178 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
If it. be borne in mind during examination of this 
table that the average length of the body in the males 
here measured is greater than in the females, it is clear 
that in every line in the last three columns where the 
numbers rise or fall in uniform succession, a distinct 
change of growth is indicated, and that where this is 
not the case, an equally distinct sexual difference ap- 
pears. With respect to the length of the ventral fins 
in proportion to that of the body, it is true that these 
three numbers rise uniformly; but here the difference 
between the last column and the next to the last is so 
great that the sexual difference is indicated in this way; 
while, on the other hand, with regard to the length of 
the maxillary bones and of the lower jaw, the difference 
between the last column and the next to the last is so 
slight that we may well suspect that here, too, difference 
of sex has had some influence, in which case it becomes 
a rule that the jaws are generally longer in the females 
than in the males. The table also suggests that, the 
long and low form of the body, which is so character- 
istic of the species, expressed in the ratios of the least 
depth of the tail, and the relatively small eyes are most 
strongly marked in the two specimens from the frozen 
sea. of Siberia, where, to judge by this circumstance, 
the species attains its most perfect typical character. 
The colouring of the Four-horned Cottus is much 
duller than that of the two following species, and thus 
contributes to render its appearance still more repulsive. 
The back and the upper part of the head are grayish 
brown, in some specimens finely marbled with dark 
spots, which are partly coalescent. The sides are lighter 
and towards the belly shade into light brownish yellow 
with a brassy lustre. In the male the same colour, 
with a, dash of red, extends over the belly as well; 
but in the female the belly is white. The round, rough 
scales on the sides of the body are yellowish white. 
The iris is dark flame-yellow, lighter at the inner 
margin. 
The internal structure of the Four-horned Cottus 
is essentially the same as that of the other species of 
the genus, but is different in some respects. The liver, 
the breadth of which is greater than its length, lies across 
the abdominal cavity and extends slightly farther back 
on the left, side than on the right. The pyloric appen- 
dages, which are arranged in a wreath round the pyl- 
orus, are comparatively short and only from 6 to 8 
in number. The longest, of them is situated on the 
side next to the stomach; the others gradually diminish 
in size. In this species, too, the ovaries are really 
united into one, but this is more deeply cloven into 
two lobes. According to Sundevall the colour of the 
roe varies between dark brown and dark or light green. 
The geographical range of the Four-horned Cottus 
is extremely singular and instructive. It. is wanting, to 
the best of our knowledge, on the west coasts of Scan- 
dinavia" and Greenland, as far north as the Danish 
colonies extend * * * * 6 ; but on the east coast of Greenland it 
was taken by the German “North Pole Expedition” of 
1869 — 70°. In Spitsbergen it has not. yet been found, 
but in the White Sea. it. was taken in 1861 by the 
Finnish naturalist Selin, and Lieutenant Sandebeeg 
brought home to Stockholm numerous specimens from 
the neighbourhood of Archangel. Even Pallas (1. c.) 
stated that the Four-horned Cottus is not only an in- 
habitant of the coasts of Kamchatka, but is also of 
•common occurrence in fresh water in Siberia, as, for 
example, in Lake Baikal and other lakes, and also in 
the rivers flowing from these lakes all the way t.o the 
Arctic Ocean, where it. was found, on the coast, of Si- 
beria, by the Vega, Expedition. It was from Copper- 
mine River, in the middle of the extreme north of North 
America, that Richardson obtained his Cottus hexa- 
cornis , which he subsequently proved to belong to the 
same species as the Four-horned Cottus; and during 
Captain Feilden’s expedition Mr. Egekton found a 
small Four-horned Cottus dead on the shore of Dum- 
bell Harbour in latitude 82 1 / 2 ° N. — “No other salt- 
water fish,” says Gunther' 6 , “is known at. present to 
have been found at a higher latitude.” 
In Sweden, until the publication of the first edition 
of this work, the Four-horned Cottus had been regarded 
exclusively as a salt-water fish. Ekstrom and Fries 
were then able to show that it. occurs in fresh water 
in Scandinavia also, “probably in several localities, 
“ According to information given by Baron Gyllenstjerna to Nilsson (1. c.), it has been taken off Kullen , but it has never reappeared 
there. According to Gunther (1. c.), Gray once obtained a fresh specimen at Billingsgate, which was perhaps a stray individual that had 
wandered into the North Sea. Malm (1. c.) obtained a specimen from Nordre River, six miles from its mouth, which had presumably come 
down the stream from Lake Wener. 
6 Cf. Lutken, 1. c., p. 376. 
c ' Die Zweite Deutsche Nonlpolarfahrt, Bd. 2, p. 169. (Peters.). 
d Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 293. 
