6 R. COLLETT. M.-N. Kl. 



History. 



As previously mentioned, the main object of this short treatise is 

 to give a description of tlie form of Lycodes that is spread along the 

 shores of Scandinavia, and which was first known, in 1866, by tlie name 

 of L. gracilis, and indicate the changes which take place in this form, 

 from its infancy to the period at which it is capable of propagation. 

 It appears that the same form occurs, apparently unchanged, also in the 

 true Arctic seas, as isolated individuals have also come to hand from 

 Iceland and Greenland. 



Whether L. gracilis is identical with L. rossi, Malmgr., and 

 L. pallidus. Coll., both from Spitsbergen, is a question which can only 

 be solved with certainty from more abundant materials than those at 

 present available. 



The resemblance bet\veen the type specimen of L. gracilis, and the 

 type specimen of L. rossi is very considerable; and this is likewise the 

 case between the type specimen of L. pallidus and an equally large 

 specimen of L. gracilis. 



As I, nevertheless, believe that I can indicate some differences 

 between L. gracilis and the other mentioned species, which may possibly 

 prove to be constant, I have deemed it better for the present to keep 

 these species apart, and it will therefore be a matter for future research, 

 when a connected series between all these is to hand, to, possibly, 

 classify them all under one species (L. rossi. Mgr. 1864). 



In 1866, M. Sars^ published a description and drawing of «a new 

 Fish, Lycodes gracilis^', caught, in 1865, at a depth of 50 to 60 fathoms 

 of water, in Dröbak Sound. It was an infantile specimen, of a total 

 length of 43 mm., characterised by 10 saddle-shaped transverse bands 

 on a whitish ground, and a naked (scaleless) body. The pectoral fins 

 had 17 rays; the height of the body was 3.5 to 4 mm. 



More than 20 years passed before L. gracilis was again found on 

 the shores of Norway. In July 1888, 4 young L. gracilis were cziu^\\^ at 

 Bynæsset in the Trondhjem Fjord, at a depth of about 70 fathoms, by 

 Dr. Storm, which I, through his kindness, have had an opportunity of 

 examining. Their total length varied from 97 to 137 mm. 



In the Summer of 1894, during trawling operations in the 

 Trondhjem Fjord, under the guidance of Dr. Storm, a still younger 

 L. gracilis was obtained, whose total length was but 47 mm., and which 



• Korh. Vid. ScUk. Chria. 1866, p. 40 (Chria. 1867). 



