PISCES— HAD DOCK... HALIBUT.. .TURBO T. 741 



immense capture, however, makes but a very small diminution, when com- 

 pared to their numbers ; and when their provision there is exhausted, or the 

 season for propagation returns, they go off to the polar seas, where they 

 deposit their spawn. Previous to the discovery of Newfoundland, the 

 principal fisheries for cod were in the Iceland seas, and off the western 

 isles of Scotland. 



THE HADDOCK* 



Is a well-known fish of this genus, which much resembles the cod, but is 

 smaller ; it is also distinguished by a black mark on each side beyond the 

 gills, which superstition ascribes to the impression which St Peter left with 

 his finger and thumb, when he took the tribute money out of the fish's 

 mouth, which tradition would have us believe to have been of this species. 



THE HALIBUT2 



Weighs from one hundred to three hundred pounds. The halibut is the 

 most voracious of fishes, and has been known to swallow even the lead which 

 seamen make use of for the purpose of sounding the depth. Its back is a 

 dusky color ; its belly pure white. The flesh is very coarse and indifferent 

 food. It is the narrowest fish in proportion to its length of any of this 

 genus, except the sole. 



THE TURBO T,3 



Like some others of the flat fish, grows to a great size. It has occasionally 

 been known to weigh from twenty-five to thirty pounds. In its general 

 form it is somewhat square. Flat fish swim sideways, on which account 

 they are styled pleuronectcs by Linnaeus. The eyes of all of them are situ- 

 ated on one side of the head, those of the turbot on the left ; and it is a curi- 

 ous circumstance, that, while the under parts of their body are of a brilliant 

 white, the upper parts are so colored and speckled, as, when they are half 



1 Morrhua ceglefinus, Lin. 



1 Hippoglossus vulgaris, Bloch. This genus has the body oblong, compressed; the 

 jaws and pharynx armed with slender pointed teeth ; an interval between the dorsal and 

 anal fins and tail. 



^Rhombus maximus, Ctrv. This genus has the jaws and pharynx with numerous 

 slender pointed teeth ; dorsal fin rising from the margin of the upper jaw, and rnnnjng, as 

 well as th ; anal, almost to the tail ; eyes in the greater number Sinistral. 



