330 Dr. Chr. Liitken on Oneirodes Eschriclitii, 



and the stomach contained a spirally rolled Scopeline fish, 

 7^ inches long — a prey, therefore, which was nearly twice as 

 long as the voracious fish which had swallowed it. 



Under these circumstances it seems to me of interest to be- 

 come acquainted with a nearly allied fish, which undoubtedly 

 likewise has its home in the deep abysses of the sea, but in 

 the high northern latitudes near the coasts of Greenland, the 

 same from which (and, indeed, from the considerable depth of 

 80 fathoms) we have obtained the fish which clearly comes 

 nearest to Melanocetus in structure and form ; nay, it is also 

 to the same man who has done such service to our knowledge 

 of the fauna of Greenland, that we are indebted for the dis- 

 covery of Ceratias and of the new arctic Lophioid, for which 

 I propose the name of Oneirodes'^ Eschrichtii. The specimen 

 to which this communication relates was sent by Captain 

 Holboll to Professor Eschricht, and is entered in the journal 

 of accessions to the Physiological Museum of the University 

 under date of 7th November, 1845, with the perfectly correct 

 designation " N. G. generi Ceratice afi".," but, unfortunately, 

 without any more exact information as to where in Greenland, 

 or under what circumstances, Holboll came into possession of 

 it. After the superintendence of the above-mentioned museum 

 had passed into the hands of the present physiological pro- 

 fessor, and it had been removed into its new locality in the 

 Academy of Surgery, its collection of fishes was given to the 

 Zoological Museum of the University, which was thus en- 

 riched with many beautiful and interesting specimens, and 

 this valuable addition to the fauna of Greenland incorporated 

 in the ichthyological collection of the museum. After lying 

 in concealment, or in any case undescribed, for more than 

 twenty-five years, this remarkable form of animal may well 

 deserve to be fully elucidated and introduced into the ichthyo- 

 logical system ; and I need scarcely apologize for seizing the 

 first opportunity that offers itself for this purpose, without 

 deferring it until I might have brought together and worked 

 up other additions to northern ichthyology which are acces- 

 sible to me. As the nearly allied Ceratias already bears the 

 name of their common discoverer, I have thought that we 

 might attach Eschricht's to the new form, in order to preserve 

 in ichthyology also the memory of his persistent zeal and 

 universal interest in the collection of material for the elucida- 

 tion of the animal life of our high northern latitudes. 



That the Greenland form is specifically distinct from the 

 deep-sea Lophioid from Madeira which has been so often 

 mentioned, is seen at the first glance. Their differences, not- 

 * 'Or«ipa)8r;?, dream-like. 



