LYCODIX.E. 



15 



name L. vahlii Reinli. were apparenth' not distins^iiishable from the In^olfs two L. gracilis. At that 

 time I had no opportunitv of following np tlie matter; but now that I liave examined it more 

 thoroufihh' I find that my first impression was correct. 



Proportions of the body. In order to display the proof of tlie correctness of this position, 

 I give liere the measurements of a number of specimens, in part tlic two from the Ingolf, identified 

 by me as L. gracilis^ in part the earUer ones ascribed by Reinhardt and Liitken to I., vahlii. 



Measurements of L. vahlii Reinh. from West Greenland: 



Total length in mm. 



Length of the head 



Distance from snout to anus 

 Height over the anus 



143 



28 



54 

 13.5 



197 



37 



235 



45 

 88 



244 

 49 

 95 



260 



99 



335 365 



66 87 



128 152 



3' 35 



385 

 90 

 157 



410 

 90 

 160 



415 

 80 

 170 



The length of the head is therefore in females 18,8 — 21",,, in males 19,6 — 23,8",, of the total 

 length; in the specimens from Scandinavia the figures, expressed in "„ from Collett's statement of 

 measurements, are 18,8— 21,4 "^o and 20,4 — 22,7",, respectively. Further, the head and the trunk 

 together (i. e. distance from snout to anus) is in the Greenland specimens 36,4 — 41,6",,, in those from 

 Scandinavia 37,1 — 41,3 " ^ of the total length. — In other words, there is as close an agreement as is 

 possible between the Greenland L. vahlii and vScaudinavian /.. gracilis . with regard to the most 

 important measurements of the body"). 



Colour-markings. The smallest, Greenland specimen (one from the Ingolf Expedition) is a 

 male 143 mm., figured in Tab. I, fig. 2 a. The body is adorned with broad, dark cross-bands, 2 on the 

 trunk and 7 on the tail ; on the tail posteriorly the bands extend right across and out to the borders 

 of the unpaired fins, further forward they reach below to only a little under the median line; for the 

 rest, each band has a light part in the centre which is not much darker than the grayish yellow ground- 

 colour of the back and sides. In the anterior part of the dorsal fin are 3 very dark, elongated spots, the 



') In his work Skandinaviens I"iskar> II, 1S95, p. 615. Prof. F. A. Snii tt has e.^:presse(l the conjecture that L.gracifis, 

 which was only known at that time (in the hteraturei from the original specimen of Sars, is the young stage of L. vahlii. 

 - In a later note On the Genus Lycodes (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) V, 1900, p. 57), written after the appearance of Collett's 

 treatise on L. gracilis, the same statement is repeated, but at the same time, L. gracilis is given in his analytical table as a 

 pecuUar form (iorealis) oi L. vahlii, .specially characteri.sed by this that the length of the head is usually^ less than 22 " o of 

 the total length, whilst in L. vahlii typica {iorma arc/ica) the length of the head exceeds 22 "o of the total length; with regard 

 to the first form it is correct that the length of the head is usu ally less than 22 <> o of the total length (see above); but it does 

 not agree with the resvilts of my measurements to say, that the length of the head in L. vahlii exceeds more than 22 Oq of 

 the total length (see above! — for the simple rea.son that .Smitt's L. vahlii > is not the same as L. vahlii Reinhardt, as we 

 shall soon see. — Lastly, in his latest contribution concerning the .systematic relations of the genus, .S m i 1 1 speaks thus : cWithin the 

 limits of the former species (i. e. L. vahlii) it is easy enough to distinguish a local fonn, gracilis, li\-ing in the more southerly 



localities on the European side of the .\tlantic and perhaps by this geographical selection from the true home of the 



genus stopped in tlie evolution and retaining the juvenile characters*. (On the genus Lycodes. II. Bih. K. .Sv. Vet.-Akad. 

 Handl. Bd. 27, Afd. IV, No. 4, T901, p. 20). About tlie same time I expressed a similar idea, as I also looked on L. gracilis as 

 a local form of L. vahlii (but as a dwarf fonn indeed, not as a form which had preserved the characters of the young of Z. I'ff/////; 

 cf. Vidensk. ."Medd. Naturh. Koren. Kbhvn. 1901, p. 202 and the present treatise p. 19I. and in a footnote il. c. p. 203) I cited Prof. 

 Smitt's opinion as agreeing essentially with my view; but since I have had the opportunity, thanks to Prof. Smitt. of 

 examining his L. vahlii typica^, at Stockholm, I must take back my earUer half-agreement with his \-iew; the fonn mentioned 

 is not L. vahlii Reinhardt at all, but contains heterogeneous elements, chiefly specimens of L. pallidus CoUett and L. eudt- 

 pleurosliclus mihi two species which, in my opinion, show no special relationship to L. vahlii Reinhardt. 



