53 



flei'e Henseender været ulieldiiit, tbrnemnieli.u' fordi Pecto- 

 ralevne ere af en særegen Byanini;'. som det liavde været at' 

 særdeles Interesse at komme til tukl Klarlied om. Frem- 

 deles manglede hele Sugeskiven, medens dog dens Plads 

 sandsynligvis endnu kan sees; og da Bugen paa Siderne 

 og uan-mest Analen var opreven, kan heller ikke Beliggen- 

 heden at' Anus med 8ikkerhed angi ves. Endelig vare Øj- 

 nene udtaldne ; derimod vare saagodtsom alle Finnestraaler 

 bibeholdte, ligesom Legemet iovrigt pa;i intet Sted var af- 

 brudt eller defect. Uen efterfølgeiide Beskrivelse tiltrænger 

 derfor i hoj Grrad at suppleres, ihvorvel den maaske i det 

 væsentlige vil vise sig at være correct. 



Endskjønt saaledes Individet mangler et af de for 

 Familien væsentligste Organer, nemlig Sugeskiven. kan det 

 dog paa Grund af Legemets almindelige Bygning ikke be- 

 tvivlcs, at det tilhorer Liparidernes Familie, medens det 

 ikke er klart, hvilken af (U/ hidtil beskrevne Arter det 

 kommer næi-inest. 



Til .Underslægteu Careprodus. Kr., kan forhaanden- 

 værende Art ikke vel henregnes, uagtet den har det hos denne 

 optrædende betydelige Antal Straaler i Dorsalen og Ana- 

 len, samt det relativt lille Hoved. Hos Careprodus reinhardi 

 ere de melleniste Pector.alstraaler vistnok korte, men dog 

 fuldstændig normalt udviklede; Legemet aftager hos denne 

 Art iuu'tigt i Hojde bag Nakken, og ender i en lang og 

 smal Hale. Hos _ L. Jiuihi/Jiii ere de nederste Pectoral- 

 straaler na'sten af samme Længde. som de ovre, men ad- 

 skilte fra disse ved et Mellemrum, der er opfyldt af nogle 

 faa og ganske rudimentan-e Straaler. Legemshøjden er 

 fremdeles den samme omtrent fra Nakken indtil Analens 

 Begyndelse, og senere lig(!ledes forholdsvis høj lige til hen- 

 imod Halespidsen, der aftynder jevnt og hurtigt. Endelig 

 tindes intet Spor af, at Analaabningen har siddet i kort 

 Afstand fra Sugeskiven. idet Partiet bagenfor det Punkt, 

 hvor denne sidste har siddet, er uskadt indtil henimod 

 Analen; Analaabningen maa saaledes hav(! ligget forholds- 

 vis langt tilbage, maaske næsteu henimod Analens Begyn- 

 delse.' 



Det er en Selvfølge, at Charactererne for den nye Art 

 ikke med det forhaandenvan'ende Materiale lade sig tilfreds- 

 stillende udvikle. Dog synes Pectoralernes Bygning at 

 være saa væsentlig afvigende fra. hvad der tinder Sted hos 

 de øvrige kjendte Liparider. at Oprettelsen af en ny Under- 

 ■ slægt vistnok alene a f Hensynet hertil kunde forsvares; hertil 

 komme andre mindre væsentlige Afvigelser. ligesom det er 

 sandsynligt. at chsse yderligere ville forøges med et fuld- 

 stændigere Materiale. For det Tilfælde, at et nyt Slægts- 

 navn skulde blive nodvendigt, har jeg allerede i den 

 forelobige (Jversigt over Expeditionens Fiske (1878) som et - 

 sa.adant foreslaaet Navnet Paraliparis. 



surface almost, or depended in loose strips. This proved 

 in several respects most unfortunate. cliieMy, however, owing 

 to the peculiar structure of the pectoral fins, which it 

 would have been of considerable interest to liave deter- 

 mined. The ventral disk, too, was wanting, but the spot 

 where it occurs could, I think, be detected; and the 

 abdomen having been crushed, the position of the vent can- 

 not be given. Both the eyes, too. were gone, whereas the 

 fin-rays were nearly all perfect; nor did the body proper 

 exlubit any other traces of mutilation. Tiie following de- 

 scription, therefore, stands greatly in neeil of sujjplementary 

 revision, though, perhajjs. in all essential i)articulars, it will 

 be found correct. 



One of the organs characteristic of the family, viz, 

 the ventral disk, is indeed wanting in tlie specimen acquired, 

 yet from the general structure of the" l)ody there can be 

 little doubt that it belongs to the family Liparhlhlæ, 

 whereas it is by no means clear to wliicb of the species 

 as' yet described it presents the closest resemblance. 



Under the sub-genus Careprodus, Kr., the species in 

 question cannot be classed, notwithstanding it is charac- 

 terised, in common witii the species of the former, by a 

 large number of rays in the dorsal and anal fins, '' and a 

 head proportionately small. In Careprodus reinhardi, the inter- 

 mediate' rays in the pectorals, though short, exhibit a devel- 

 opment in every respect normal ; in this genus, too, the Ijody 

 posterior to the nape decreases rapidly in height, termin- 

 ating in ;i long and narrow tail. L. hailtyhii has the low- 

 est of the pectoral rays nearly iMpial in length with the 

 uppermost, but separated from the latter by a space on 

 which are disposed a few rays, quite rudimentary.' More- 

 over, the depth of the body is very nearly the same from 

 the nuchal region to the commencement of the anal, the 

 posterior portion likewise ])eing i^roportionately deep almost 

 to the tip of the tail, which rapidly becomes slender ami 

 tenuous. Finally, there was. no trace of the vent having 

 been in close proximity to the ventral disk, the region 

 posterior to tlie point where the latter was situated having 

 been wholly uninjured to within a short distance from the 

 anal fin; hence the vent must lie comparatively far behind, 

 perhaps in close proximity to the anal. 



From a specimen in so mutilated a condition, it is 

 obvious that the characters of the new species cannot all 

 of them be accurately determined. Meiinwhile, the struc- 

 ture of the pectoral fins is to that extent divergent from 

 that distinguishing the other known forms of the family 

 of Suckers, that, for this reason alone, the introduction of 

 a new siib-genus may be defended; other less impoi'tant 

 deviations also occur, the nuudier of which will doubtless 

 be found to increase with further examination of 25fi'frct 

 examples. To meet the case of a new generic designation 

 becoming needful, I took occasion, in my preliminary report 

 (1878), to suggest the name Paraliparis. 



^ 



