292 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
Reinii. (. Liparis ), Overs. DaDsk. Vid. Selsk. Forh. 1842, p. 
82; Jord., Gilb. ( Careprocius ), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 
16, p. 740; Gthr ( Liparis ), Ohall. Exp., Rep. Scient. Res., 
Zool., vol. XXII ( Deep Sea Fish.), p. 67. 
Liparis ( Oareproctus ) Reinhardi, Kr., Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvn, 
ser. Ill, vol. I, p. 252; Coll. (Oareproctus), Vid. Selsk. 
Fork. Christ., 1880, No. 8, p. 1; Id., Norsk. Nordh. Exped. 
1876 — 78, Zool., Fiske, p. 57, tab. II. figg. 15 et 16; 
Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fisk., vol. I, p. 682; Ltkn (Liparis), 
Dijmphna-Togtets Zool. hot. TJdb ., p. 152. 
? Liparis micropus, Gthr, 1. c., p. 66, tab. XII, fig. B. 
Obs. Gunther, as well as Jordan and Gilbert, has returned 
to Reinhardt’s opinion that this species, as it occurs in Greenland, 
is the same as the Kamchatkan species described by Pallas, from 
Steller’s notes and specimens. This point cannot be elucidated un- 
til well-preserved specimens have been obtained from the north of 
the Pacific, but if we keep in mind the variations to which the spe- 
cies of this .genus are subject, and the geographical extension of the 
preceding species, every possible fact urges us to recognise this iden- 
tity. Pallas also states, in his Zoographia (1. c.), that he has heard 
on trustworthy authority that the species also occurs in the White 
Sea. Whether Gunther’s Liparis micropus is not identical with this 
species, is a question that may well be asked ; so exactly do his figu- 
res and description apply to the specimens we have examined. The 
number of the fin-rays (D. 35 — 37 ; A. 35 — 36) is the only cha- 
racter which might constitute a specific difference; but here a slip 
of the pen or some abnormity involuntarily suggests itself to us, for 
iu no other Cyclogaster is the number of rays in the dorsal fin so 
like that in the anal; and even if the number of rays in the anal 
fin is as low as stated by Gunther, still the other characters are 
against the recognition of the specific difference. 
The Slimy Sea-Snail is distinctly a deep-sea fish. 
All the fishes of this description that we have pre- 
viously treated of, are able to sustain life in the higher 
marine regions, or are not confined to so great a depth 
that the shape and structure of the true deep-sea fishes 
have been forced upon them. Among the peculiarities 
of the latter forms" we find, in the first place, their 
loose structure, which is not restricted to the skin, as 
in the other species of Cyclogaster (though in Cyclo- 
gaster gelatinosus it attains its highest development), 
but also affects the texture of the muscles and the 
bones. Steller and Pallas compare the organization 
of Cyclogaster gelatinosus in this respect to that of the 
Meditscc. Though the smaller specimens that we have 
examined, are of only slightly looser structure than 
similar examples of the preceding species, still the diffe- 
rence is pronounced enough to distinguish the species 
to some extent. Krgyer too, describes the skeleton as 
“remarkable for its loose, spongeous structure and con- 
sequent softness.” Another characteristic of the deep- 
sea fishes — also a retention or even a higher deve- 
lopment of a juvenile character — lies in the large 
“ Cf. GOntiier, Introd. Study of Fish., pp. 299 etc. (Handb 
pp. XXIV etc. 
muciferous pores and cavities in the head, belonging 
to the system of the lateral line; but even in this 
respect the Slimy Sea-Snail is to be regarded only 
as a more advanced form than the preceding species. 
This gradual progression in the same series of develop- 
ment, which further expresses itself most distinctly in 
the coalescence of the vertical fins, the greater number 
of rays in the dorsal and anal fins, and the decreasing 
depth of the tail, is all the more interesting as it is 
accompanied by the reduction of the apparatus of the 
ventral fins, and the removal in a forward direction of 
this apparatus and also of the vent, an alteration which 
is of systematical importance as a partial explanation 
of the relations between the jugular or the apodal forms 
and other types. During youth the position of the 
ventral disk in those specimens of Cyclogaster gelatinosus 
which we have examined, is only slightly different 
from that which it occupies in Cyclogaster Montagu'/ 
or Cycl. Fabricii. In these cases the distance between 
it and the tip of the snout is 11 or 12 % of the length 
of the body (about 1 % less than in similar specimens 
of Cycl. Montagui ) , and only part of it lies under the 
posterior part of the eye. In older specimens, however, 
it is apparently moved considerably further forward : 
in Krgyer’s specimen 183 mm. long, he states that it 
was only 4 1 / 3 mm. distant from the point of the lower 
jaw. This seems also to apply to the position of the 
vent. The distance between it and the tip of the snout 
in our specimens measures 20 or 21 % of the length 
of the body. According to Pallas, this proportion 
may sink to 9 %. 
Assuming that the Kamchatkan species is identical 
with the Atlantic, the Slimy Sea-Snail attains a con- 
siderable size. The specimen described by Pallas in 
his Spicilegia was 495 mm. long, and in his Zoographia 
lie says that the species often attains a length of 2 
feet. In Scandinavia and the Atlantic Ocean it is ex- 
tremely rare, and only small specimens are found. In 
1879 the zoologists on board the gunboat Gunliild, 
Professor Theel and Doctor Trybom, took four speci- 
mens about 60 mm. long, in the month of July, about 
half-way between Arendal and the Skaw, at a depth 
of from 350 to 370 fathoms and on a bottom of line, 
brown clay. On the Norwegian Arctic Expedition of 
1876 — 78 three specimens between 56 and 79 mm. in 
length, were taken at a depth of from 263 to 658 
. Ichth., pp. 199 etc.) and Voy. Challenger, Rep., Zool., vol. XXII, 
