NOKTIIEUN CIII.M.llliA. 



1()h;-5 



sists of !i siiimII lobe, o!)li(|ucl\' tri;iiij.Milar ami i)osrc'i'iorl\' 

 soinewliiit elongated, below the end of the seeoiid dorsal. 



The paired fins are hihati; (with fleshy, broail, 

 brachial base, so far as the radialia [fig. 294, / — (! and 

 tig. 295, / — ^J extend and form the rounded basal disk) 

 and obliquely pointed, iU(jre or less siekle-shaped, the 

 pectorals more than the veiitrals. The former are set 

 vertically on the lower |iart of the sides, just behind the 

 gill-openings, and are very large. Their ti])s extend, 

 when laid back, at least to the insertions of the vcntrals, 

 in the males usualh' beyond the said points. The ven- 

 tral fins are set about half-way between the ti]) of the 

 snout and the beginning of the caudal fin, the length 

 of the head being about ^4 of their distance from the 

 tiji of the snout. They are onh' about half as long as 

 the pectorals, measuring in the females about ' j, in the 

 males about (S8 ?o, of the length of the head. Before 

 theiu lies in the males, within a dermal sac, opening at 

 an oblique, slit-like aperture, the tongue-shaped, fiat, 

 but somewhat twisted anterior copulatory organ (fig. 295, 

 fip), armed at the inner margin Avith 6 or 7 pointed, 

 curved teeth, and articulating with the fore end of the 

 pelvis. Behind them and on their inside are situated the 

 posterior copulatory organs (pterygopodia) of the males, 

 which are tritid at the tip for about ".^ of their length. 

 The three branches are e([ual in length, but differ in 

 thickness, the lowest (lower inner) branch (fig. 295, ii) 

 being invested only with a thin dermal covering, where- 

 as the two upper l)ranches have a thick skin, with 

 imnierous pmrsal denticles on one side. When at rest, 

 however, the lower inner branch {ii) lies so close to 

 the upper inner {si) that the apparatus seemingly con- 

 sists of only two sections. 



The Northern Chimiera, when alive, is a Ijrightly 

 coloured fish of a beauty more striking than agreeable. 

 The back is reddish brown, lighter or darker; the sides 

 are for the most part silvei'y, shading above into blue; 

 the lower parts of the bodv white. But under the sil- 

 very lustre of the sides the dorsal colour spreads in 

 curious figures, oblong spots, arranged in longitudinal 

 rows, or irregular, sinuous, and indefinite patches (clouds), 

 a kind of marbled pattern being thus formed. The sil- 

 very lateral line is sharply marked bv its brown edges. 

 The top of the head partakes of the dorsal coloration, 

 hut in front is crossed with the retiform design which we 

 have already noticed; its under surface shares in the 



iT- -^ in 



white of the belly, 'i'lic iris 

 silvery sheen: the pu])il a grc 

 tins arc of the same colour 



has either a goldcTi or a 

 •nisli lustre. The unjiaired 

 as the back; l)Ut a black 



" Sec tlie special figure 

 behind, in the female. 



liordei- extends throughout the length of the caudal (in, 

 more or less far forward along the second dorsal, and 

 along the upper posterior margin of the first dorsal. 

 The jjaircd fins too are similar in coloi'ation Ix'hind to 

 the back"; the anterior (under) surface is lighter, with 

 rays of an ashy gray. The cavities of the mouth and 

 pharynx are more or less black, but the tongue and 

 the branchial arches yellowish. 



Of the internal organs Retziu.s and Hui,iju.;ii(; (I.e.) 

 have given an exhaustive description, and we shall here 

 merely refer the reader to our above remarks on this 

 head, adding that the bluish black intestinal canal is 

 short and almost straight, with oidy three coils in the 

 spiral intestine, the heart extremely small, and the bi- 

 lobate liver, especially the right lobe, very large and 

 oily. The well-developed spleen is of a triangular fusi- 

 form shape and lies beside (under and behind) the pan- 

 creas, between the inferior edges of the lobes of the liver. 



The Northern Chiunera has its proper home in the 

 depths, some hundreds of fathoms below the surface, 

 but frequently ascends to a higher level, to a depth of 

 40 or 30 fathoms, where it is occasionally taken on 

 Haddock-lines. It often falls a victim also to the not 

 unusual fate of deep-sea fishes, being carried involun- 

 tarily to the surface and cast ashore dead or in a help- 

 less condition by storms. It has a wide geographical 

 range in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean as 

 well as in Japanese waters. It occurs besides, according 

 to DC.meeil's statements from the Museum of Paris, qE 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Within the limits of the Scan- 

 dinavian fauna it is known from East Finmark to the 

 west coast of Jutland and the Sound. It is most com- 

 mon on the coasts of Norwegian Nordland and Bergen 

 (Collett). Hollberg remarked that it was common in 

 Bohusliln during the Herring-fishery of last century; but 

 it afterwards became rare, and each time a ChimaM-a was 

 seen there, the revival of the said fishery was eagerly 

 expected. Off Blount Kullen it has been caught on se- 

 veral occasions, and in the Sound it has been met with 

 between Landski'ona and Hvecu (Nii.sson). From the 

 Belts and tlu; B;dtic it is unknown. (_)ff the coasts of 

 Iceland it is rare (Fahek). It is equally rare in its oc- 

 currence off the Shetland and Orkney Islands and on the 



r plate, which represent the form ami colour of the left |iectornl and ventral tins, seen from 



