368 Dr. R. Dyce on the Identity of 



I next refer to the evidences of its connexion with the common 

 Cod, which I exhibit in a similar tabular form : 



Table showing the Identity of the Morrlma punctata with the Morrhua 

 vulgaris, or Common Cod. 



1. Jaws. Both have the upper longer dorsal, beginning a little back- 

 than the lower. warder." 



2. Both have one barbule. 9. Caudal, nearly even at the extre- 



mities, large and square. 



3. Both have teeth, card-like, in 



several rows of unequal lengths ; 10. Ventrals placed before the pee- 

 also on palatine bones. torals in both, narrow and pointed. 



4. Head smooth in both. 11. Number of fin-rays differ very 



slightly. 



5. Both have a longitudinal sulcus or 



groove on nape, extending to first 12. Colour of back, head, and upper 

 dorsal. half of sides, cinereous brown, 



obscurely spotted with yellow; 



6. Both have the lateral line curved lower half of abdomen white ; in 

 to middle of second dorsal, then M. punctata, head, back, and sides 

 straight to the tail. of body of two shades of brown 



and yellow : belly white in both. 



7. Both have three dorsals, " com- 

 mencing at one -third of the 13. Lateral line forming a narrow 

 length." white band ; in M. punctata, only 



partially coloured. 



8. Both have two anals, " the first 



corresponding nearly to the second 14. Fins in both dusky; ventrals 



pale; in Af.^imctata, ventrals dark. 



These, then, are the points proving the connexion between 

 the common Cod and the Speckled Cod of authors in their ex- 

 ternal characters. It now remains to show the cause of the 

 apparent difference, which can be seen only on dissection. My 

 attention was first directed to this inquiry from noticing a defor- 

 mity in the spine of the common Haddock similar to that which 

 is found in Morrhua punctata. It gave the fish a stumpy, mis- 

 shapen, bellied appearance, so like M. punctata, that in my subse- 

 quent examples I readily detected the same cause operating in both 

 as a reason for their deformity. I found the spine compressed, 

 contracted in its length, and at times curved. The vertebrae are 

 not, as the fishermen suppose, double (for they call them double- 

 boned Cod and double-boned Haddock, or " stragglers/' from 

 their being found after the other fish have left the coast), but 

 very much thickened and compressed throughout, the greater 

 part of the column presenting simply a bony arch, from which 

 the lateral processes arise, the softer spongy body of each bone 

 appearing to have been removed by absorption, while the outer 

 bony ring or arch only remains. 



