15-1 Prof. M'liitosli'rf Notes from the 



front of it is a black spot on the operculum. The number 

 of fin-rays in the 1st anal is 31, a larger number than has 

 been met with in any example of the young of the poor-cod 

 (Gadus minutus) over an area stretching from the North of 

 Scotland to the Thames. The 1st branchial arch bears 

 20 filaments and 15 gill-rakers, the former a comparatively 

 high number, and, moreover, they are ranged along the 

 entire length of the gill-arch, whereas in the examples from 

 the Thames they diminish rather abruptly before reaching 

 the ventral edge. The 2nci, 3rd, and 4th arches respectively 

 have 15, 13, and 11 gill-rakers. In the young poor-cod * of 

 the same size from Aberdeen the numbers in each case were 

 notably higher, though the long filaments at this stage had 

 a similar shape. 



Young poor-cod same length as young bib. 



Gill-rakers. 



The long filaments in the poor-cod of the same length are, 

 like the example of the bib, long and slender. 



In conijjariiig the specimen from St. Andrews with 

 examples of Gadvs htscus of the same length from the 

 estuary of tiie Thames, a noteworthy feature is the greater 

 depth of the body and the high arch formed by its dorsal 

 edge in the southern forms. The length of the 1st anal 

 in the St. Andrews example is shorter than the prc-anal 

 outline, that is, the distance from the anus the tip of the 

 snout ; whereas in the southern the prc-anal outline is 

 shorter than the length of the base of the 1st anal fin. 

 Again, the proportions of the 1st and 2nd anal fins in the 

 respective examples differ, greater inequality being present 

 in the southern forms. The two anal fins are more distinctly 

 separated in the St. Andrews form, yet Schmidt f holds tliat 

 in the bib they are practically connected and that the highest 

 point of the 3rd dorsal and the 2nd anal lies far back, so that 

 the anterior parts of these fins are almost parallel, a feature 

 not evident in the St. Andrews example. The position of 



* I am indebted for a series of these to the Fishery Board for 

 Scotland. 



t Meddelser Fra Komm. for Haviindes^g-elser serie Fiskerei, Bd. ii. 

 p. 57 &c. 



