494 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
which may be found in one of the specimens sent by 
Mr. Hansson from Stromstad to the Royal Museum. 
Day speaks of live or six of these dark, broad bands, 
but Moreau of three broad, whitish gray ones. The 
iris, according to Malm, is brown with a golden lustre, 
but has a narrow, brassy ring next the pupil. 
The Bib is one of the rarest fishes in Scandinavia, 
and has only been met with a few times, in most in- 
stances on the coast of Bohuslan. In May, 1827, it is 
true, Faber (1. c.) took a Cod off the Skaw that was 
determined at the Museum of Copenhagen as a Gaelics 
hcscus: but the specimen is missing, and Faber’s de- 
scription is not enough to decide the question whether 
the specimen belonged to this species or to the follow- 
ing one". Fries, in the first edition of this work, was 
the first to include the Bib with certainty in the Scan- 
dinavian fauna, on the strength of a specimen that he 
received at Fiskebackskil (Bohuslan) in November, 1836. 
This specimen was 32 cm. long, and is still preserved 
in the Royal Museum. At a more recent period, be- 
tween 1849 and 1874, Malm received 6 specimens, all 
solitary, from the southern island-belt of Bohuslan, 
which were between 20 and 33 cm. long. Mr. C. A. 
Hansson has furnished the Royal Museum with two 
specimens, a female from Sacke Fjord, taken in August, 
1880, in 40 or 50 fathoms of water, and a male, taken 
in Stromstad Fjord, in August, 1882. Both these spe- 
cimens are 30 cm. long-. The Bib is no less rare in 
Denmark, though, according to Petersen, it has been 
found in recent years once (in 1880) off the Skaw, 
and once (1884) off Agger. On the Norwegian coast 
it has not yet been observed. All round Great Britain 
and Ireland, on the other hand, it is common, and 
still commoner further south, in the Channel and on 
the west coasts of France and the Spanish Peninsula. 
On the Mediterranean coast of France, according to 
Moreau, it is rare, and is only occasionally met with, 
according to Giglioli 6 , on the coast of Italy. 
“It adheres,” says Day, “pertinaciously to one spot, 
according to Mr. Dunn, who observes that it is largest 
and in the best condition when residing among rocks 
upon precipitous coasts as Cornwall. Here it seeks a, 
secluded crevice or gully where it conceals itself dur- 
ing the day time, sometimes thousands seeking the 
same spot. At twilight it sallies out, as it usually 
feeds only at night time, extending its excursions over 
the high grounds and on to the low rocks and sands 
beyond, but not going very far. Assemblages of these 
fish are known as “chains of bibs,” two or more of 
which may be found so close together as to be merely 
divided by a ledge of rock of a few feet in width; one 
chain of bibs may be light coloured and the contigu- 
ous one banded with dark. In mild winters it re- 
mains in these haunts, but if cold and stormy it retires 
to the deep sea, returning again in spring. It also 
appears partial to living inside wrecked vessels. It 
prefers rough ground or shelving rocks arising from 
a sandy soil. The knowledge of the exact localities 
where these fish reside has been kept in some fisher- 
men’s families for generations. It thrives pretty well 
in an aquarium, but after a time becomes of a lighter 
colour.” It lives on small fishes, crustaceans, and mol- 
lusks. The spawning-season occurs in spring. It is 
taken in the same Avay as the other species of this 
family; and large Bibs — Yarrell" saw a specimen 16 
in. long, and Blake' 2 states that they attain a weight 
of 4 lbs. — are excellent eating. 
a “The second dorsal fin of the same shape as the first anal and set opposite it.” The greatest depth of the body (24' 1 % of its 
length) also points to Gadus minutus; but the depth of the tail in front of the caudal fin (5'5 % of the length of the body) refers the spe- 
cimen to Gadus luscus. 
b Espos. Intern. Pesca, Berlino 1880, Sez. Ital., Cat., p. 96. 
c Hist. Brit. Fish., ed. 2, vol. II, p. 239. 
d Zoologist; 1866, p. 507. 
