THE ROCKLINGS, 523 



i. e. three-reined coast-ling, Sw. ; Steen-lange, i. e. rock- 

 ling, Nor\v. ; Hotella vulgaris, Cuv. ; M. tricirrata, Nilss.) 

 lias not hitherto been identified in the Bohus Skargard, or 

 the Cattegat ; hut on the western coast of Norway it is 

 met with sparingly. As yet it has not found a place in 

 the Danish fauna. Usually it is from twelve to sixteen 

 inches in length. Its favourite resorts are said to be in 

 somewhat shallow water, where the bottom is rocky and 

 overgrown with weeds, amongst which its movements 

 are represented as quick and lively. But of its habits, 

 whether breeding or otherwise, little or nothing seems 

 known to Northern naturalists, w r ho, however, imagine it 

 to spawn early in the spring. 



The Four-bearded Roekling (Fyr [4] -tommad Slcar- 

 langa, S\v. ; Fire-traaded Ilav-kvabbe, i. e. four-threaded 

 sea-burbot, Dan. ; M. Clmbria, Struss., Linn.) was with us 

 rare, but is not uncommon on the western coast, from the 

 extreme north of Norway to the Sound, .in which, as well 

 as in the Great and Little Belts, according to Kroyer, it 

 is more numerous than elsewhere in the Danish seas. 

 On one occasion, at least, it has been captured in the 

 Baltic, near Kiel. Its usual length is stated by several 

 ichthyologists to he about twelve inches, that is something 

 less than that of the M. vulgaris. But little seems 

 known regarding the habits of this fish. 



The Five-bearded Roekling (Fem\b]-tdmmad Skiir- 

 IniKja ; Sjo-vessla, i. e. sea-weasel, Sw. ; Tang-Brosme, i. e. 

 sea-wrack torsk, Norw.; Ft.m\~\-traaded Ilav-kvaLbe, Dan. ; 

 llf. Jlttstela, Jen.) was common with us, and is more or 

 less so, Nilsson tells us, on the western coast of Norway ; 

 but this Kroyer would seem to doubt altogether, having 

 himself never met with it there, or heard of an individual 

 having been captured since the time of Strom, who 

 flourished a hundred years ago. It does not appear, 

 however, to find its way as far south as the Sound, much 



