87 



en Lycodes, fongne i Varangerfjorden i Finmarken, de 2 

 nedsendte af Lensmand Klerk i 1864, det 3die erb vervet 

 i 1865 paa Stedet at' Professor Esmark. Senere har jeg 

 (1876) under et Ophold i Finmarken erholdt 2 nye Indi- 

 vider fra denne Localitet; alle ere de fuldstændig overens- 

 stemmende indbyrdes. og da deres Totallængde ligger mel- 

 575 og 622""", iidgjøre de Kjæmpe- Individer af denne 

 Slægt. 



Da de nævnte Individer i flere Henseender frembøde 

 en Uoverensstemmelse med Reiuhardt's Beskrivelse af L. 

 ralilii, hvilket end mere bestyrkedes, etterat jeg gjennem 

 Dr. Liitken bavdé erholdt et af Typ-Exemplarerne udlaant 

 til umiddelbar Sammenligning, opstilledes de i den nævnte 

 Athandling som en ny Art, L. esniarkii. Senere har jeg 

 dog, inden Dr. Liitken har iværksat sine nye Undersøgel- 

 ser af L. vaJdi/. troet at burde opfatte disse Uoverens- 

 stemmelser som mindre væsentlige, og at opføre L. esniarkii 

 i Synonymernes Række, hvad jeg ved et Par Léjligheder, 

 og sidst i den omtalte foreløbige Beretning om Nordhavs- 

 ExjK'ditionens Materiale, har gjennemført. 



Den ene af de Characterer, der adskilte L. esniarkii 

 L. vahlii, ^var Farven, der nemlig var brunsort med et 

 Antal smale, hvidagtige Tverbaand. som dels i Midten inde- 

 sluttede Felter af den mørke Bundfarve, dels vare opløste 

 i ringformige Tegninger, der nedtil kunde være indbyrdes 

 forbundne med Ilingene af næste Tverbaand^. 



Det er dvervejende sandsynUgt, at Nordhavs-Expedi- 

 tionens nye Individer udgjøre de yngre Stadier af denne, som 

 L. esniarkii beskrevne Form. Overensstemmelserne mellem 

 dem ere gjeunemgaaende ; i de samme Puncter, hvori Nord- 

 havs-Expeditionens Individer afvige fra den tyjiiske L. vahlii, 

 stemme de overens med Typ-Exemplarerne af L. esniarkii, 

 ihvorvel en mindre Forskjel hist og her kan iagttages, 

 der dog vel kan tilskrives den store Forskjel i Alder og 

 Størrelse. Dette er saaledes Tilfældet med Farvetegnin- 

 gen ; fremdeles har Skjælbeklædningen faaet en større Ud- 

 strækning hos Typ-Exemplarne af L. esmarkii ,.idet der for- 

 uden spredte Skjæl paa Panden og fuldt Skjælbelæg paa 

 Nakken, ogsaa her vil tindes et lignende paa den indre Del 

 af Pectoralerue. 



Det endelige Resultat bliver saaledes, at Nordhavs- 

 ExjJeditionens Individer, der samtlige ere yngre, vistnok 

 ere identiske med den hidtil blot i fuldt udvoxede Indivi- 



• Den anden Character, ifølge hvilken jeg ved Opstilliugen af 

 den nye Art troede at bui-de adskille den fra L. vahlii, og som var 

 hentet fra Sj;elbeklædning'en, er af mindre Betydning, men maa her 

 berøres, fordi den i den originale Beskrivelse var Gjenstand for Mis- 

 tydning. Naai- L. esniarkii nemlig opgåves som skjælbeklædt lige ud 

 til Snuden, medens L. raldii havde nøgent Hoved, var dette ucorrect, 

 idet de som Skjæl antague Dannelser hos den førstnævnte Art blot 

 vare de tætstaaende, næsten cii-kelrimde Indtryk i Huden, der vare 

 fremkomne under dennes Sammentrækning. Blot efter en senere 

 omhyggelig Undersøgelse af de foreliggende n Individer har jeg kmi- 

 net opdage enkelte isolerede Skjæl paa Panden, der utvivlsomt- ere. 

 tilkomne i den senere Alder. 



from the Varanger Fjord, in Finmark ; 2 of the individuals 

 had been presented by Lensmand Klerk, in 1864, the third 

 was obtained on the spot by Professor Esmark, in 1865. 

 During a short stay in Finmark (1876), I succeeded in 

 procuring 2 new examples from the same locality. All of 

 theSe specimens agree closely inter se, and their total 

 length, ranging from 575""" to 622""", they must be regarded 

 as unusually large examples of the genus. 



These individuals difleriug. I conceived, in several 

 respects from L. raJdii as described by Reinhardt, a sup- 

 position still further confirmed by a direct comparison 

 with one of the typical specimens, lent me for that pur- 

 pose by Dr. Liitken, they were established as a new species, 

 L. esniarkii, in the said treatise. Subsequently, however, 

 before Dr. Liitken had completed his latest examination of 

 the original specimens of L. vahlii, I was lead to regard 

 these distinctive characteristics as comparatively unessential, 

 and to include L. esniarkii in the list of synonyms, a view 

 I continued to retain on one or two subsequent occasions, 

 the last being that of the above-mentioned preliminary re- 

 port of the North Atlantic Expedition. ^, 



One of the characters distinguishing L. esniarkii from 

 L. vahlii was the colour — brownish -black, with a num- 

 ber of narrow, whitish transverse bands, sotiie of which had 

 patches of the dark ground-colour enclosed in the middle, 

 or were broken up into annular spots, continuous below 

 with the rings of the next transverse band ^ 



It is in the highest degree probable, that the new 

 individuals obtained on the North Atlantic Ex]iedition re- 

 present immature stages of the form described as L. es- 

 niarkii. The resemblance between them is constant; in 

 the same features that serve to distinguish the former from 

 the typical L. vahlii they agree with the type-specimens of 

 L. esniarkii, though here and tliare some minor distinction 

 may be observed, doubtless arising from the great differ- 

 ence in age and size. This applies, for instance, to the 

 distribution of colour; the scaled surface, too, is of greater 

 extent in the type-specimens of L. esniarkii, which, ex- 

 clusive of isolated scales on the forehead, has also the 

 nape fully scaled and the inner portion of the pectorals. 



The final conclusion, therefore, is this, that the indi- 

 viduals from the North Atlantic Expedition, all of them com- 

 paratively young, are certainly identical with L. esniarkii 



' The other character — derived from the scaling — which led 

 me, when establishing the new species, to distingmsh it from L. 

 vahlii, is of minor importance; it iimst not however be passed by 

 unnoticed, having in the original description given rise to misunder- 

 standing. The scales in L. esmarkii were stated to extend as far as 

 the snout, whereas L. vahlii had the head maked; this was incorrect, 

 the closely set, almost circular impressions in the skin, resulting from 

 its contraction, having been mistaken for scales. Not till the o indiv- 

 iduals before me had been submitted to a close examination, did I 

 succeed in detecting a few isolated true scales on the forehead, which 

 had unquestionably developed in an advanced stage of growth. 



