The Haddocks 



surface, but is a bottom feeder, particularly abundant over clam- 

 banks, hence its German name Schellfisch. It will take the 

 baited hook as it rests on the bottom, while a cod will not 

 notice it until it is raised a little above the bottom. Salted 

 menhaden and stale clams are favourite baits for haddock. 



The spawning season on our coast is from April to June, 

 the height being in May. The eggs float at the surface like those 

 of the cod. The size is about yV of an inch in diameter, and a 9|^ 

 pound fish produced 1,839,581 eggs. The usual size of the had- 

 dock is about 3 or 4 pounds, and the maximum about 17 

 pounds. 



As a food-fish the haddock has steadily grown in favour 

 until it is now one of the most important. It is especially de- 

 sirable for boiling or for making chowders. It is well suited for 

 preservation in ice, and enormous quantities are shipped through- 

 out the interior, along with the cod. It is also smoked, salted 

 and dried in large numbers. 



Colour, dark gray above, whitish below; lateral line black; a 

 large dark blotch over the pectoral; dorsals and caudal dusky. 



GENUS LOTA {CUVIER) OKEN 



Body long and low, compressed behind; head small, depressed, 

 rather broad; anterior nostrils each with a small barbel; chin with 

 a long barbel; snout and lower parts of head naked; mouth 

 moderate, the lower jaw included; each jaw with broad bands 

 of equal, villiform teeth; vomer with a broad crescent-shaped 

 band of similar teeth; no teeth on palatines; gill-openings wide, 

 the membranes somewhat connected, free from the isthmus; 

 scales very small, imbedded; vertical fins scaly; dorsal fins 2, 

 the anterior short, the second long and similar to the anal; 

 caudal rounded, its outer rays procurrent. 



One of the 2 known species is found in our waters. This 

 is the ling or lake lawyer, Lota maculosa. The ling is our only 

 freshwater member of the codfish family. It is found pretty well 

 distributed in the larger lakes of Canada and the northern United 

 States from Maine and New Brunswick to the headwaters of the 

 Missouri, and to Alaska. It is probably most abundant in the 



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