400 Professor W. C. Mcintosh. [Feb. 1, 



head, sides, snout, and fins, witli black pigment, and its general outline 

 approaches that of the adult. It is at once distinguished from the 

 young cod by the shortness of the snout, irrespective of the features 



Fig. K;. 



Young Whiting with serrated dorsal pigment-band, and parasitic Chaliinus. 



already pointed out, by the coloration, and by the shaj^e of the first 

 anal fin. 



The differentiation of the two species, viz. the cod and the whiting, 

 is very marked in spirit at the length of 34 mm. In the whiting 

 the median dorsal fin is less abruptly elevated than in the cod, and 

 the first anals diverge widely, the elongation of the latter being 

 probably connected with the abbreviation of the abdomen. The body 

 of the whiting is more plump and neatly rounded than in the cod, 

 which is flatter and has generally a more i^rominent abdomen. The 

 l)igment-specks closely cover the sides of the body in the whiting, as 

 well as the membranous w^ebs of the dorsal fins, and are continued on the 

 head. The pigment at the base of the caudal rays is more distinct 

 in the whiting, and the lancet-like caudal termination of the body is 

 longer in this species. The myotomes are coarser in the cod, and the 

 surface has little of the dappled silvery sheen of the whiting. The 

 chromatophores are larger in the cod, and are grouped in blotches 

 over the surface, wdth intermediate pale patches, and the shoulder and 

 head have much less j^ignient than in the whiting. Both the pectoral 

 and ventral fins of the cod are shorter than those of the whiting. The 

 snout in the latter is shorter and broader as well as deeper, and the 

 short snb-mental papilla is in contrast with the long barbel of the cod 

 of the same length. The whiting, produced from an egg of larger 

 size, would appear to attain a plump body and finished outline sooner 

 than the cod. 



The foregoing stages are very abundant in autumn in the deej) 

 water off the Isle of May and the mouth of the Forth, but they also 

 appear west of Inchkeith in the latter estuary. They are indeed 

 more characteristic of the former region, as far as present observations 

 go, than of the shallow water of the open bays such as St. Andrews, 

 though on reaching a somewhat larger size they are quite common in 

 the latter expanse. Both they and the cod in these ea.rly stages are 

 infested by a crustacean parasite (Chalimiis), which adheres to various 

 parts of the head and body, just as the larval Anceus tenaciously 

 attacks the young flounders in tidal harbours and inshore grounds. 



