524 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
the anterior, inserted part of the scale. The scales 
are either oblong or linguiform, with the anterior part 
broader in the ordinary scales, narrower in the acces- 
sory ones. The bead-shaped markings of their stria- 
tion have already been noticed. 
The lateral line, which, as in most of the Cod- 
fishes, is scaleless, at the hind part of the tail runs 
fairly straight along the middle of the sides, gradually 
rises in front, and in the abdominal region forms a 
slight, but distinct arch above the pectoral fin. 
The abdominal cavity with its blue-black peri- 
toneum, is remarkably long. In a male 65 cm. in 
length it extends, gradually diminishing in width, be- 
hind the vent to a line with the 30th ray of the anal 
fin. This prolongation, however, does not contain any 
portion of the intestine, but is occupied by the greater 
part of the testes, which are divided, as in the Cods, 
into wavy lobes. The stomach is long, hardly marked 
off at all from the oesophagus, and pointed behind. 
The pylorus is situated at the middle of the lower 
(ventral) side of the stomach 0 . The pyloric appen- 
dages are long and numerous, being at least about 20 
in number. The intestine first bends slightly forward 
from the pylorus, and then straight back to the anal 
region, then forward again to the pyloric region, and 
finally straight to the vent. 
The coloration seems to be subject to considerable 
variation. The specimens preserved in spirits in the 
Royal Museum are dark or light brown on the back, 
the sides gradually passing into the grayish white or 
light bluish gray colour of the belly, which is finely 
punctated throughout with reddish brown. Our figure 
gives the coloration of a fresh specimen which was 
sent, packed in ice, to the Royal Museum from Gothen- 
burg in January, 1875, by Professor Malm. The most 
characteristic touch is the black colour of the outer 
(posterior) part of the pectoral fins and the hind parts 
of the second dorsal, the anal, and the caudal fins. 
All these fins are edged with white. The bases of 
the pectoral fins and the caudal fin are ashy blue, but 
at the middle of the caudal fin we find a lighter, 
whitish patch between the black portions, and in the 
fresh specimen the sides of the base of the caudal fin 
were yellowish. According to Malm “the rest of the 
fins are blackish brown; but on the anterior dorsal fin 
Ave find an oblique, Avhitish stripe from the tip of the 
first ray to the hind part of the base.” 
The Lesser Ling — apart from its near relation- 
ship to the above-mentioned Mediterranean form — is 
strictly known only as a Norvyegian species; but has 
long been renoAvned and more esteemed than the com- 
mon Ling. It lives only in deep water- — generally 
at a depth of from 100 to 300 fathoms — and is com- 
mon only north of Bergen up to Finmark. There is 
no record of its occurrence in the Arctic Ocean east 
of Varanger Fjord * * 6 . It is also found, hoAvever, south 
of Bergen, and uoav and then enters the Skager Rack, 
Avhere it has been taken in 35 fathoms of Avater on a 
bank 23 miles S.W. of Yinga. Since 1860 Malm has 
recorded the capture of 8 specimens off Bohuslan, and 
Mr. C. A. Hansson has fonvarded to the Royal Mu- 
seum tAvo specimens, both females, the first taken in 
October, 1888, at a depth of 80 fathoms between Nor- 
Avay and Roster, and the second in April, 1889, in 
Siicke Fjord. 
Tavo of our predecessors, Strom and Nilsson, 
state that on the coast of Nonvay Molua dipterygia 
is taken, not, as the common Ling, in the open sea, 
but abvays in the deep fjords, “Avhere it is taken Avitli 
special tackle, knoAvn as deep-sea long-lines, principally 
in autumn.” Collett tells us, hoAvever, that “at se- 
veral spots, especially on the off-shore fishing-banks, 
it is taken in so great numbers that this fishery — 
together with the catch of the common Ling and the 
larger Cods — is of importance in the manufacture of 
stockfish intended for exportation.” It is considered 
better than the common Ling, at least Avhen fresh. The 
Swedish name of the species ( birkeldnga = Trade Ling) 
denotes, according to Nilsson, that it commands a 
better price than the common Ling. Of its habits 
nothing more is known; but, to judge by its structure, 
they cannot differ in any essential point from those of 
the common Ling. In one of the males belonging to 
the Royal Museum the testes were so developed at the 
beginning of April that in this case the spaAvning-season 
might lie assumed to occur in the spring or summer. 
Faber (Fische Islands, p. 88) believed that the 
Lesser Ling Avas the young of the following species. 
a In the specimens before ns. we find the peculiarity — which often exists, however, in the common Ling too, when drawn up from 
a great depth — that the hind part of the stomach, up to the pylorus, is forced bodily into the anterior part. 
6 According to Mela it is rare in this fjord. 
