THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 



443 



his New York Fauna, he mentions Mitchill's description of a specimen which 

 measured 21 inches in length. 



The Whiting ranges from Labrador to Virginia. Young examples have been 

 found even farther south in very deep water. This fish occurs in Gravesend Bay in 

 spring and fall. In Great South Bay no individuals were seen by the writer during 

 the summer, but an individual was obtained late in the fall by Capt. Thurber. Octo- 

 ber 28, 1898, several examples were received from the Atlantic, off Southampton. 



According to Dr. Smith, the species is abundant every fall at Woods Hole, Mass., 

 and some years it is common in summer. The fish swims close to the shore, and is 

 caught in considerable numbers at Buzzards Bay at night with spears. Large indi- 

 viduals weighing 5 or 6 pounds are caught in traps. The young, measuring 2^2 to 3 

 inches long, are seined in the fall about Woods Hole. The names in use for the fish 



POLLACK. 



in that locality are Silver Hake, Whiting, and Frostfish. In Massachusetts Bay the 

 Whiting is a frequent visitor to the shores and is probably a resident of the middle 

 depths. The young are frequently trawled in deep water. 



135. Pollack (Pollachius virens Linnaeus). 



Gadus purpureus MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., I, 370, 1815. 

 Merlangus purpureus DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fish., 286, pi. 45, fig. 147. 1842. 

 Merlangus carbonarius DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fish., 287, pi. 45, fig. 144, 1842. 

 Merlangus leptocephalus DEKAY, op. cit. 288, pi. 45, fig. 146, Long Island. 

 Pollachius virens BEAN, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., IX, 371, 1897; JORDAN & EVER- 

 MANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Ill, 2534, 1898; IV, pi. CCCLIX, fig. 886, 1900. 



Greenish brown above; sides and below somewhat silvery; lateral line pale ; fins 

 mostly pale, sometimes a black spot on the axil. 



The Pollack is a native of the North Atlantic. It is common northward on both 

 coasts, and extends south to France and New Jersey. Mitchill described the fish 

 under the name of the New York Pollack. DeKay mentions it under several 



