Denne Slægt, der endnu liøi'er til de i IMusaeerue aller- 

 sparsomst i-epræseiiterede Former af den arctiske Fauna. 

 synes saaledes i Virkeligheden at' alle Dybvandstiske at være 

 blaudt de talrigste i Ishavets Dyb paa jevn Lerbund. og 

 maa forekonnne her i store ISr^ngder: maaske udgjore de 

 her Hovedn;eringen for tiere andie Rovfiske {Soimiiosus, 

 Rajae. etc.) paa Grund at' deres uoget træge Væsen. hvilken 

 sidste Egenskab det sandsynligvis va'sentlig skyldtes, at de ' 

 saa ofte erholdtes i Trawlnettet. 



Det sandede 1'dbytte under dette sidste Aars Togt 

 udgjorde ialt 3^ Arter, hvoraf 6 vare nye for Videnskaben ; 

 af de under de 2 foregaaende Togter erhvervede 11 Arter 

 gjenfaudtes de 10. hvoriblandt ogsaa den ny opstillede 

 LyciK/f.s mnniemi. De 6 Arter, der maa ansees som tidli- 

 gere ubeskrevne, ere Bxija hyperhurea, Liparis {FaraUpavis') 

 hathy/tii, Lycode>< frigidiin, Lycodex jmltidit.-:- Lycodes liUkciu. 

 samt Blwilichthyx irgiiia, den sidstnævnte tillige repræsen- 

 tereude en ny Sla?gt. Ialt har saaledes Expeditionen bragt 

 7 nye Arter (og 1 ny SLTgt) for Dagen, alle udpra'gede 

 Dybvandstiske. ' 



Flere af de ovrige Arter vare kun ufuldsta-ndigt 

 kjendte eller beskrevne, hvilket saaledes var Tilfaddet med 

 flere af Lycoderne. En Art. (hum rehthan/J, (Kv.), liavde 

 aldrig været tildelt endog den korteste Diagnose eller Be- 

 skrivelse, men dens Benævnelse er alene grundet paa en 

 haandskreven Etikette, og dennes Indforelse i en Catalog. 

 Flere vare ikke tidligere paaviste i den europæiske Fauna, 

 men blot fundne, tildels for længere Tid tilbage. og blot i 

 enkelte Exemplarer, ved de grønlandske Kyster. Vil man 

 saaledes udstrække et Lands eller en Landsdels faunistiske 

 Oniraade indtil i omkring 100 Kilometers Afstand fra Ky- 

 sterue. kan der til Spitsbergens Fauna fojes nu'sten et Dusin 

 Arter, som tidligere ikke have va>ret omtalte fra denne 

 Øgruppe. 



Det i 1878 undersøgte Areal omfattede Strækningen 

 mellem Hammerfest og Varangerfjorden i Syd, Havet hen- 

 imod Novaja Zemlja i Øst og Jan Mayen i Vest. samt- i 

 Nord til Spitsbergens Xordvest-Spidse. 



preceding voyage. Hence this genus, which must still be regarded 

 as one of the Arctic forms most sparingly represented in 

 museums, would appear to be more numerous than any 

 other of the deep-sea fishes inhabiting the depths of the 

 Polar Sea over a smooth clay bottom; and it occurs no 

 doubt in very considerable quantities. There, perhaps, it 

 constitutes the chief food of other predatory fishes (itiovtvi- 

 osm, Enjæ). owing to its somewhat sluggish movements, a, 

 circumstance which pi-obably to a great extent accounts for 

 this fish having been so often captured in the trawl-net. 



The number of species secured on this voyage, the 

 last undertaken by the Expedition, amounted in all to 33, 

 6 of which jn-oved new to science. Of the 11 species 

 obtained on the two preceding voyages. 10 were again met 

 with, including the new species Lycodcs imtræiia. The 6 

 species that must be regarded as not previously known 

 are: — liaja hyperhorea, Lipai'is hathybii, Lycodes frigidus, 

 Tjycodcs pallidus, Lycodes liltkeni and Rhodiclithys reginu, the 

 last-mentioned also representing a hew genus. The Ex- 

 pedition has thus brought to light 7 new species, (and 1 

 new genus), all of them true forms of deep-sea fishes. 



Several of the remaining species were but imperfectly 

 known and described; this, for instance, was the case with 

 divers of the genus Lj/rodts. One , pecies. (hms rcinhardl. (Kr.). 

 had not even been made the subject of the briefest diag- 

 nosis or description ; its designation is traceable to a manu- 

 script label, copied into a catalogue. Several had not 

 previously been shown to occur in the European fauna, 

 but merely found, in some cases years ago and as solitary 

 examples, on the coast of Greeidand. Hence, if the area 

 inhabited by the fauna of a country or region be assumed 

 to extend to about 100 kilometres from its shores, we may 

 add to tjie fauna of Spitzbergen nearly a dozen species of 

 fishes not previously mentioned as occurring off that group 

 of islands. 



The region investigated in 1878 comprised, southward, 

 the tract between Hammerfest and the Varanger Fjord, 

 eastward and westward, the expanse of ocean stretching 

 towards Novaja Zendja and Jan Mayen, and northward, 

 that extending to the north-western extremity of Spitzbergen. 



Af de fleste Arter har jeg hos et eller flere Individer 

 undersogt Ventiikelens Indhold.- og til Besteinmelsen af de 

 her forefundne Dyrelevninger har jeg havt en Ijeiedxillig 

 Hjælp a f Prof. G. 0. Sårs. hvis Navn er den bedste Ga- 

 ranti for Bestemmelserues Rigtighed. Denne Undersøgelse 

 af Maveindholdet har desuden havt Interesse ikke blot af 

 den Grund, at den har givet Bidrag til vor Kundskab om 

 visse Evei-tebraters Fdbredelse mod Nord, men ogsaa fordi 

 derved er bleven constateret det ret man-kelige Factum, at 

 flere af disse pelagiske Dyreformer. der væsentlig have 

 været anseede for at have sit Tilhold i Overfladen. formåa 

 at trænge ned til de største Dybder, hvorfra Dybvandshskene 



Iri most of the individuals I have examined the con- 

 tents of the stomach, and in determining the animal remains 

 found there. Professor G. O. Sårs. whose name is a suffi- 

 cient guarantee for accuracy, has kindly favoured me with 

 his valuable assistance. Moreover, an examination of the 

 stomach and its contents has proved of considerable interest, 

 not only by contributing to our knowledge of the distribu- 

 tion of divers invertelarate species in northern latitudes, but 

 also from its having substantiated the very remarkable 

 fact, that several of these pelagic forms of animal life, 

 whose habitat was generally believed to be near the surface, 

 possess the power of descending to the greatest depths 



1* 



