2JO 



AMERICAN FISHES. 



names " Rock Trout " and "Sea Trout " are common. The Portuguese 

 at Monterey call it "Bodieron." It reaches a length of fifteen inches 

 and a weight of two or three pounds. It ranges from San Luis Obispo to 

 Alaska, and is much more generally common than any of the other species, 

 and large numbers are brought into the market of San Francisco. It lives 

 in rocky places of no great depth. It feeds voraciously on crustaceans and 

 worms. It spawns in July. It dies at once on being taken from the 

 water, and the flesh becomes rigid and does not keep as well as that of 

 the rock-fish. It is a food-fish of fair quality, but not of fine. The sexes 

 are very unlike in color, and have been taken for distinct species. 





^li^y^w pyay*^ 



THE CULTUS COD. 



The Cultus Cod, Ophiodon elongatus, is universally called " Cod-fish." 

 where the true cod is unknown. About Puget Sound the English call it 

 "Ling." Among the Americans the word "cod" is used with some 

 distinctive adjective, as Cultus Cod ("cultus" in the Chinook jargon, 

 meaning of little worth), "Bastard Cod," "Buffalo Cod." etc. The 

 name "Blue Cod " is also given to it from the color of its flesh. The 

 name " Rock Cod " applied to other Chiroids and to Sebastichthys, and 

 thence even transferred to Serranus, comes from an appreciation of their 

 affinity to Ophiodon, and not from any supposed resemblance to the true 

 cod-fish. The Cultus Cod reaches a length of five feet, and a weight of 

 fifty or sixty pounds, the largest specimens being taken in northern waters. 

 Many very small ones come into the San Francisco market, being taken 

 in the sweep-nets of the paranzelle. These weigh less than a pound ; the 

 average of the large ones is from six to ten pounds. It ranges from Santa 

 Barbara to Alaska, being very abundant everywhere north of Point Con- 

 ception. It lives about rocky places, and sometimes in considerable 

 depths, and spawns in summer. It feeds upon fishes and Crustacea and is 

 excessively voracious. It often swallows a red rockfish when the latter is 



