3 io WILD LIFE ON A NORFOLK ESTUARY 



A DEEP-SEA LING 



When passing a fishmonger's on November 7th, 1906, I 

 observed a big-eyed, attenuated-looking ling. I remarked to 

 the fishmonger on its distinctive appearance, and he laugh- 

 ingly replied:" Yes, that's one of them old deep-sea customers;" 

 which not only proved to me that he was fairly conversant with 

 the fish, but also suggested at once the locality from which 

 it was taken. On turning up an old copy of the Field I was 

 delighted to come across an article on Deep-Sea Fishes in the 

 Market, by J. T. Cunningham, and at once saw the similarity 

 of a drawing of the fish to the example I had recognised. 

 Mr. Cunningham's remarks on it are as follow : 



" Molva elongata, Otto. This is a species of ling charac- 

 terised by the slender form, the elongation of the pelvic fin, 

 which extends beyond the pectoral, and the shortness of the 

 first dorsal. The lower jaw is longer than the upper. The 

 colour is ashy grey on the back, silvery on the sides. The 

 specimen I have examined is 31 in. long, but the fish is 

 probably often larger, though it does not reach so large 

 a size as the common ling. This species closely resembles 

 a northern deep-sea species of ling, the M. abyssorum of 

 Nilsson, M, byrkelange of Walbaum. The latter occurs at 

 depths beyond 100 fathoms on the coast of Norway, and 

 was discussed a few years ago by Mr. Holt, who obtained 

 specimens from the lining grounds off Faroe, and from Ice- 

 land, where it is taken both by line and trawl. The chief 

 differences between Molva elongata, for which Mr. Garstang 

 suggests the English name silver ling, and M. byrkelange, 

 are that the first dorsal fin is shorter in the former, and that 

 the pelvic fin is longer than the pectoral. M. Adolphe 

 Cligny, of the Station Aquicole of Boulogne, who has pub- 

 lished a memoir on the deep-sea fishes obtained by French 

 trawlers on these grounds, considers elongata as merely a 

 variety of byrkelange, but he omits from his discussion the 

 fact that in the former the pelvic (ventral) is longer than the 

 pectoral, and not in the latter. It is of little importance 

 whether the forms are considered to be varieties or species; 

 there is no doubt that they can be definitely distinguished 

 M. elongata was until recently only known from the Mediter- 

 ranean, but it has been recorded by Portuguese observers 

 from the coast of Portugal. There is no doubt that it is a 

 good edible fish." 



The example I saw was about thirty inches in length. It 



