374 ANACANTHINI. 



appearance. It approaches Merlangus virens in the numbers 

 of its fin-rays, but if the figure in Mr. Yarrell's excellent work 

 on British Fishes be a correct representation of that fish, the 

 resemblance between the species is not close. 



Description. 



Form, in general, much like that of an ill-conditioned had- 

 dock (Morrhua aglefinus). The head forms one-fourth of the 

 total length of the fish, being proportionately longer than that 

 of the cole fish (M. carbonarius}, which polaris resembles in 

 colour. Nearly a third of the length of the head is occupied 

 by the large eye. At the occiput the fish is moderately com- 

 pressed, the thickness there being one-third less than the 

 height. In the specimens the bellies are shrunk, but were the 

 intestines full of food the abdomen would most likely be pro- 

 minent, as is usual in the Gadi. Under the first dorsal the 

 body is highest, and there the height is equal to twice the 

 thickness. Towards the tail the compression gradually in- 

 creases. 



The mouth is cleft as far back as the anterior third of the 

 orbit ; the under jaw is a little the longest. A single row of 

 minute acicular teeth, rather widely set, arms the premaxil- 

 laries and mandible ; some of them are rather taller than the 

 others. On the chevron of the vomer the teeth are short, 

 rather stoutly subulate and curved, and stand also in a single 

 series. There are no teeth on the palate bones. 



The lateral line is straight, without any arched curve behind 

 the pectoral, but with a slight deflection from the suprasca- 

 pular region. Small, soft, round, silvery scales cover the sur- 

 face of the body, being deeply imbedded in the skin, and not 

 becoming detached so readily as those of M. carbonarius. The 

 whole skin of the head and body is minutely speckled with 

 round, black dots, equably dispersed ; the upper parts have a 

 dark grey general tint, and the ventrals and anal fins are 

 white. 



Fins. In having naked spaces separating the several fins of 

 the back and also the two of the belly this fish resembles the 



