444 SEVENTH REPORT OF TIN-: FOKFST, FISH AND GAME U>MM ISSION. 



names, the New York Pollack, the Coalfish. and the Green Pollack. DeKay says 

 the fish is taken with the common Cod, but is by no means common on the coast 

 of New York. He saw a specimen weighing 17 pounds, and measuring 38 inches in 

 length. In another description he stales that the Coalfish is often taken off the 

 harbor of New York in company with the Cod, and is known as Pollack and Black 

 Pollack. The third form under which the fish was known to DeKay was described 

 by him from a specimen captured by hook out of a large school in Long Island 

 Sound. The Pollack enters Gravesend Bay in the fall. In captivity it is a ravenous 

 feeder. It requires cold water and will not endure high temperatures. 



DeKay states that the fish flipped in the same manner as the Menhaden, and was 

 at first supposed to be of that species. The school seemed to be very timid, for, on 

 a very slight noise in the boat, they all disappeared. 



Dr. Smith states that adult Pollack appear in Vineyard Sound, Great Harbor, 

 Woods Hole, Mass., in May, following the run of Cod. They depart when the tem- 

 perature of the water reaches 60 or 65. In April there is a run of Pollack measur- 

 ing from I to I y 2 inches long. By June, when these fish leave, they have reached a 

 length of 4 inches. In fall there is a small run of Pollack 7 or 8 inches long. The 

 average weight of adults in that locality is about 10 pounds, the largest one seined 

 having weighed 14 pounds. In Massachusetts Bay this is an extremely abundant 

 species, and constitutes an important food resource. 



136. Tomcod; Frostfish (Microgadus tomcod Walbaum). 



Gadits toincoJns MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., I, 368, 1815, 



Cadus pruinosiis MITCHILL, Kept. Fish. N. Y., 4, 1814. 



Morrhua pruinosa DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fish., 278, pi. 44, fig. 142, 1842. 



Microgadits toincoiius BEAN, igth Kept. Comm. Fish. N. Y., 248, pi. in, fig. 3, 1890. 



Microgadits tomcod BEAN, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., IX, 371, 1897 ; MEARNS, Bull. 

 Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., X, 322, 1898 ; EUGENE SMITH, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y., 1897, 

 40, 1898; H. M. SMITH, Bull. U. S. F. C., 1897, 107, 1898; JORDAN & EVERMANN, 

 Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Ill, 2540, 1898; IV, pi. CCCLX, fig. 890, 1900; BEAN, 

 52d Ann. Kept. N. Y. State Mus., 109, 1900. 



Color olive brown with reticulations and blotches of darker; sides and back pro- 

 fusely covered with dark punctulations ; under parts lighter ; dorsal, caudal and 

 anal fins with dark blotches; pectorals and ventrals dusky. 



This fish is very generally known in New York waters under the name of Frost- 

 fish. It ranges from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and is excessively common in shallow 

 bays in cold weather. The name Frostfish is derived from the fact that it appears 



