THE COD FAMILY 105 



more or less cylindrical in shape with a flattened head. The scales 

 are small and the body is covered Avitli a thick slime. Its move- 

 ments are sinuous, and, like an eel, it is nocturnal in its habits, and 

 can live a long time out of water. In addition to the barbel on the 

 chin, it has developed small barbels on each anterior nostril, which 

 recalls a similar condition found in the eel. The dentition is very 

 interesting on account of its similarity to that of the ling, which, as 

 Travers Jenkins points out, is its nearest relative. According to 

 Tate Regan, the mouth is wide with bands of small pointed teeth 

 in the jaws, and a crescentic band of similar teeth on the vomer ; 

 it may be added that the latter are longer than those on the jaws 

 and are recurved and pigmented. This vomerine dentition corres- 

 ponds very closely with the condition all ready described in the Ung. 

 To quote Tate Regan once more, " the burbot is a gluttonous 

 fish and eats great quantities of the eggs of other species. It is 

 very destructive to other fish. In the daytime it pounces on small 

 fish which come near its lurking place, whilst at night it goes in 

 active pursuit of prey." The brain of the burbot is a very interest- 

 ing example of brain-pattern giving a clue to the habits of a fish, 

 and also its relationships. The medulla oblongata recalls at once 

 that of the ling. The somatic-sensory lobes are large and globular 

 and are prolonged posteriorly by two extensions which meet medially 

 and enclose two small facial lobes which are deeply situated. The 

 optic lobes are small, but the primitive end-brain is very prominent 

 and the olfactory organs are large. The picture is, therefore, that 

 of a night -feeder which hunts mostly by smell and its feelers ; its 

 predatory nature is weU shown by its large somatic-sensory lobes, 

 as we have already noted in the common ling. 



FORKBEARDS {Phycis phycis) 



In the preceding pages we have considered the variations in 

 the pattern of the medulla oblongata of those Gadoids which fre- 

 quent the seas that surround the British Isles. A jom-ney to the 

 islands of sub-tropical seas enables the observer to examine species 

 of different fish, which, we shall show, tlirow light on various pro- 

 blems which still puzzle the investigator ; moreover, such a journey 

 provides further examples of the eccentric adaptations which occur 

 in the cod family. Frequenting the shores of Madeira is a small 

 member of the Gadidae known locally as " Abrotia " among the 

 Portuguese ; its scientific name is Phycis phycis ; there is another 

 fish seen also on their markets bearing the same name, but this 

 inhabits deep water. It is the former that is of considerable 

 interest, as it shows how a shore habitat may contain members of 



