624 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



August, at a depth of 20-30 fathoms, unusually large young cod, 

 which certainly belonged to this and not to the preceding year, and 

 which, therefore, must have come near the shore very early. 

 • My experiments with the fish-trap were, however, interrupted in a 

 very unexpected and peculiar manner by a marine animal which is well 

 known in these latitudes, and much abhorred by the fishermen on ac- 

 count of the injuries it inflicts on the fisheries. This is the so-called 

 hag-fish {Myxine glutinosa), a very low form of fish, with a soft, boneless, 

 slimy body, without eyes, and even without a clearly-developed head, 

 resembling a worm rather than a fish. During the winter-fisheries the 

 fishermen, to their disgust, are often made aware of the existence of 

 this animal, especially on soft, clayey bottom. When, as often hap- 

 pens, the fishing implements have to remain in the water for several 

 days on account of storms, the majority of the fish caught on the hooks 

 or in the nets are often entirely destroyed by the hag fish, which pene- 

 trates the skin of the fish and in an incredibly short time devours all 

 the soft parts, leaving nothing but skin and bones. I had no idea, 

 however, of the enormous abundance in which this hurtful animal 

 occurs. Wherever I set my trap in deep water, either on hard or soft 

 bottom, they always found their way to it, attracted by the bait, and 

 destroyed everything in the- trap by the incredible quantity of slime 

 which this animal secretes, and with which it covers everything it 

 comes in contact with. Once, when I had left my trap for a day on 

 soft, clayey bottom, at a depth of about one hundred fathoms, I found 

 it completely filled with thousands of these disgusting creatures, which 

 had changed the contents of the trap to a compact mass of tough slime 

 which could only be removed with the greatest trouble, and which 

 made my trap useless for quite a number of days. 



Toward the end of August I left the Lofibden for the south. But as 

 I wished before my return to examine a point which lay beyond the 

 limits of the fish district proper, I went to the island of Bodo, where I 

 intended to stay for a while, in order to ascertain whether the young of 

 the winter-cod were found here under the same conditions as on the Lolfo- 

 den. The time selected by me was unfortunately not a favorable one, as 

 large schools of young herring had just made their appearance, so that 

 the fish were enticed away from their usual places of sojourn and to- 

 gether with pollacks, whales, and other marine animals were chasing 

 the delicate little herring. Although I was therefore not very success- 

 ful in my fishing, and could not by direct observation get a complete 

 idea regarding the occurrence and mode of life of the cod in these re- 

 gions, I nevertheless, from fishermen and other people well acquainted 

 with the fisheries, obtained some very interesting information, which, in 

 the following, I shall briefly report, reserving for the end of my report 

 the conclusions which may be drawn from it. 



At the same time that the Loftbdeu fisheries are going on, it may hap- 

 pen here (at Bodo), especially during south or west winds, that the whole 



