182 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



ranks only about seventh in value. In 1945, the 

 year when the catch was largest, its value was 

 $1,736,200. Its rank is low as a sportman's fish, 

 for while it bites greedily, it puts up only a feeble 

 resistance when hooked. 



Cod Gadus ccdlarias Linnaeus 1758 6I 

 . r , iwc>r)ii*£t Rock cod 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2541. 



Description. — The most noticeable external char- 

 acteristics of the cod, emphasized above in the gen- 

 eral survey of the cod family (p. 173), are its three 

 dorsal fins and two anal fins; its lack of fin spines; 

 the location of its ventral fins forward of its 

 pectoral fins, and the fact that its upper jaw pro- 

 trudes beyond the lower; that its tail is usually 

 nearly square, and that its lateral line is pale, 

 not black. 



The cod is a heavy-bodied fish, only slightly 

 flattened sidewise, its body deepest under the 

 first dorsal fin (cod neither very fat nor very lean 



are about one-fourth to one-fifth as deep as they 

 are long) , tapering to a moderately slender caudal 

 peduncle, and with a head so large that it takes 

 up about one-fourth of the total length of the fish. 

 The nose is conical and blunt at the tip ; the mouth 

 wide, with the angle of the jaw reaching back as 

 far as the anterior part of the eye; and there are 

 many very small teeth in both jaws. The first 

 dorsal fin usually (if not always) originates well 

 in front of the midlength of the pectoral fins; it 

 is the highest of the three dorsals, triangular, with 

 rounded apex and convex margin. The second 

 dorsal fin is nearly twice as long as the first dorsal 

 and about twice as long as it is high, decreasing 

 in height from front to rear with slightly convex 

 margin. The third dorsal fin is a little longer 

 than the first dorsal, and is similar to the second 

 dorsal in shape. 



The caudal fin is about as broad as the third 

 dorsal fin is long (rather small for the size of the 

 fish) and broom-shaped. The two anal fins stand 

 below the second and third dorsals, to which they 

 correspond in height, in length, and in shape. 

 The number of fin rays was as follows, in a large 

 series of Gulf of Maine cod, 23 to 37 inches long, 

 examined by Welsh. 



•' Jordan, Evermann, and Clark (Rept. TJ. S. Comm. Fish. [1928], Pt. 2, 

 1930, p. 210) use the species name morrhua Linnaeus 1758. But the use of 

 caUarias accords better with modern practice, because It preceded morrhua 

 on the same page of the Systema Naturae. 



Figttee 86. — Cod (Gadus callarias), Eastport, Maine. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



