154 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
THE BLUE-MOUTH (sw. blakaften). 
SCORPJENA DACTYLOPTERA. 
Fig. 43. 
Inter orbital space with a narrow concavity , and anteriorly naked , like the entire snout; the top of the head and 
the occiput between the ridges flat. No free dermal flaps on the body ( except that which belongs to the hind margin 
of the anterior nostril). Lower jaw slightly projecting , with a small protuberance on the chin. Soft-rayed part 
of the dorsal fin lower than the spinous-ray ed, the 3rd ray of which is the longest. Palate and pharynx , and 
often the top of the tongue, as well as the peritoneum, black or blue. Ground colour of the body red on the back, 
lighter on the sides and shading into white towards the abdominal line. From 3 to 5 light brown, transverse 
bands sometimes appear on the back, and brown or green spots on the body and fins. 
Fig. 43. Blue-month ( Scorpcena dactyl opter a), from Bergen. */ 2 natural size. 
R. hr. 7; D. li - - , J , A. %; P. 2 + 9 + 8 1. 2 
+ 10 + 7; V. 1 / 3 ; C. x + 11 + x; L. lat. (squ. perfor.) 26 — 30; 
Vert. 24 — 20. 
Syn. Scorpcena dactyloptera, Delaroche, Ann. Mus. D’Hist. Nat., 
vol. XIII (1809) p. 337, tab. 22, fig. 9; Nilss., ( Sebcistes ) 
Skancl. Fn., Fisk., p. 100; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mus., Fish., 
vol. II, p. 99; Steind., Stzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. 
Naturw. CL, LVI (1867), I, p. 669; Coll., Vid. Selsk. Forh., 
Christ., 1874, Tillsegsh., p. 19; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 9; 
Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fiskar, p. 107; (?) Jord., Gilb., ( Scor - 
pcma) Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 679. 
Sebastes imperialis , Cuv., Regne Anirn., ed. II, p. 167; Cuv., 
Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. IV, p. 336; Kroy., Naturh. 
Tidskr. Kbhvn, ser. 2, vol. 1, pp. 269 et 281; Dub., Kor., 
Vet. -Akad. Handl. 1844, p. 45; (?) Lowe Fish. Madeira , 
p. 171, tab. XXIV. 
Obs. As Cuvier (Hist. Nat. Poiss., IV, p. 340) says that he 
has examined the type specimen of Bloch-Schneider’s Scorpcena 
malabarica ( Syst . Icht.li. posth., p. 194), which Bloch is said to have 
received from Abildgaard, and has ascertained that it belongs to the 
present species, we ought perhaps to restore Bloch’s specific name. 
In Lowe’s figure to which we have referred above, the lower 
jaw projects very far, the dorsal line is much too convex, the jaw- 
teeth are large and scattered, and the maxillary bones are densely 
covered with scales. 
It is evident that Jordan and Gilbert’s Scorpcena dactyloptera 
from the deep water outside Chesapeake Bay can scarcely belong to 
this species, from the description, according to which the pectoral 
fin extends to a point vertically above the beginning of the anal fin, 
and is without the thickening of the lower rays, while the gill- 
rakers are described as being long. 
The Blue-mouth attains a length of about 450 
mm. a . It is distinguished in form from the Norway 
Haddock by the thicker (somewhat terete) head and 
the lower body with a less convex dorsal line. The 
greatest depth of the body is about 27 % of the 
17 Austrian in. (about 1 7 '/o ^ n S'- i n -)> according to Steindachner, 1. c. 
