454 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
into a flap that may be depressed, and close the opening 
like a lid. On the eye side they are set just in front 
of the interorbital earina, and on the blind side in a 
straight line with the beginning of the dorsal fin. The 
mouth is large. The lower jaw ascends at an angle 
of rather more than forty-five degrees, and projects 
only slightly in front of the upper. The upper maxil- 
lary bone, which broadens slightly behind, extends be- 
low the anterior margin of the pupil of the lower eye, 
the margin of the jaw being formed by the inter- 
maxillary bone alone, which, like the lower jaw, is 
clothed with a tumid, labial skin. The jaw-teeth are 
numerous, fine, sharp, somewhat curved, and cardiform; 
in front they are set in several rows, laterally almost 
in a simple row, and they are finer on the eye side 
than on the blind side. The pharyngeal teeth resemble 
the jaw-teeth. The lower pharyngeals are armed with 
a fairly broad patch of teeth, of an elongated crescent- 
shape and containing several rows. The palatal fold of 
the upper jaw is fairly large. The intermaxillary bones 
are fairly mobile. The branchiostegal membrane is fur- 
nished on each side with 6 rather long, somewhat com- 
pressed rays and one smaller ray, the latter set near the 
median line. As in all the other Bothoids no part of the 
margin of the opercular apparatus extends to the lower 
edge of the body, but this margin curves upwards, 
forming an angle with the lower jaw. The gill-opening 
is large, extending from this angle some way above 
the base of the pectoral fin, where the operculum and 
suboperculum form a blunt, projecting, free point. 
The lateral line starts from the temporal region, 
on about a level with the middle of the upper eye, in 
a slightly upward direction, but soon forms a regular 
arch, extending over 12 — 14 scales, above the pectoral 
fin, then an angle somewhat above the middle of the 
body, and finally advances in a straight line to the 
middle of the caudal fin. This straight part of the 
lateral line is covered by 38 or 39 scales, which are 
more obtuse in shape than the others, and are each 
furnished with a muciferous canal. In an oblique row 
backwards, we find about 20 — 22 scales between the 
angle and the anal fin, and 15 or 16 between it and 
the dorsal fin. The scales are thus comparatively large, 
though smaller than in Platophrys ( Arnoglossus ) laterna, 
in which the scales are relatively larger than in any 
of the Scandinavian Flatfishes. At the middle of the 
body, above the lateral line, in a specimen 117 mm. 
long, the scales are 2 mm. broad (high) and somewhat 
longer than broad, hexagonal, with regular, straight 
sides and almost rectilinear angles, the base alone (the 
inserted, anterior margin) being as usual sinuous and 
irregular. The hindmost angle is rather more acute 
than the others. As this angle is included by two 
straight lines equal to each other, the visible part of 
the scale forms a regular rhombus, which takes its 
colour from the highly adhesive epidermis. The free 
(hind) margin is bent somewhat, though only slightly, 
outward, and with about 30 (somewhat fewer on the 
blind side), small, fine, straight spines, which are almost 
recumbent but not depressed. In these scales, as is 
generally the case with ctenoid scales, the nucleus lies 
near or at the tip. From this point the radiating lines 
diverge to the whole extent of the base, and the con- 
centric lines are not concentric with the hind margin, 
but end therein parallel to each other. The scales 
cover the whole body and head, except the mouth, 
and all the fin-rays. 
The dorsal fin begins near the dorsal margin, on 
the blind side. The first 4 — 6 rays are equal in length 
and nearly half free, but there is no very prominent 
ray. From this point the rays gradually increase in 
length, the 55th — 60th being longest, rather more than 
half as long again as the first ray, and measuring 
10 or 11 % of the length of the body. The remaining 
rays decrease in length, and the last four or three are 
rather short, but, as in the species next to be described, 
form a small, rounded lobe, which is inserted distinctly 
on the blind side, though not so depressed as in the 
next species. All the rays are free to some extent at 
the tip, and branched, but this is not distinct in front 
until the middle of the fin is reached. The lasf, small 
rays are deeply branched, the last of all down to the 
base. The anal fin begins vertically below the hind 
margin of the preoperculum. It is throughout analogous 
to the corresponding part of the dorsal fin, generally 
equal to it in height, and ends opposite the termina- 
tion thereof, with a similar lobe on the blind side. 
The distance between the terminations of the dorsal 
and anal fins is about 73 — 83 % of the least depth of the 
tail. The pectoral fin of the eye side contains 10 rays, 
all perfectly simple, a characteristic which is peculiar 
to this species and Drepanopsetta platessoides. The 
first ray is small and lies still closer to the second 
than in the Whiff; the length of the second ray is 2 / 3 
of that of the fin. The fourth ray is the longest, its 
length in young specimens being only slightly less 
