— 110 - 



our St. 170, 1905) at Heligoland by Heincke and Ehrenbaum \ in the Skager ßak (Bohus- 

 län) by Malm' and in the Little Belt by the Danish Biological Station ^ but its occur- 

 rence here is just as rare as elsewhere. 



5. The Channel 

 In the most western part of the Channel, near the Scilly Isles, the tiny pelagic fry 

 of the lesser fork-beard were taken a single time (St. 165, 1906) at the end of August, 

 which shows that the species spawns there. Whether more young are produced in the 

 Channel than elsewhere within its region of occurrence 1 cannot say. It is not mentioned 

 by Holt as spawning at Plymouth, nor are its eggs or larvae given in the lists of Holt 

 and Scott (I. c.) for the neighbourhood of Plymouth. 



6. Bay of Biscay 

 We have not found the young of the lesser fork-beard here, nor could this be ex- 

 pected, as we made practically no hauls in shallow water in the autumn. The species is 

 not known from the west coast of France (according to Moreac, 1. c, p. 275). 



In spite of the fact that the areas investigated by us were so large and embraced the 

 whole of the region where this species is at all known to occur, it is not possible for me 

 to point out any place where the lesser fork-beard can be said to be common. I cannot 

 even mention any waters where it is commoner than in others, nor where the centre of 

 its distribution lies, as has been possible for all the other 16 gadoids dealt with here. 



17. Brosmius brosme (Ascan.), Torsk (Chart VIII) 



§ 1. Remarks on the identification 



The eggs , first described by Mc Intosh, are easily distinguished by the usually pink 

 oil-globule and by the characteristic pigmentation of the larvae on hatching. The postlarval 

 stages also offer no difficulties in diagnostic regards. They are distinguished from nearly 

 related species {Molva molva and Raniceps raninus as also Otios) by the presence of three 

 postanal pigment bars, the hindmost of which (1) is not restricted to the end of the tail 

 only but extends out also on to the embryonic fin (in contrast to Merluccius), and the 

 middle bar has the ventral portion more developed than the dorsal (in contrast to Molva 

 hyrkelange); further by the ventral fin-rays being elongated, almost free and swollen at 

 the tips, and by the characteristically rounded form of the head. The number of vertebrae 

 is 19—21 + 44—46; total 64-66. 



For further information, reference may be made to my earlier descriptions and figures 

 {Brosmius 1905, Molva 1906, Merluccius 1907, Molva elongata and Raniceps 1907), where 

 the diagnostic features are discussed in more detail. 



§ 2. General features of the occurrence 

 Chart VIII where our catches of the pelagic fry of Merluccius vulgaris and Ra- 

 niceps raninus are also included, applies to the months April — September. As the eggs 

 ^ See my earlier paper on "Raniceps ranirms and Molva elongata", pp. 4 and 7. 



