127 



Localit. fra Nordh.-Exped. Havet mellem Beereu 

 Eilancl og Spitsbergen, samt Magdalene -Bay joaa Spits- 

 bei'£;en. 



Bemærkninger til Synonymien. Det kan neppe 

 længere være Tvivl underkastet, at alle de Former, som 

 ere beskrevne under Navnene G. polaris, (Sab.) 1824, 

 G. fabricii, Richards. 1836, eller G. agilis, Reinli. 1838, 

 fra Spitsbergen, Island, Grønland pg andre Punkter af det 

 arctiske America, i Virkeligheden gaa ind under den af 

 Lepechin i 1774 fra det hvide Hav beskrevne Gadus saida, 

 hvilket allerede Malmgren i sin Fortegnelse over Spitsber- 

 gens Fiskefauna af 1864 har antaget for sandsynligt^ og 

 Prof. Smitt har udtalt samme Anskuelse i en Meddelelse 

 til Veteuskaps-Akademien i Stockholm i 1876. Vistnok 

 er Lepechin's originale Beskrivelse ingenlunde udtøminende, 

 eller endog synderlig iiojagtig-. Men en umiddelbar Sam- 

 menligning, som jeg har kunnet anstille raellem Exempla- 

 rer af G. saida fra Archangel, afgivne til Universitets- 

 Musæet af Lieutn. Sandeberg, og de Individer, som Musæet 

 i de seneste Aar modtaget fra Grønland, Spitsbergen og 

 Novaja Zemlja, har bestyrket den Antagelse, at de alle ere 

 identiske. 



At ludividerne fra Hvidehavet i Regelen have havt 

 mørkere Finner, kan vistnok alene tilskrives, at de tilfæl- 

 digvis havde en betydeligere Størrelse, idet de Individer 

 fra de øvrige Localiteter, hvortil jeg har havt Adgang, 

 saagodtsom alle have været minch-e, end halvvoxne. Men 

 iøvrigt stemme de alle i sin Skjælbeklædning, Tandbygning, 

 Stillingen af Anus og i ethvert Punkt af Legemsbygningen 

 saa fuldkommeu overens, at nogon Adskijlelse mellem dem 

 som distincte Arter ikke er muhg. I Overensstemmelse 

 hermed opføres Ai-ten under det ældste Lepechin'ske Navn, 

 Gadus saida'^. 



En betydelig Lighed udviser Arten med den af Peters 

 i „2te Deutsche Nordpolar-Exp.", B. II, p. 172 (Leipz. 1874) 



' Ofv. Kgl. Vet. Ak. Ffirh. 1864, ji. .'i:!!. Arten opføres dog paa 

 dette Sted under Navnet JBoreogadus polaris, (Sab.). 



'' Det er saaledes sandsybligvis efter denne Tegning, at Giinther 

 i Diagnosen for G. saida beskriver Stillingen af Anus i Cat. Fish. 

 Brit. Mus. vol. 4, p. ;!:!*. 



' Navnet saida er dannet af det Trivialnavn, hvorunder Arten er 

 kjendt paa den russiske Kyst, og da dette utvivlsomt er det samme, 

 som Nordmændenes „Sei" {G. virens), antydes herved en Overens- 

 stemmelse i det Ydre mellem disse 2 Arter. Denne Lighed er dog 

 ikke større, end at Arternc allerede ved et hiu'tigt Blik kunne ad- 

 skilles, saaledes ved Skjælbeklædningen, Legemsbygningen, Stillingen 

 af ■ Anus, etc. 



Locality (North Atl. Exped.): — The open sea, 

 between Beeren Eiland and Spitzbergen ; Magdalene Bay, 

 on the coast of Spitzbergen. 



Bemarks on the Synonymy. — There can be very 

 little reason to doubt, that the thvers forms occurring on 

 the coast of Spitzbergen, Iceland, Greenland, and Arctic 

 America, described as G. ■polaris, (Sab.) 1824; G. fabri- 

 cii, Richards., 1836; or G. af/ilis, Reiuh. 1838, are 

 identical with Gadus saida, the species diagnosticated by 

 Lepechin in 1774, from an example taken in the White 

 Sea: an assumption supported by Malragren^ in his List 

 of Spitzbergen Fishes, publislied 1864 ; Professor Smitt, 

 too, arrived at the same c'onclusion in 1876, as appears 

 from his communication to the Swedish Vetenskaps Aka- 

 demi. The diagnosis originally furnished by Lepechin 

 is doubtless far from complete, and leaves, too, not a 

 little to be desired in point of accuracy^; but direct, au- 

 toptical comparison between examples of G. saida from 

 Archangel, procured for the University Museum by Lieut. 

 Sandeberg, and individuals sent to the Museum from Green- 

 land, Spitzbergen, and Novaja Zemlja, has still further 

 convinced me of the plausibility of this hypothesis. 



The darker colour of the tins characterising the ma- 

 jority of the White Sea specimens, must be unquestionably 

 ascribed to their having been of a larger size, since the in- 

 dividuals from other locahties that I have had opportunity 

 of exMuiiuing, were all of them in more or less early 

 stages of growth. For the rest, however, they agree so 

 closely, viz. in the arrangement of the scales, in the dental 

 characters, the position of the vent, and every feature 

 connected with the structure of the body, as to preclude 

 the possibility of distinction. Hence the species is classed 

 here with Lepechin's original name, Gadus saida.'*. 



This species bears a close resemblance to G. glacialis, 

 diagnosticated by. Peters in -'Zweite Deutsche Nordpolar- 



' Ofv. Kgl. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1864, p. 531. The species is referred 

 here, however, to Boreogadus polaris, (Sab.). 



^ Probably, it was Lepechin's representation from which Gunther 

 detennined the position of the vent in his diagnosis of G. saida., in 

 Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. vol. 4, p. 337. 



^ The designation sas'da, .is adopted from the trivial name by which 

 the species is known on the Russian coast; and this term being ob- 

 viously a corruption of the Norwegian "Sei" ((?. virens), serves to 

 indicate an external similarity in the two species. The resemblance, 

 however, is not greater, but that a glance will suffice to distinguish 

 them: viz. by reason of the deviation in the arrangement of the 

 scales, the position of the vent, the general structure of the body, &c. 



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