SUBBRACHIAL 



MAI.ArOPTERYGII. 



223 



GADin^. 



THE AMERICAN HADDOCK. 



Morrhua ^glfifinis ; Cuvier. 



The distinctive colorinn; of this fish is blackish brown above, and 

 silvery grey b^low the lateral line, which is j:!t black. The back and 

 sides are varied by purplish and golden gleams ; there is a lareje dark 

 vertical patch posterior to the pectorals, crossing the lateral line. 



The fins are dusky blue. 



The body of the Haddock is stout, anteriorly, and tapering back- 

 ward. The head large and arched The eyes are large. The lower 

 jaw is the shortest ; the teeth small, in a single row on each jaw ; a 

 single small barbel on the chin. 



It has three dorsals, the first and third triangular, the second 

 longest, respectively of fifteen, twenty-two and twenty rays. The 

 p'^ctorals hav? twenty -one, the ventrals sixteen, the two anals respec- 

 tively twenty -fiv and twenty -one, and the caudal thirty-four rays. 



The range of the Haddock is similar to that of th'^ Cod ; it is very 

 abundant, and is about equal in estimation as an article of food with 

 its congeners. 



