2530 Bulletin ^7, United States National Museum. 



2899. MEULUCCIUS MEBLUCCIUS (Linmcns). 

 (European Hake.) 



Head large, 3i^; depth Oi. D. 10-36; A. 36; vertebrje 25 + 26; scales 150. 

 Ventrals a littlo more than i bead; teeth very long. Dusky above, sil- 

 very below ; dorsal, caudal, and distal part of pectoral blackish ; inside of 

 opercle black ; inside of month black posteriorly, pale in front ; peritoneum 

 black. Coasts of Europe, generally abundant, south to Madeira and Italy, 

 straying to Greenland.* Here described from specimens taken at Genoa. 

 The identity of the Greenland Hake with M. mrrlucciits^ is perhaps 

 uncertain. (En.) (werZwcchts, ancient name; mare, sea; Z»t(/(s, pike.) 



Gadus merluccius, Linn.eus, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 254, 1758, Europe ; after autlior.s. 

 Merluccixis smiridus, Kafinesque, Caratteri, etc., 26, 1810; JORDAN & Gilbert, Synopsis, 



809, 1883; LiLUEBOEG, Sveriges Fiske, ti, 121, 1891. 

 Gadus ruber, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., V, 673, 1803, Scotland; Dieppe; on notes by M. 



NOEL; young. 

 Gadus merhos, Eisso, Ichth. Nice, 122, 1810, Nice. 



Onus riali, Kafinesque, Inclice d'lttiol. Sicil., 26, 1810; substitute for merluccius. 

 Merhicius vulgaris, Fleming, Brit. Anim., 195, 1828; GOnther, Cat., iv, 344, 1862. 

 Merluccius esculentus, Risso, Eur. M6rid., in, 1826, 220, Nice. 

 ? Merluccius amhiguvs, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soe. Loud. 1840, 37, Madeira. 

 Merluccius sinuatus, Swainson, in Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, 38. 

 Merhicius lanatus, Gronow, Cat. Fisb., Ed. Gray, 130, 1854, Mediterranean. 

 Epicopus gayi, Gunther, Cat., ii, 248, I860, no locality; not M.gaiji, Gcichenot, wbicb is 



tbe Chilian Hake. 

 Merluccius linncri, Malm, GiJtheborgs ocb Bohusliins Fauna, 489, 1877. 



2900. MERLUCCIUS BILINEARIS (Mitcbill). 

 (Silver Hake; New England Hake; Whiting.) 



Head 3f ; depth 6*. D. 13-41; A. 40; scales 100 to 110. Top of head 

 with W-shaped ridges very conspicuous ; eye shorter than snout and less 

 than interorbital width; maxillary reaching posterior border of pupil; 

 teeth not very large, smaller than in the European species, Merluccius 

 merluccius. Scales larger than in other species; pectorals and ventrals 

 long, the latter reaching f distance to vent, their length about f that 

 of head. Grayish, darker above, dull silvery below ; axil and edge of 

 pectoral somewhat blackish; inside of opercle dusky silvery; inside of 

 mouth dusky bluish; peritoneum nearly l)lack. Coasts of New England 

 and northward to Straits of Belle Isle; south, in deep water, to the Baha- 

 mas; rather common; used as food; breeding in deep water, though often 

 taken near shore, northward. This species resembles the Eurojiean Hake, 

 Merluccius merluccius, but the latter has smaller scales, about 150, and 

 larger teeth, (hilinearis, two-lined.) 



* The Iceland Hake has been described as Merluccius argentatus (FsLhev). According 

 to Faber, it has largo teeth, the mouth white within, and the rays D. 1.5-43 ; A. 51 ; the lins 

 deeply notched. It is perhaps a valid species, and, if so, it doubtless occurs in Greenland. 

 {argentatus, silvered.) 



Gadus merluccius (argentatus), Faber, Fische Islands, 90, 1829, Iceland. 

 Merluccius argentatus. Gunther, Cat., iv, 346, 1802. 



t "Dans r Amerique du Nord, on cite ce poisson do Greenland, luais I'exactitude de cette 

 indication parait douteuse." (Collett, Comp. Sci. HirondcUe, 1896, 58.) 



