SMOOTH SAND-LAUNCE. 
573 
distinctly branched at the extreme tip, the others are 
doubly branched, and the fifth (4 — 6) is the longest. 
— The ventral fins are wanting. 
The small scales cover the entire body, but not the 
head. On the back and belly they are set more closely 
and irregularly, on the sides of the body they lie ar- 
ranged in the regular, oblique, simple rows described 
above. These rows run from the lateral line on the 
back, obliquely backwards, down to the lateral ventral 
carinas. Their number varies considerably: in a large 
male Sundevall found only 172; in another large spe- 
cimen we found 176, in a middle-sized one 183; Kroyer 
has found as many as 195. The usual number is pro- 
bably about 180. The first ones, about 5, above the 
gill-cover, and the last 6 or 7, at the caudal fin, are 
short and incomplete. Furthermore, on the front and 
middle parts of the body these rows are a little way 
apart from each other, while on the tail they are set 
close together. In each row the scales are set so den- 
sely that they overlap each other to a small extent of 
their surface. At the middle of the body each row 
contains about 46 scales, 18 or 19 of which lie between 
the lateral line and the median line, the other 27 or 
28 between the median line and the lateral carina on 
the belly. In the largest specimens (about 3 dm. long) 
7 scales in one of these rows occupy a space 5 mm. 
long. 
The coloration is greenish on the back and white 
on the rest of the body, shifting into all the colours of 
the rainbow; but in the living fish the whole body is 
somewhat transparent. All the fins are pale. A large 
blackish spot occurs on the sides of the snout, half-way 
between the tip of the snout and the eye. 
No distinct external difference between the sexes 
has been discovered. 
With regard to the internal organs we merely re- 
mark that the peritoneum is white with a silvery lustre, 
the stomach rather small, firm, and wide, with a long, 
narrow continuation in a backward direction, which 
when empty resembles a narrow, cylindrical appendage, 
but when full of food becomes rather large and extends 
back to the anal region. The liver is small and white, and 
lies in front of the stomach, round the oesophagus. The 
intestine is narrow, with a sharp bend. Only one short, 
conical appendage occurs at the pylorus. The ovaries 
are separate in front, but towards the vent completely 
united into one mass. The eggs are flame-yellow, fairly 
numerous, and fine: their diameter is only slightly more 
than l /s urn i . , 7 ripe eggs occupying a space 4 mm. long. 
As all the Sand-Eels, so far as is known, live in 
the same manner, and as the two species that occur in 
any abundance in Sweden, are found in company with 
each other, we shall shortly return to the habits and 
development of the Sand-Eel. 
THE SMOOTH SAND-LAUNCE (sw. slattobisen a ). 
AMMODYTES CICERELUS. 
Fig. 136. 
Upper jaiv protrusile. Pectoral fins short , as in the preceding species. Head of the vomer toothless. Dorsal and 
anal fins with undulating margin. No regular transverse folds across the sides of the body. 
Fig. 136. Ammodytes cicerelus, natural size. Taken at a depth of 30 fathoms off Grip (Norway), by Lilljeborg. 
Specimen in the possession of the Zoological Museum of Upsala University. 
Ammodytes cicerelus , Rafin., Caratt , d. ale. n. gen ., p. 21, 
tab. IX, lig. 4; Mor., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., tom. Ill, p. 
219; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. I, p. 333, tab. XCII, 
fig. 3; Lill.j., Sv., Norg. Fisk., vol. 2, p. 228. 
a Lilljeborg, 1. c. 
6 According to Day, Moreau, and Lilljeborg. 
15 according to Costa. 
16 ,, ,, Swainsok. 
c According to Costa. 
R. br. 7; D. 53—59; A. 28—30; P. 13— 14 * 6 ; V. 0; 
C. x + 1 + 1 3 + 1 + x ; Vert. 6 8 c . 
Syn. Gicirellus Messanensis, Boccone, Recli ., Observ. Nat., Amster- 
dam 1074, p. 294, fig. in tab. ad p. 287. 
