THE COD FAMILY. 283 



Without relying too much upon this statement, we have 

 instances, quoted by T. W. Fulton, which go to show that the 

 ovaries of a ling may contain any number from 14,000,000 to 

 60,000,000 eggs. The magnitude of these figures can hardly 

 be grasped by the human intellect, and the remarks made when 

 treating of the fecundity of the cod apply with sevenfold force 

 to the species under consideration. 



The ling appears to spawn not nearer than 10 miles from 

 the shore, and spawning females occur as far as 170 miles 

 seawards. 



As regards the rate of growth, the ling must be classed 

 amongst the fishes whose growth is fairly rapid but perhaps not 

 so fast as is the case with some other gadoids, e.g. the cod. 



From data given by H. Williamson, we note that a 1 -year-old 

 ling averages about 6 to 8 inches in length or a little more, 

 whilst at the end of another year, a length of from 14 to 16 

 inches at least may be attained, and nearly 30 inches is 

 probably reached by the 3rd year ; so that for the first 3 years 

 the ling may be said to grow at the rate of about 8 inches 

 per annum, or still more roughly the greater part of an 

 inch per month. The smallest mature female examined by 

 T. W. Fulton was 18^ inches, so that it is probable that the 

 ling, like the cod, attains sexual maturity at the 3rd year. 



The life-history of no other fish can present a more absorbing 

 and wonderful series of changes in colour and structure than 

 that of the ling. The rapid transformation from the uniform 

 yellow pigment to the black transverse bars, only to be 

 replaced by the conspicuous brown band from eye to tail, 

 and this in its turn giving way to the blotches and streaks of 

 brown and pearly white, forms a puzzle which requires all the 

 resources of mimicry and protection to enable the teleologist to 

 solve, and this is quite impossible till an intimate knowledge 

 of the whole environment of the species throughout its life is 

 acquired. 



Add to this the long ventrals disappearing before adolescence, 

 and the enormous fecundity, with its attendant destruction of 

 early stages, and one is compelled to admit how little is really 

 known of the life and surroundings of these food-fishes. 



