FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



rius being an old name for the cod. A detailed de- 

 scription of the codfish would be superfluous, as it is 

 a commercial fish, and no angler, except one badly 

 in want of meat, essays this lumbering, inert gadus. 



Like the codfish, there is only a single species 

 of pollack visiting our shores. It is the Pollachius 

 virens of the books, the specific meaning " green," 

 and the generic is an old English name for this 

 fish. It swims near the surface, and fights some- 

 what fiercely on the hook. 



We have, also, but one species of haddock, — 

 Melanogrammus ag/enus, which, being translated, is 

 generically an old name for the fish, and specifically, 

 " black " and "line," in allusion to the lateral line, 

 which is always black. The fish may be further 

 identified by the large dark blotch just above the 

 breast fins, which marking, the old ichthyologists 

 averred, was a visible proof that the haddock was 

 the fish from the mouth of which Saint Peter took 

 the tribute, leaving the impression of his finger and 

 thumb (somewhat dirty ones by the by) upon the 

 fish ; another statement, which was credited by the 

 market fishermen of England, during the eigh- 

 teenth century, was that the haddock in rough 

 weather sank into the sand at the bottom of the 

 sea, and sheltered themselves until the storm was 

 over, and sand and mud was seen on their backs 

 262 



