534 Opisthomi and Anacanthini 



Nathaniel Atwood of Provincetown records one with the weight 

 of 1 60 pounds. 



According to Dr. Goode: 



" In the western Atlantic the species occurs in the winter in 

 considerable abundance as far south as the mouth of the Chesa- 

 peake Bay, latitude 37, and stragglers have been observed 

 about Ocracoke Inlet. The southern limits of the species may 

 be safely considered to be Cape Hatteras, in latitude 35 10'. 

 Along the coast of New England, the Middle States, and British 

 North America, and upon all the off-shore banks of this region, 

 cod are found usually in great abundance, during part of the 

 year at least. They have been observed also in the Gulf of 

 Bothnia, latitude 70 to 75, and in the southeastern part of 

 Baffin's Land to the northward of Cumberland Sound, and it 

 is more than probable that they occur in the waters of the Arctic 

 Sea to the north of the American continent, or away around 

 to Bering Strait." 



Dr. Gill says: 



"The ocean banks of moderate depths are the favorite 

 resorts of the cod, but it is by no means confined to those 

 localities. The fish, indeed, occasionally enters into fresh, 

 or at least brackish, water. According to Canadian authorities, 

 it is found 'well up the estuary of the St. Lawrence, though 

 how far up is not definitely stated, probably not beyond the 

 limits of brackish water.' Even as far south as the Delaware 

 River it has been known to enter the streams. Dr. C. C. Abbott 

 records that in January, 1876, 'a healthy, strong, active cod- 

 fish, weighing nearly four pounds, was taken in a draw-net 

 in the Delaware River near Trenton, New Jersey ; the stomach 

 of the fish showed that it had been in river-water several days. 

 Many of them had been taken about Philadelphia between 

 1856 and 1869.' 



"The cod ranks among the most voracious of ordinary 

 fishes, and almost everything that is eatable, and some that 

 is not, may find its way into its capacious maw. Years ago, 

 before naturalists had the facilities that the dredge now affords, 

 cods' stomachs were the favorite resort for rare shells, and some 

 species had never been obtained otherwise than through such 

 a medium, while many filled the cabinet that would not other- 



