602 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



animals, especially small crustaceans, many so large that one of tliem 

 filled the stomach and was lying there in a good state of preservation, 

 with all its feet and claws. The enormous number of crustaceans was 

 easily accounted for by the nature of the bottom and the general char- 

 acter of the location. 



Eight opposite the Skarvbjerg there are two islands separated by a 

 narrow sound, the current coming from the ocean passing through it 

 from three different points. These three different currents meet at the 

 Skarvbjerg, and all the small animals brought in with the current gather 

 here. Even later in the season the place is well known to the fishermen 

 as a good fishing place for other fish, which, during the summer, like to 

 come near this steep mountain. 



The great variety of color in the young codfish was quite remarkable, 

 although most of them had not yet assumed their final dark-spotted ap- 

 pearance, but showed on their sides on a dark background three rows of 

 bright spots (almost as white as chalk) ; the color of this background 

 varied very much, so that no two fish were alike in this respect. All 

 the different shades of color could be observed, from bright red and 

 yellow to a bright green or gray. A great difference could likewise be 

 observed in the shape, some (always those having a bright red and yel- 

 low color) being thick-set, the outline of their back being strongly 

 curved; others again having a more slender and elegant shape. I found 

 that all these variations of shape and color were chiefly occasioned by 

 the difference of food. The thick-set, reddish-yellow fish had chiefly 

 lived among the algse and had swallowed large numbers of the reddish 

 crustaceans which are found here, while those of a light green or gray 

 color had chiefly lived on the sandy bottom, where they had not found 

 so much food ; they were consequently much thinner. In their stomachs 

 I found, besides a few small crustaceans, several species of worms liv- 

 ing on the sandy bottom; in some, a few young fish, e. g. young Coitus 

 Scorpio. 



During the following days I was quite busy examining these different 

 varieties and making drawings of them, and only occasionally I took a 

 short trip to my usual fishing-station near the Skarvbjerg, in order to 

 procure fresh material for continuing my observations. In the course 

 of the winter the number of fish decreased gradually, so that toward 

 the end I could fish for hours without catching anything. The few young 

 codfish which I caught were not much larger than the first time I found 

 them here, although a considerable time had elapsed. The phenomenon 

 observed by me at a previous visit thus repeated itself. It seemed as if 

 their growth had been stopped, although the rich and plentiful food found 

 here would rather lead to the opposite result. I knew, however, from 

 experience that it only seemed so, and that the simple explanation was 

 this, that the few young codfish which were still found near the Skarv- 

 bjerg were not the same as those seen here some time ago, but younger 

 ones, which up to this time had lived some distance from the coast. 



