LYCODIN^E. 



>7 



stud. mag. R. Horring during his cruise on the navy-schooner Diana . Their number is half a score, 

 of various sizes, and they are readily recognised as being of the same species as L. gracilis. Measure- 

 ments of some of the specimens will shew the exact agreement with those from the Skager Rak. 

 Measurements of Lvcodes from Iceland, identified as «/,. gracilis M. Sars: 



Total length in mm. 



Length of the heail 



Distance from snout to anus . 



Height over the anus ...... 



12] 



47 

 11 



13" 

 27 



53 

 12 



210 



43 

 79 

 21 



The length of the head therefore, amounts to 19 — 20,5 ',, of the total length in the females, 

 and to 20,8% in the males; in specimens from Scandinavia these proportions, reckoned in percentages 

 from Collett's data, are 18,8 — 21,4% and 20,4 — 22,7% respectively. Again, the head and the trunk 

 together (i. e. the distance from the snout to the anus) amounts to 37,6—40,8% of the total length in 

 the Iceland specimens, and to 37,1 — 41,3% in the Scandinavian, The narrower limits to the percen- 

 tages in the Iceland specimens arise naturally from the fewer individuals on which the measurements 

 are based. In regard to the general form of the bod}-, course of the lateral line etc. they agree exactly 

 with the specimens from the Skager Rak. 



The colour-markings in the Iceland specimens do not differ from those of the Skager Rak 

 specimens. The youngest individuals (ca. 90 mm. long) are provided as a rule with 8 to 9 broad, dark 

 cross-bands, but these are already not very conspicuous; in older individuals thev can just be seen 

 or have wholly disappeared. On the dorsal fin anteriorly there are 2 (sometimes 3, sometimes only 1) 

 black spots; this marking seems tolerably constant, even when the others disappear (Tab. II, fig. 1 a, b). 

 The youngest individual farther, possesses a light stripe across the neck. The ground colour is brownish 

 above, grav-vellow below. 



The scales appear at the same size as in the Scandinavian specimens. A young specimen of 

 87 mm. shows some portions here and there where the skin is still naked, but in a slightly older 

 specimen of 95 mm. the scales are complete. 



From an examination of these specimens I have arrived at the same conclusion as Collett 

 from his investigation of his specimen from Iceland, viz. that a Lycodes identical as species with L. 

 gracilis occurs at this island. 



Accepting this as a fact, we may now enquire more closely into the single Lycodes formerly 

 known from the coast of Iceland, namely L. litgubris Liitk. 



Of the 5 specimens, 4 males and 1 female, which in 1880 formed the basis for the establishment 

 of this species by Lutkeu, only three, 2 males and 1 female now remain; a mounted skeleton in the 

 Museum labelled L. litgubris is certainly identical with the fourth specimen but the fifth is no 

 longer in the Museum. 



Lutkeu has remarked that his Iceland Lycodes stood near to /.. vahlii in respect to body 

 form, scale-covering and course of the lateral line. 



The Ingolf-Expedition. II. 4. 



