210 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



coast of America to over the Grand Banks, and as far as, and even beyond, Saint George's Shoal, 

 the Cod is taken simultaneously and in great abundance. 



" Local variations of days, and even weeks, occur in a coast line or stretch of shallow sea of 

 not more than one hundred miles iu length ; but these arise from the one great leading cause which 

 guides the Cod in its approach to known feeding grounds on the coast or known banks at sea. 

 This leading cause is temperature, which determines the movement toward the coast of the various 







forms of marine life on which the Cod, inhabiting different waters, is accustomed to feed. . . . 

 The Cod, caught on each stretch of coast line within variable but tolerably well-defined limits, are 

 indigenous to the sea area adjacent to the sea-coast which they frequent. 



"Thus the winter haunts of the Codfish on the Northern Labrador coast are the slopes of the 

 great range of outside banks on that coast. The summer haunts of the 'Winter Cod' caught ou 

 the coast of Norway during the winter season, are on the slope of the 'Storegg' and its continua- 

 tions which lie seawards from the Norwegian coast, following the edge of the barrier separating 

 the ' polar deeps ' from the shallower coastal seas. The seasonal movements of the Cod are reversed 

 in this case, purposely introduced, but have afforded a beautiful illustration of the principles 

 adopted and confirmed by Professor Baird and of the influence of marine climate on fish-life." 1 



The depth at which Codfish are found varies greatly with the season and locality. It is stated 

 by Mr. Earll that they seem to prefer water less than seventy fathoms deep, and that by far the 

 greater numbers are caught in from eighteen to forty fathoms. This' generalization will doubtless 

 hold true for the whole coast of North America. Many of our correspondents state that they are 

 occasionally seen in water two or three feet in depth. In the course of the recent explorations by 

 Professor Agassiz, Cod were found three hundred fathoms below the surface. 



" In February, 1879, there was good fishing in three fathoms of water, within a few rods of 

 shore iu Ipswich Bay, while in May of the same year large numbers were taken in one hundred 

 and ten fathoms from the channel near Clarke's Bank." 



It would be extremely interesting to know the extent of the migrations of Codfish, from deep 

 to shallow water and back again, on different parts of the coast. This, however, varies with local 

 conditions. There have already been many observations made, the study of which will doubtless 

 aid in the solution of this problem, but it is exceedingly important that there should be systematic 

 exploration at a distance from the shore both in winter and summer. This is one of the tasks 

 proposed by the Commissioner of Fisheries for the new sea-going steamer now being constructed. 

 Mr. Marcus A. Hanna, of Bowery Beach, Maine, states that he knows certain places on the coast 

 of Maine where Cod are found in mid-winter not more than two miles from laud, iu water from 

 forty to fifty fathoms deep, and upon soft bottom. A portion of the Gloucester George's Bank 

 fleet continues fishing through the winter mouths, though at this season the vessels do not, as iu 

 spring and summer, fish upon the shallow parts of the bank, but rather seek the deep waters 

 around its edge. The fish make their appearance, however, on the bank early in February. 



An experimental cruise made in winter by Captain Mar throws some light on the movements 

 of the Cod in this region : " One winter I started on a cruise before the time for the Cod to come, 

 which was usually from February 7th to the 10th. I sounded all over the usual ground. None there. 

 Cruised seventy-five miles to the south'ard, sounding in thirty to one hundred fathoms of water. 

 Found none ouly one Codfish. Got back to the banks and found the Codfish there." At another 

 time he was going over the shoal ground of the banks in February, with a load of fish ; in sounding, 

 passing over the shoals m sixteen fathoms of water, he caught six pairs of large fish. He thinks 

 that they were "solid," passing over the shoal. It should be borne in mind that these fish were 



'Hind, op. cit., pt. i, pp. 15,16. 



