generally, 

 somewhat greater than this breadth. In the former 

 too the length of the snout is somewhat less, but in 

 the latter perceptibly greater, than that of the upper 

 jaw from the middle of the ti)) of the snout. The 

 mouth thus acquires a position (|uite ventral and al- 

 uKJSt horizontal, but is fairly large, so large, according 

 to Artedi, that the middle finger may be inserted with 

 ease into the mouth of large specimens, the upper jaw 

 being then protruded as if from a thumb-stall. The 

 lower jaw, which articulates below the centre of the eyes, 

 measures about 36 — 33 % of the length of the head. 

 The lips are rather thick. The eyes are of moderate 

 size, their longitudinal diameter varying in the above- 

 mentioned adult specimens between 23 '/j and 18 ?^ of 

 the length of the head, or between '2 and ^/'j of the 

 postorbital length of the same. The postorbital part 



occupies lietween 44 and .lO % of the entire length of 

 the head, the eyes being thus situated sometimes en- 

 tirely, and always principally, in the anterior half of 

 the head. The nostrils, set almost on a level with the 

 u])per orbital margin, are farther from the eyes than 

 in the preceding forms; but the distance between the 

 posterior nostril and the eye is never more than half 

 of that between the anterior and the tip of the snout. 

 The gill-openings are large, the branchiostegal mem- 

 branes coalescing with the isthmus close beside each 

 other and' in about a line with the posterior margin 

 of the eyes. The gill-rakers in the outer row on the 

 first liranchial arch are not very close-set (15 or 16) 

 and triangular in shape, the upper and lower ones 

 pointed, the middle ones blunter and with a tendency 

 to ramification at the tip. The o.uter anterior margin 

 of the pharyngeals is set with 10 — 12 small spines. 

 The pharyngeals are comparatively short, and their an- 

 terior (lower) arm is deeply grooved (bilobate) at the 

 inferior margin. The pharyngeal teeth, which have 

 been described above, are in other respects, both in 

 form and arrangement, not unlike those of the Roach. 



The shape of the dorsal fin also reminds us most 

 of the Roach, l)ut it is somewhat moi-e pointed, as in 

 Ahramis, and the base is comparatively sliorter. Its 

 position is given above. The base measures about Vio 

 (10— 10-6 %), and the height about 19 — I6V2 ^. of the 

 length of the body. The distance between the anal fin 

 and the tip of the snout occupies in young specimens 

 about 62 ?6, in old sometimes nearly 66 %, of the length 

 of the body. The base of this fin measures in all our 

 specimens 18 — 19 % (according to Dybowski sometimes 

 onl}' 17*2 %) of the length of the body, and its great- 

 est height in the males about \^, in the females about 

 '/j„, of the same. The caudal fin is deeply forked, its 

 middle ravs measuring about T'A — 6' o % of the length 

 of the body, and about '3 of that of the longer (the 

 inferior) caudal lolje. 



The pectoral fins are obtusely pointed, the second 

 or third ray being the longest. Their greatest length 

 is about 15 or 16 % (in a few males nearly 17 %) of 

 the length of the body. The preabdominal length is 

 about 22 — 24 % (in a few females 24'/2 ^')» ^^^^ ^^^ 

 postabdominal length about 20 — 20'/2 % (in a few fe- 

 males 21 ?6), of the length of the body. In percentage 

 of the same length the distance between tlie ventral 

 fins and the tip of the snout is about 43 — 45 (in a 

 few females nearly 46), and the length of these fins in 



