GEN. MORRHUA. VARIABLE COD. 185 



Several well marked varieties have been described. 

 One with a sharp nose, elongated before the eye, 

 and the body of a very dark brown colour, prevails 

 along the southern coasts, and it is this which is 

 now commonly found in the London market. The 

 other has a round blunt nose, short and wide before 

 the eyes, and the body of a light yellowish ash- 

 green colour. This is commonly called the Scotch 

 Cod.* Another variety of a dark red, or reddish- 

 brown colour, supposed to be caused by some par- 

 ticular kind of food, has been frequently found at 

 the Isle of Man and also on the coast of Durham 

 and Northumberland. 



Cod have been found to thrive well in a pond to 

 which the tide has access, and even to become 

 superior to those caught in the open sea. 



These fish sometimes attain a very large size. 

 There are instances on record of individuals weigh- 

 ing sixty and seventy-eight pounds, and reaching a 

 length of nearly six feet. 



(Sp. 148.) M. callarias. Dorse, or Variable Cod. 

 This fish has been for some time inserted in the 

 catalogues of our indigenous fauna, but up to a very 

 recent period this appears to have been done with- 

 out sufficient authority. All doubt on the subject, 

 however, is now removed, by the discovery of spe- 

 cimens both in the north and south of Ireland, by 

 Mr. Thompson of Belfast. It is a much smaller 

 fish than M. vulgaris^ the length being always be- 

 low two feet and not frequently exceeding one. 

 * Yarrell's British Fishes, vol. ii, p. 227. 



