1162 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



3 — 6 f'thms. deep, whifli are known in Bohuslitn as 

 hdljor, and are then taken in the seine, without the 

 catch of a single male. When drawn into the boat at 

 this time of year, they often give birtli to young ones, 

 the probal)le origin of the assertion that young fish 

 1.5 — 17 dm. long swim in shoals together with their 

 elders on predatory excursions. The Swedish fishermen 

 declare that the frj' never accompany the old, but live 

 by themselves in shallow water. There they keep to 

 the bottom, and are often taken on iiand-lines during 

 autumn. As they are never caught in numbers at the 

 same time, it would appear that they do not gather in 

 shoals, but lead a more solitary life. Each female 

 seems to bring forth only about 10 j'oung — in Ireland 

 Thompson was told that the number is always odd — 

 and the fishermen state that the female seldom contains 

 more than 5 or 6 "/«//-//>t*»'«" young at a time. Sun- 

 DEVALL found all the young taken out of the same 

 female to be exactly similar in size and development, 

 whence he concluded that they are probably born 

 shortly after one another. As we have mentioned above, 

 the new-born fry are 22 — 25 cm. long. Those taken 

 in autumn are hardly any larger, and even in January 

 a few specimens of about the same size are now and 



then caught. These are probably born late in the year, 

 and THOMrsoN states from Ireland" that even at Christ- 

 mas-time he found a female Picked Dog-fish with 9 

 nearlj' mature fa'tuses (5 male and 4 female) in the 

 oviducts. 



The flesh of the Picked Dog-fish is quite white 

 and free from the disagreeable smell with which the 

 larger Sharks are tainted. It is said to be fairly pa- 

 latable, and it is eaten in Bohuslan both fresh, either 

 boiled or fried, and cured, either salted or dried, in 

 the last case usually after lyeing*. So too in Norway, 

 where it is, however, not much esteemed. In Scotland 

 and in Southern Europe the Picked Dog-fish is also 

 frequently used for food. In a dried state it is a mar- 

 ketable commodity. If left uncooked for some days in 

 summer, it begins to give off a rather powerful and 

 exceedingly pure ammoniacal vapour, without any per- 

 ceptible putrid smell, such as that usually emitted by 

 decaying flesh. The caudal fin, which is a common 

 article of trade in the island-ljelt of Bohusliin, under 

 the name of ha-ntmp, is used by cabinet-makers in 

 polishing wood and metal. In many localities the eggs 

 are made into pancakes. The liver is boiled down 

 into oil, and gives a fair yield. (Sundevall, Sjiitt.) 



Genus ETMOPTERUS. 



Teeth of the upper Jair symmetrical in form, multicuspid : those of the loirer Jair obUqneh/ shaped incisors. 



Nostrils Jarije, their icidth heing greater than the distance froxi the tip of the snout to the middle of a transverse 



line crossing their anterior margins. Pectoral fiis ovaUg spatulate. Dorsal f'n-sjtines with lateral grooves. 



It is true that PlAFINESQUE^ when he established 

 this genus in 1810, based it partly on an erroneous 

 observation — that it possessed only three branchial 

 apertures — partly on a fortuitous character — that its 

 dorsal fins were split at the margin''. But no ambi- 

 guity is thereby involved, and the current rules of no- 

 menclature therefore demand that his name for the genus 

 should supersede the generally adopted, but j^ounger 

 name of Spinax, which Cuvier' and, after him, Bona- 



parte, in accordance with an unfortunate practice, bor- 

 rowed from the Linnaan specific name. 



GCnther indeed recognises three species of this 

 genus, one from Europe, another from Madeira and 

 tlie West Indies, and a third' from the southern 

 coast of South America; l)ut tlie distinction be- 

 tween them is apparently rather dubious, and the 

 former two are identified with each other by DC- 



MERIL. 



" Nat. Hist. Irel., vul. IV, p. 254. 

 ' See above, p. 1107, note /. 

 " Caratt. N. Gen., Spec, p. 14. 



■^ Hence tlie generic name (Gr. iid'fiog, strainer .ind tcceqoi', irimj, /h)i wliich (niglit strictly to be written Ethmopterns. Still we 

 retain here the orthography of its author. 



' Regit. Anim., ed. I, toni. II, p. 129 (1817). 



■'' Spina.v granulosus, Siiore Fishes, Rep. Challeng. Exped., Zool., 6, p. 19, lab. II, fig. V. 



