488 TEN YEAKS IN SWEDEN. 



fish is well known on all the coasts of Finmark by the 

 fishermen there under the name of the f solv qveite, or silver 

 flounder/ It is, nevertheless, rare, and is not seen every 

 year, and, like most other rare fish, is principally found 

 washed upon the strand after a storm. Its habitat appears 

 to be peculiarly the icy seas, for it has never been taken on 

 any other Scandinavian coast, save that of Finland ;" but it 

 appears, by Malmgren's list, that it never comes west of the 

 North Cape. The Danish fish must be clearly the Iceland 

 vaagmar, and if so, probably not identical with this. 



Nilsson further remarks : " The Iceland vaagmar (T. 

 vogmarus, Reinh.) appears, after Reinhardt's description and 

 figure, to differ from the Finland fish in the following par- 

 ticulars : In the Iceland fish both sides of the body are alike ; 

 the pupil of the eye circular; the fastenings of the pec- 

 torals directed towards the iris under the pupil of the eye ; 

 the rays of the long dorsal 172. In the Finland fish, the 

 sides of the body are not alike ; the pupil of the eye is ver- 

 tically oval ; the fastenings of the pectorals directed towards 

 the middle of the space between the eye and the throat ; the 

 dorsal fin rays are 160." 



But it is nearly impossible to decide which are distinct 

 species, or what proper synonyme to use, from the muti- 

 lated fragments generally seen of all this class of fishes. 



The Finland fishermen say that the solv qveite, when 

 living, is excessively fat, and more round on the sides, 

 but that it is so oily that it runs out of it as soon as the 

 fish is dead, on which account it becomes thinner and 

 flatter ; are generally sold to the Russians, who come to 

 the north coasts of Finland from Archangel, and think much 

 of oil. 



Gen. GymnetruSj Bl. 



Body long, thin, compressed, and silvery, with a short 

 blunt head and snub nose ; lateral line smooth. Fins : one 

 short and high, just behind the head ; behind that a low 

 fin, along the whole back, and joined to the caudal, 



