446 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND (iA.MK COMMISSION. 



spawns in December. In Massachusetts it is a resident species, entering brackish 

 waters ; it is common about the wharves and bridges in summer and is taken with 

 nets and hooks in winter, in company with the Smelt. 



The Tomcod reaches the length of about 10 inches. It is an important food fish 

 and its eggs have been hatched artificially by the New York Forest, Fish and Game 

 Commission in large numbers. 



137. Cod (Gadus inorrliua Linnaeus). 



Gadus cal/arias MITCHM.I., Kept. Fish. N. Y., 5, 1814; Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., 



I, 367, 1815 ; JOKDV.N \- EVERMANN, Mull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Ill, 2541, 1898 ; IV, 



pi. CCCLXI, fig. 891, 1900. 



Gadus arfiiosiis and rupcstris MIIVHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., I, 368, 1815. 

 Morrhita americana DF.K.AY, N. Y. Fauna, Fish., 274, pi. 44, fig. 140, 1842. 

 GaJiis iiwrlnia MITCHILL, Rept. Fish. N. Y., 6, 1814. 

 Gadits morrhua GUNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., IV, 328, 1862 ; GOODE & BEAN, Bull. 



Essex Inst., XI, 8, 1879; Oceanic Ichth., 354, 1896; BEAN, Bull. Am. Mas. Nat. 



Hist., IX, 372, 1897. 



COD. 



Color olive or yellowish brown ; numerous dark brown spots on the body ; fins 

 dark. 



The Cod is an inhabitant of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. It is a 

 very important food fish and grows to a large si/e. Individuals weighing about 100 

 pounds have occasionally been taken. Mitchill has described this n>h under several 

 names the Torsh, or Common Cod, or Rock Cod of New York. DeKay calls it 

 the American Cod. In November, 1897, the Cod was abundant in Gravesend Bay. 

 It thrives in captivity during the winter and spring, but cannot be kept during the 

 warm months without cooling the water. In Vineyard Sound, according to Dr. 

 Smith, the Cod appear about April I to about April 15, when the Dogfish drive 

 them away. After the middle of October the Cod come again but in less numbers 

 than in the spring, remaining till the first wintry weather. The fish spawns during 



