542 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
of the length of the body) in the posterior part of the 
tin, and the margin is incised just behind the middle 
of its length. All the rays — except the first, the first 
two, or the first three — are branched in full-grown 
specimens, though only indistinctly in the anterior part 
of the fin, and the ramification is scarcely perceptible 
in the thick, loose fin-membrane. The length of the 
peduncle (finless part) of the tail is about equal to its 
depth. The caudal fin is rather narrow, and sharply 
rounded at the hind margin, its median length varying 
between 13 and 10 % of that of the body. The anal fin is 
analogous to the second dorsal in form and structure, but 
is not so distinctly higher in the posterior part. It begins j 
just behind the vent, the distance between its beginning 
and the tip of the snout being in young specimens about 
43 %, in old as much as 50 %, of the length of the body. 
The length of the fin varies in different individuals be- 
tween 43 and 40 % of that of the bod}’, and its longest 
ray measures about S 1 /,,— 67 2 % °f the latter length. 
The pectoral fins are obliquely pointed, and their 
length measures about 1 5 1 / 2 — 14% of that of the body. 
The uppermost two or three rays are simple and the 
others branched. The fifth ray is the longest, but only 
slightly longer than the fourth, which in its turn is I 
slightly longer than the third. The first ray is about 
half as Iona - as the second, and the latter measures 
about 2 / 3 of the third ray. 
In the ventral fins, which until Malm’s time (1851) 
were universally believed to consist of only one ray, 
the second ray is the longest, measuring in specimens 
of different ages from about 43 to 31 % of the length 
of the body, but varying in length to such an extent 
that it sometimes extends behind the beginning of the 
anal fin, and sometimes falls short of this point". The 
length of the first ray is about 7 4 of that of the second, 
and its tip — for almost half the length of the ray — 
is free from the latter. The third ray is united through- 
out its length to the second, the tip alone forming a 
small, indistinct break on the inner side of the fin, at a 
distance from the base of the fin equal to about V 5 — 7 4 
of the length of the second ray. The position of the 
ventral fins is remarkably jugular, the fins being inserted 
almost in a line with the hind margin of the preoper- 
culum and far apart from each other, on either side 
of the abdomen, which is rather fiat at this point. The 
distance between the insertion of the ventral fins and 
the beginning of the anal fin increases with age from 
25 to 32 % of the length of the body. 
The covering of scales is dense, and clothes the 
whole body and the head to the snout, extending also 
over the vertical fins and the outside of the base of the 
pectoral fins. The scales are large, but imbricated to 
such an extent that only a narrow strip of the surface 
of each scale is externally visible behind the scale in front 
of it. In form they are rectangular, more or less oblong, 
and behind and in front more or less convex. In a spe- 
cimen 57 cm. long the largest scales at the middle of 
the body and half-way up the sides are about 14 mm. 
long and 1 0 1 / 2 mm. deep, while the free part of each 
scale measures about 2 mm. Nearer the dorsal fin each 
scale is about 12 mm. long and 7 mm. deep, and pro- 
jects about 3 mm. behind the scale in front of it. 
The upper part of the body is light chocolate- 
coloured or reddish brown with a dash of gray, the lower 
part paler and shading into whitish. The cheeks and 
lower jaw are coated with a silvery colour, and the hind 
part of the body is tinged with violet, which becomes 
deeper back towards the base of the caudal fin and down 
over the greater part of the anal fin. The belly grows 
whiter and whiter, and is finely punctated with dark- 
brown, which colour also extends over the margins and 
outer parts of the vertical and pectoral fins, though the 
latter, like the first dorsal fin, are violet at the base. 
In young specimens a large, round spot of dark brown 
appears at about the middle of the second dorsal fin. 
The ventral fins are red with a dash of yellow and with 
the free tips of the rays white. The iris is pale yellow. 
The internal organs are like those of the other Cod- 
fishes. The abdominal cavity is black, and extends to 
a line with the fourth or fifth ray of the anal fin. The 
pylorus originates near the hind extremity of the sto- 
mach. The pyloric appendages are numerous and long. 
The liver is large, and the two principal lobes are irre- 
gularly subdivided. The intestine first runs forward to 
a line with the insertion of the pectoral fins, then back 
to the anal region, again forward for the same distance as 
before, and finally back to the vent. In a female caught 
at the beginning' of March, each of the ovaries is of about 
the same thickness as the stomach, and extends forward 
for about 1 / i of the length of the abdominal cavity. 
On the coast of Sweden the Great Forked Beard is 
extremely rare. Only three or four specimens are known 
a In the original of our figure the second ray of the right ventral fin measures 180 mm., of the left 152 mm. 
