804 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



cc. Lateral line pale ; mouth rather large, the maxillary reaching past front of eye. 

 d. VertebrsB normal. (Gadiis.) 



1339. G. callarias 'L.— Common Cod-fish. 



Greenish or browuish, subject to many variations, sometimes yellow- 

 ish or reddish; back and sides with numerous rounded brownish spots; 

 lateral line pale; fins dark. Head large, but varying much in size; 

 maxillary about reaching middle of orbit; occipital keel not greatly 

 developed; teeth strong, cardiform, in narrow bands, those of the outer 

 row in the upper jaw, and of the inner row in the lower jaw, somewhat 

 enlarged. Eye moderate, about half length of snout. First dorsal 

 little elevated, its height about half length of head; vent under front 

 of second dorsal; caudal slightly emarginate; pectorals half length of 

 head. Head 3 J to 4^; depth about 4. D. 14-21-19; A. 20-18. North- 

 ern Seas, south to Virginia, Oregon, and Japan, one of the most impor- 

 tant of all food-fishes. The fish of the Pacific Ocean (var. macrocephalus) 

 is said to have the air-bladder ("sounds") smaller; it is wholly similar 

 externally. The Greenland form (var. ogac) is very dark, with slender 

 caudal peduncle, longer barbel, larger eye, broader interorbital space, 

 longer pectorals, and more advanced ventrals. Great variations occur 

 in size of head and in color among individuals from different regions. 



{Gadus callarias et morrhiia Linu. Syst. Nat.; Giiuther, iv, 328: Morrhua americana 

 Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 843: Gadus macrocephalus Tiles, Mem. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. 

 ii, 360, 1810: Gadus macrocephalus Giiather, iv, 330: Gadus ogak Richardson, F. B. A. 

 Fish. 246: Gadus ogac Bean, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. xv, 110: Gadus auratus Coi^e, Proc. 

 Am. Philos. Soc. Phila. 1873.) 



dd. Vertehr^e peculiarly modified, somewhat as in Merlucius. {Tilesia* Swainson.) 



13i0. G. gracilis Tiles. 



Dusky bluish above, yellowish white below, without spots. Form of 

 a haddock, the body subterete, compressed, the belly prominent. Head 

 oblong, the snout rounded and depressed; upper jaw longer and broader 

 than lower; barbel moderate; outer teeth setaceous; eye large. Scales 

 very small, little imbricated. First dorsal subtriangular; second dor- 

 sal lower; third qbtusely triangular; pectorals large; ventrals with the 

 second ray produced; caudal equal. Head 4^; depth 4-Jr. D. 14-17-19; 

 A. 21-20; P. 19; V. C; B. 6. {Pallas.) Alaska to Japan. An insuffi- 

 ciently-described species, which, accoitling to Dr. Bean, who has lately 

 obtained it in Bering's Sea, is very distinct from the other members of 

 the genus. It differs from Gadus callarias in the structure of its ver- 



* Swainson, Nat. Hist. Fish. etc. 1839, 300: type Gadus gracilis Tiles. (Dedicated 

 to William Theophilus Tilesius.) 



