262 SALT-WATER FISHES 



or about two years old, the ling is reddish brown above and 

 white below. These remarkable colour changes have been 

 given at some length, because few other fishes exhibit them 

 in such a degree. 



The Lesser Ling {M. abyssorum) was added to the British 

 fauna by Sim, who records* ten specimens trawled (May 25th, 

 1897) off Rona and brought to Aberdeen market. Two had 

 been previously caught (February, 1895) thirty miles from 

 Shetland. It is a much smaller species than the ling, seldom 

 exceeding 4 ft. in length. Its body is also longer for the 

 depth, the head is shorter, the scales proportionately larger, 

 and there are no spots on the dorsal fins. The lesser ling 

 is regarded as a better food-fish than the commoner species. 

 It inhabits still deeper water, for it is taken chiefly on the 

 coast north of Bergen in 100 to 300 fathoms of water, but 

 occasionally it finds its way into the shallower waters of the 

 Skager Rack, and is there captured in only 35 fathoms, f 



The lesser ling is a voracious ground-feeder, and the 

 British examples contained scales that apparently belonged 

 to some kind of wrasse. Faber erroneously held this form 

 to be the young stage of the common ling. 



The Rocklings, three in number, have not only the barbel 

 on the chin, as in so many of the foregoing, but also additional 

 feelers on the upper lip. A fourth, having eleven barbels, 

 is described from Scandinavian seas, but does not occur 

 within the British zone. Mcintosh and Masterman follow 

 Risso and the Scandinavian writers, and call this genus by 

 the name of Onos, an old Greek word for cod ; but Motella 

 is in more common use. All our rocklings have two dorsal 

 fins, like the hake and ling, but the front one lies in a groove, 

 from which only one long ray projects. 



The Five-bearded Rockling {Motella musteld) must be 



* Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., October, 1897, p. 255. 

 t Scandinavian Fishes, p. 524. 



