Cltitlif }f<irino. Ldhiirdtori/j St. Andrews. 71 



lifiMird is a nmcli earlier sta^c than the present exaiiipU; 

 irom Messina, or the latter is not a P/iijcis. The present 

 spceimen resenihles the youn<^ lin;; lij^ured in the " Jle- 

 searchcs"* in jjeneral aspect, in the rounded condition of 

 the first dorsal, and the distance which a vertical from the 

 vent is hehind the conimencement of the second dorsal. 

 For both of these, as well as the present, the position of 

 the vent places the eoinniencenient of the ventral fnrtlu r 

 back than in the adult lin<r, so tliat it might l)e supposed th(! 

 young fork-heard was dealt with rather than tlie young ling — 

 especially as the rays in the long ventrals arc so few (3-1^). 

 Tlicse fins, however, in the young ling never attain tiie 

 tenuity of those in the fork-beard, ami the outline of the body 

 of the ling is less slendrr, and the barbel in the ling of tin; 

 same length or even h ss is longer. Addit'on-.il s[)eeimens, 

 however, arc retpiircd to clear up all the features. In a 

 young ling of 3 inches the first dorsal has I't-15 rays, and 

 the second dorsal 03-00. The ventrals have considerably 

 more rays than in Plnjcls. Moreover, the localization of 

 the expanded region to the eommenceraent of the terminal 

 third in the latter [P/n/cis) is diagnostic. The pivsent 

 young example from Mcssma ditfcrs from the adult, again, 

 in the absence of elongated rays in the first dorsal, in which 

 it agrees with Phycis mediterranea, from which, however, it 

 differs in having longer ventrals. It differs from the adult 

 in the projection of the mandible ijeyond the premaxilhe, 

 but a similar difference might with equal reason be urged in 

 the ease of the young haddock, in which tlie mandible in 

 the very young projects beyond the upjicr jaw, the reverse 

 obtaining in the adult, which has an underhung lower jaw. 

 The longer rays of the first dorsal probably become con- 

 spicuous at a later stage — just as the form of the tail alters 

 from the rounded to the truncated condition. \\'hile 

 agreeing with P/n/cis mcditcrraiwa, as already stated, iu the 

 first dorsal, it differs from it iu the much longer ventrals, 

 since they exteiul far beyond the origin of the an:d, in the 

 greater number of rays in the second dorsal and anal fins, 

 in the shorter barbel, and in the colour of the ventrals, which 

 is stated by Dr. Giinther to be "brownish immaculate." 

 In the ' Scandinavian Fishes^ it is stated that a large round 

 spot of dark brown occurs about the mi<l(lle of the dorsal fiu 

 in young si)ceimcns. This has not been observed in the very 

 young or adolescent. 



It would appear that some adult examples arc of a more 

 * M'liitu^h ^: rriuci-, Tniiis. i;. S. K. vul. xxxv. y\. x\iii. (i;:?. .'J .'v: 1. 



