186 MALACOP. SUB-BRACH. COD FAMILY. 



The belly is not very prominent, and the head, back, 

 and sides are more or less spotted, besides other 

 distinctions which will be found stated in our Sy- 

 nopsis. It is a northern species, being well known 

 in the Baltic, and was found by Capt. Ross on the 

 northern coast of the American continent, along the 

 shores of the inlet to the west of the peninsula of 

 Boothia. Fabricius mentions it as frequent in 

 Greenland, and varying in size, number of fin-rays, 

 and colouring. He states also that it is taken in 

 the winter by breaking a hole in the ice, and using 

 some shining substance, such as a ball of lead, or a 

 glass pearl, as a bait. Cuvier says that its flesh is 

 superior to that of the common Cod. 



(Sp. 149.) M. cpglefinus. Haddock. This fish 

 is almost as generally known, and of as great value 

 as the Cod ; when taken in deep and clear water, 

 and in fine condition, it is even thought by some to 

 be the most delicate and savoury of the whole fa- 

 mily of the Gradidae. It does not, however, take salt 

 so weU as the Cod, and cannot therefore be ren- 

 dered of such extensive utility. It frequents all the 

 coasts of Britain, and most of the Irish shores, but 

 is most plentiful on the east side of both islands. 

 It swims in large shoals, and these shoals appear in 

 certain localities nearly at the same time in different 

 years. On the Yorkshire coast, for example, the 

 fishermen have remarked that their arrival may be 

 expected about the 10th of December. It has been 

 calculated that the shoal in that quarter, on its first 

 arrival, is about three miles in breadth and eighty 



