Nr. 9] 



CONTRIB. TO THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE FISHES 



35 



1908, total length 1.9 metres, I found two egg capsules. These 

 I will now describe. The capsules were enveloped in a loose 

 net of yellowish threads, which I removed. In addition, there 

 was a covering of straw-coloured threads, running longitudinally, 

 resembling raw silk. The capsules were apparantly mature. 

 There was a considerable mass of yolk, surrounded by a mass 

 of gelatinous matter, but no macroscopic indication of the embryo. 



Capsule 1. Length from upper to lower edge 222 mm., maxi- 

 mal breadth 112 mm. The fore-end tubes extended abt. 15 mm. 

 out over the terminal edge, and the lower ones abt. 20 mm. Length 

 of the interior cavity 119 mm., maximal breadth of same 90 mm. 

 Distance from upper end of the cavity 

 to upper terminal edge 57 mm. Thickness 

 of capsule walls V2 — 1 mm. The fore or 

 upper edge cut off straight, the lower 

 having a concave curve. In the orienta 

 tion of the capsule, I cut out the one 

 broad side and then proceeded to feel 

 the way in with a scalpel round the 

 cavity. The scalpel entered by the straight 

 cut edge, which is the part where the 

 young emerge, and thus the fore end of 

 the capsule. The one broad side being 

 here considerably more convex than the 

 other, we may conclude, by analog}' 

 with R. radiata, that the more rounded 

 side is the ventral, and the other the 

 dorsal. The lateral keels are fairly broad. 

 Terminal tubes not particularly curved, 

 but stand out almost straight from the 

 corners. They communicate with the ca- 

 vity of the capsule, and are filled with a 

 gelatinous substance. The capsules are 

 yellowish brown in colour, and the walls 

 of the cavity smooth and glistening in 

 the inner side. 



Capsule 2. Most of what has just 

 been said also applies to this; we find, 



however, that capsules tåken simulataneously from one and the 

 same individual need not to be of the same size. 



Fig. 10 shows the ventral side of capsule 2, with the fore end 

 up. The length of the capsule from upper to lower edge 212 

 mm., maximal breadth 109 mm. The fore-end tubes extend abt. 

 20 mm. out from the upper end, and the lower abt. 25 mm. 

 Length of the interior cavity 111 mm., maximal breadth of 



Fig. 10. Egg capsule of 

 R. nidrosiensis, 20 /s 1909, 

 Munkholm deep. The fore 

 end tubes have fallen off. 



