20 R. COLLETT. M.-N. Kl. 



to the dorsal, besides i to the pectoral. Some of these had long egg 

 strings (the rest being young). 



A little Distomum was found intermingled with the food in the 

 ventricles of many individuals. 



Propagation. 



In most of the females, caught in July, the eggs were in a state of 

 developement, generally a number of them being half grown; others were 

 still small. Females with roe ready to be spawned were more rarely 

 met with. One such female, caught ofi" Hallo Lighthouse (Bohuslen) on 

 the 29th July 1897, contained 48 large ova. In other individuals I have 

 counted between 30 and 40 (most often nearer 40). One specimen ob- 

 tained near Haaöen off Dröbak on the 7th Sept. 1897, was clearly in 

 the middle of spawning. The eggs were enormous, 4 mm. in diameter, 

 and filled up almost the entire cavity of the belly. (When caught they 

 numbered but 27, but it must be presumed that some had already been 

 spawned (see Fig. 6). 



The spawning, however, takes place quite irregularly, and several 

 individuals, even at the beginning of September, contained somewhat 

 unripe ova. The spawning season thus probably lasts from July till 

 September and October. 



As before mentioned, the eggs begin already to develope when the 

 females have reached the commencement of being of an medium size. 

 The smallest specimen (with half matured roe) that I have examined, 

 was of a total length of 120 mm.; when they have attained a length of 

 125 to 130 mm., all the females may be said to be pregnant. I have 

 examined males of a total length of 153 — 160 mm., that had large and 

 swollen testicles. 



Distribution. 



I. Norway. Krom the Christiania F"jord there arc to hand, in 

 addition to the type specimen of L. gracilis (caught in Dröbak Sound 

 1865), a series of specimens caught during the years 1897 and 1898, at 

 the following places: 



The P'jord off Christiania (Lysaker Fjord); Dröbak Sound, as well 

 as neighbouring stretches of the Fjord; the I-'jord off Aasgaardstrand; 

 Bolærerne (off Tönsberg); Laurvik Fjord ; Langesund Fjord, as well 



