120. GADID^ MERLUCIUS. 
809 
erwise peculiar in several respects. Species several, very similar. 
Large, voracious fisbes, little valued as food. {Merhiciiis, the ancient 
name, meauiug “Sea-Pike.”) 
1217. M. baaiBiearis (Mitch.) Gill. — Hake. 
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 black. Top of head with the W- 
shaped ridges very conspicuous; eye shorter than snout, and less 
than iuterorbital width; maxillary reaching iJosterior border of pupil; 
teeth not very large, snaaller than in ^If. smiridus. Scales larger than 
in Other species; pectorals and ventrals long, the latter reachiug three- 
fourths distance to vent, their length about three-tifths that of head. 
Head ; depth OL D. 13-41; A. 40; Lat. 1. 100-110. Coasts of New 
Englaud and northward; rather common. 
(Stomodon hiUiiearis Mitchill, Kept. Fish. N. Y. 7, 1814 : Gadus albidus Mitchill, Journ. 
Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. i, 409: Merlmius albidus Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 304; Goode & 
Bean, Bull. Esses Inst, si, 9.) 
124§. m. SSiiiiD’idEis Raf. — European Hake. 
Dusky abov'e, silvery below; dorsal, caudal, and distal part of pec- 
toral blackish; inside of opercle black; inside of mouth black poste- 
riorly, pale in front; peritoneum black. Veutrals a little more than 
half head; t"‘eth very long. Head large, 3^; depth 6^. D. 10-30; A. 
36; vert. 2o+2G; Lat. 1. 150. Coasts of Europe; abundant; straying 
to Greenland. Here described from specimens taken at Genoa. The 
identity of the northern species with M. smiridus is perhaps uncertain. 
(Gadus merluccius L. Syst. Nat.; Raliuesqiic, Caratteri di Alcnni Nuovi Generi, 1810, 
23: Merluelus vulr/aris Fleming, Brit. Anim. 193: Merlucius vulgaris Giiniher, iv, 344: 
Epicopus gagi Gunther, ii, 248.) 
1249. M. |>r®daictais (Ayres) Gill. — Merluccio. 
Silver gray; head dusted with coarse black dots; inside of mouth and 
opercle jet black; peritoneum silvery, with black specks. Head with 
the W-shaped ridges less strongly marked; maxillary reaching center 
of pupil; eye large; pectorals long and narrow, reaching vent; ventrals 
much smaller than in i)f. bilinearis, reaching half way to vent; their 
length about f that of head ; caudal somewhat forked. Scales quite 
small, deciduous. Teeth moderate. Head 3f ; depth 7. D. 11-41; A. 
43; V. 7. Lat. 1. 136. L. 3 feet. Pacific coast, from Santa Barbara 
northward ; abundant. 
(Alerlangus producius Ayres, Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1855, 64: Homalopomus trow~ 
bridgii Girard, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1856,132: Gadus jjrodMctusGiinther, iv, 338; 
GUI, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 247.) 
