30 



Række, Iste B.), og i 1860 af Griinther (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. 

 vol. 2). hvilke begge ikke kjendte Arten af Autopsi. I 

 1868 anmeldtes den ai Professor Esmark fra Finmarkens 

 Kyster (Forh. Skand. Naturf. 10de Møde), ligesom Ur. 

 Liitken i 1876 gav en Del Béman-kuiuger om Arten i 

 Medd. Nat. Foren. Kbhvn. for samme Aar. Nogen udfør- 

 ligere Beski-ivelse er. saavidt vides, ikke fremkommet, uden 

 i 1874 i Forfatterens Afhandhng ..Norges Fiske-' (efter 

 Exemplarer fi-a Norge), ligesom den hidtil ikke har været 

 afbildet. Jeg gjengiver derfor her Artens Beskrivelse, sam- 

 menholdt med de nytilkomne og vel vedligeholdte Exem- 

 plarer fra Nordhavs-Expeditioneu. 



Beskrivelse. Legemsbygning. Fra alle de o\Tige 

 nordatlantiske Cottoider kan C', nnrhiatns i Regelen let 

 kjeudes ved sin af faatallige og store Porer dannede Side- 

 linie, der især hos yngre Individer er iøjnefaldende. i For- 

 bindelse med hele Legemets Glatlied, idet dette ikke viser 

 Spor af Protuberantser eller Granulationer. Særdeles cha- 

 racteristisk er fremdeles den ki-ogformige Klo jiaa Praeo- 

 perculum, medens Palatintænderne forst blive tydelige hos 

 de noget større Unger. 



Legemet har iøvrigt den for den uærstaaende Slægt 

 Cottus almindelige Form. idet Hovedet er temmelig flad- 

 trykt, og det egentlige Legeme er fortil næsten trindt, 

 bagtil mere sammentrykt. 



Hovedet er bredt ægformigt, og iudeholdes hos de 

 udvoxede omkring S^/o Gange i Totallængden. eller lidt 

 over 2*/o Gange i Legemets Længde uden Caudal. Øjneue 

 ere særdeles tætstaaende, saaledes. at Benbroen mellem 

 Orbitae blot er en Brøkdel af Lindsens Diameter. De ere 

 tillige overordentlig store ; deres Længdediameter er saaledes 

 betydehgt større, end Snudens Længde, og udgjør omtrent 

 2^/5 af Hovedets Længde. 



Størrelsen af Crystallindsen er en mærkelig Variation 

 underkastet, idet denne, som bekjendt, plejer at være con- 

 stant af samme Størrelse hos ligestore Lidivider af samme 

 Art. Medens saaledes hos det største af de under Expedi- 

 tionen erholdte Individer, hvis TotaU. var 83""", Lindsen 

 havde en Diameter af 2,,') ""'. var den hos et yngre Individ, 

 hvis TotaU. var blot 68""", omtr. 3,5'""; andre udviste 

 Overgange mellem begge. Nogen Forskjel i Legemsbyg- 

 uingen forøvrigt kunde ikke opdages ; heller ikke stod denne 

 Variation i noget bestemt Forhold til Dybden, idet netop 

 det største Individ var tåget paa det grundeste Vand (123 

 Favne), og det mindre paa en kun ubetydeligt større Dybde 

 (148 Favne). 



Tænderne ere temmelig fine. og tilstede (foruden i 

 Kjæverne) tillige paa Vomer og jiaa Palatinbenene. Hos 

 Unger med en Totall. af under 20'""" ere Vomerin- og Pa- 

 latintænderne endnu ikke £i-emkomne. Gjællehinderne ere 

 sammenhængende paa Hovedets Underside; Antallet af 

 Gjællestraaler er 6. 



Kjæverne ere omtrent af samme Længde; dog bevir- 

 ker den tykkere Overkebe, at Overkjæven synes ubetydeligt 

 længere, end Underkjæven. 



ther, in 18G0 (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. Vol. 2). neither of 

 whom knew the fish from autopsy. In the year 1868 

 Professor Esmark gave notice of its occurrence on the 

 coast of Finmark (Forh. Skand. Naturf. 10 Mode); and in 

 1876 Dr. Liitken communicated sundry observations on the 

 species in Medd. Nat. Foren. Kbhvn. for that year. No 

 full descrijDtion however had, we believe, appeared jjrevious 

 to that given in "Norges Fiske" (1874). from Norwegian 

 specimens; nor has the species yet been figured. The 

 detailed descrij^tion, supplemented from an examination of 

 the specimens — in an excellent state of preservation — 

 obtained on the North Atlantic- Expedition, is given below. 



General Description. Structure of the Body. — C. 

 \mcumtns may as a rule be readily distinguished from all 

 other North Atlantic Cottoids by the large size and fewness 

 of the pores constituting its lateral line, a conspicuous 

 character, more particularly in young examples; moreover, 

 by the smoothness of the skin, not a vestige of granula- 

 tions or protuberances can be detected in any part of the 

 body. Another salient feature is the ungueal spine on 

 the preoperculum; the palatine teeth, on the contrary, are 

 not developed in very young individuals. 



In other respects the form and structure of the body 

 corresponds with that of the allied genus Cottus, the head 

 being considerably depressed and the body roundish, the 

 posterior part somewhat compressed. 



Head broad, ovate; length to total length, in adult 

 examples, about as 1 to 3'/^ or, to length of body, exclu- 

 sive of caudal, a triHe more than as 1 to 2^j.,. Eyes set 

 exceedingly close, the length of the osseous ridge between 

 the orbits being but a fraction of the diameter of the lens; 

 they are also remarkably large, the longitudinal diameter 

 considerably exceeding the length of the snout and nearly 

 equal to 2*/3 of the length of the head. 



The size of the crystal lens, generally constant in 

 individuals of equal dimensions belouging to the same 

 species, varies remarkably in C. unmiatns. In the largest 

 of the specimens obtained on the Expedition, total length 

 83"'"', the diameter of the lens was 2.0'"". whereas in a 

 younger example, total length not more than 68'"'". it 

 reached 3.5'""'; othei's represented the transition stages. No 

 other difference could be detected in the form and struc- 

 ture of the body; nor was this characteristic peculiarity in 

 any way dependent on depth, the largest individual having 

 been taken in the shallowest water (123 fathoms), and the 

 small example at a depth but very little greater (148 

 fathoms). 



Teeth — rather sleuder — on the vomer and palatine 

 bones, and in the jaws. In young examples, total length 

 less than 20 """. the vomerine and palatine teeth were 

 not yet developed. Branchial membrane continuous on 

 under sui-face of head: braucheostegals 6. 



Jaws equal in length, the upper, however, appearing 

 to be somewhat longer than the lower, from the thickness 

 of the upper lip. 



