56 LYCODIN.T;. 



anterior part of the back and belly are free of scales, likewise the head and fins. 

 The lateral line is mediolateral. P\loric appendages 2. Size 223 mm. 



D. 91— 96. A. 71— 76. P. ( I 7) 18— 19 (20). 



Distribution. Spitzbergen, 5 — 75 fathoms; KaravSea, 46— 100 fathoms; Pors- 

 anger Fjord (East P' i n m a r k ) , 30 — 50 fathoms. 



Remarks on the S y n o n y m w 



In iS2y, Ro.ss referred a fish taken by the Parry North Pole Expedition north of Spitzbersfen at a depth of So 

 fathoni.s, to the Bletmius polaris described by Sabine from arctic America, though Ross at the same time noted some 

 differences between them. From the description, it is quite clear that Ross' specimen was a species of the genus Lycodes. 



In 1861, a Swedish Expedition to Spitzbergen obtained two small Lycodes, which Malmgren took — and probably 

 rightl\- - to be identical as species with Ross' specimen. But M. rejected the reference of this Lycodes to Sabine's Blennius 

 polaris, and after likewise rejecting the possibility of its identity with either of the L. perspicillmn and L. nebulostis from 

 Greenland established by Krojer, gave it the name /-. rossi, the diagnosis of which is based on a single 32 mm. long speci- 

 men (the second specimen seems to have been lost). 



The next reference to L. rossi h by CoUett in 1S80. After examining JIalmgren's type-specimen Collett came 

 to the conclusion that L. rossi was really the same as L. perspicilluni Kr., and again that L. gracilis M. Sars, which was 

 only known from a young specimen from Christiania Fjord, was identical with L. rossi. Further, Collett explains: it is 

 probable that all these are only young stages either of L. relicitlafus alone, or also of a second nearlv related species, perhaps 

 L. /ii/kenii (1. c. p. 105). 



In his great work on Scandinavian Fishes Prof. F. A. Smitt likewise expresses the opinion that L. rossi is the 

 young of L. reticulatiis Reinh., but with this he unites not only L. perspicillutii Kr.. but also /.. seiiiiitndus Reinh. and 

 L. liitkcnii Coll. of the European-Greenland forms. 



In his monograph on L. gracilis (1S99) Collett again takes up the question of the position of L. rossi. He de- 

 clares that in certain features L. rossi differs from L.graciiis^ but he is still inclined to consider tliera identical; on the other 

 hand, he now considers the transference of L. perspicilluni to this species as problematical, and there is no further talk of 

 bringing L. gracilis-rossi under L. reticitla/us. 



In my preliniinar\' report on the Lycodes of the Ingolf Expedition I was of the opinion that I had again found 

 L. rossi in two small specimens from the seas south of Jan IMayen, and that these united L. rossi with L. liitkenii Coll. In 

 this however, I made an error. Later, in the material of the Kolthoff Expedition, I have seen so manv specimens identical 

 with the form from Jan Mayen, that with this increased knowledge, I must refer them to L. seinimidus (cf. this species). 

 And after I had the opportunity, through the favour of Prof. F. A. Smitt, of examining Malmgren's tvpe-specimen of 

 L. rossi, I think it certain that this form is a very young stage of the species L. celaius mihi. 



This specific name I had employed for three small Lycodes from the Kara Sea; they were considered by Liitken, 

 though with some doubt, as the young of L. reticiila/us Reinh. I could not agree with this author on this point and formed 

 the species L. celaius. To this I further referred two small Lycodes taken by Russian Expeditions in the Stor Fjord at .Spitz- 

 bergen. Prof. N. Knipowitsch had identified these specimens as Liitken's t L. rciiculaius yan.'i and with right, as I could 

 judge from a direct comparison which Prof. K. kindly enabled me to make; through some differences in the most important 

 proportions however, I felt obliged to distinguish it as a distinct variet}-: spHsbcrgensis. 



But, as said, after I had seen the type-specimen of L. rossi Malmgr. , I came to the conclusion that my L. celaius 

 must be somewhat larger specimens of the same species. 



Later, I got to know L. rossi closer through a whole series of specimens, old and young, which Dr. J oh an Hjort 

 had taken in 1901 in the I,se Fjord at Spitzbergen. And for use in this treatise. Prof. R. Collett has lent nie a series of spe- 

 cimens, which kindness I appreciate the more as Prof. Collett had intended to work them out. With the help of this 

 excellent material, I discovered that the largest of the specimens, which Liitken in his report on the fishes of the Kara 

 Sea had referred to L. liitkenii Coll., belonged to L. rossi'). Lastly, I became convinced that two Lycodes must also be 

 referred to L. rossi, which were taken at Spitzbergen (Ise Fjord and \V. from Cape Mitrai by the Kolthoff Expedition of 

 1900 and ascribed to /,. reticulatiis by Prof. Smitt (1. c). 



De scri p tion. 

 Altogether I have had 19 specimens for in\-estigation; the\' are enumerated below with the 

 most important proportions; 



'j The remaining (27) specimeiLS, on the other hand, form a new species belonging to the scaleless Lycodes, which 

 I have named Lycodes agnostus (cf. p. 79—80). 



