Notes on Luvarus imperialis Raf., a fish new to the fauna of Norway. 11 
pieces, some of them being partly macerated, there was also a 
little bit of a branched green alga. The intestine was quite full 
of a homogeneous thin fluid mass of:a dirty light greenish- 
yellow colour; but for about the length of the last metre the colour 
became reddish. No firm pieces were to be seen in the contents 
of the intestine. 
Sex. The specimen was a female, the ovaries measured 67 mm. 
in length; eggs microscopical. 
Habits. One can only guess at the habits of the Luvarus, 
for only stranded specimens are known, with the exception of this 
one, which was taken at the surface on our coast. 
The unusual length of the intestine has led some to suppose 
that it is a vegetable feeder. Its whole structure, however, refutes 
the idea that it belongs to the littoral region, and if it be a plant-eater, 
it would then practically be obliged to subsist on floating seaweed, 
e. g. in the Sargasso district. — As before mentioned, the speci- 
men under consideration had swallowed a quantity of grasswrack, 
but this cannot be taken as a proof that plants form its normal food, 
as one would then have expected to find undigested remains of plants 
in the well-filled intestines. Besides, we know that other Atlantic 
species, such as the Sunfish (Mola mola Lin.), and the Kin g- 
fish (Lampris pelagicus Gunn.), specimens of which have been 
caught on our coasts, either stranded or floating on the surface, 
have in their ventricle had pieces of plants, algae (Zostera, Lami- 
naria) whilst the normal food for these truly pelagic fish appears 
respectively to be medusae’) and cuttlefish.’) 
It is reasonable to conclude that the fish, as a makeshift, had 
swallowed some Zostera leaves, which were floating on the surface. 
As far as I know, no details have been published of any 
examination of contents of stomach and intestines. 
Day (1880, p. 122) writes thus: — “The habits of Luvarus 
are scarcely known, the young have been captured near the surface 
at sea. Its intestines would seem to point to its being a vegetable 
feeder, which probably does not live at any great depths in ihe 
ocean”. 
1) Collett, R.: Meddelelser om Norges Fiske III, p. 62. Vidensk.- 
selsk. Forhandlinger 1905. Kristiania. 
?) Collett, R.: Medd. om Norges Fiske I, p. 43. Vidensk.selsk. For- 
handlinger 1902. Kristiania. 
