THE COD FAMILY AND THE SAND-EELS 253 



observed in very young cod, and its eyes are somewhat 

 blacker. Dr. Sars was able to recognise the larval haddock 

 by its stouter shape. It is said to keep out in the deeper 

 water at a stage at which young cod would seek the neigh- 

 bourhood of land. This may perhaps account for the 

 absence of larval and post-larval haddocks from the tow-nets 

 of scientific expeditions, and the consequent uncertainty of 

 biologists as to the earlier developments. Dr. Fulton is, 

 moreover, of opinion that the young haddock hide away 

 among the rocks, and are thus secure from the trawl, besides 

 being too small to be taken by the hook. 



The growth of young haddock must be rapid if, as 

 Mcintosh surmises, a haddock only five months out of the 

 egg {i.e. in the month of August) may be as long as 6 in. 

 The " summer haddock " of the fishermen is a fish of 

 8 or 9 in., a year or eighteen months old, which comes inshore 

 in order that it may feed upon the brit and launce. Holt 

 took small haddock of 2 or 3 in. in length in 30-fathom 

 water, and a somewhat larger stage, from 3 to 5 in. long, 

 in 20 fathoms 50 or 60 miles from land. The same 

 authority * regards the haddock as practically an offshore 

 fish. On only one occasion, when numbers of 5-in. haddocks 

 were thrown ashore dead in the Humber estuary during a 

 November gale (1883), did he ever hear of a haddock in 

 such shallow water. 



The Pollack, or Lythe (G. pollachius), is a familiar fish 

 to the sportsman, but it is rarely seen at the fishmonger's 

 shop, for it is not only indiiFerent food when fresh, but loses 

 its freshness more rapidly than most of the family. Com- 

 monest on the Cornish coast, it is also plentiful on the west 

 coasts of both Scotland and Ireland, more so than on the east, 

 being a fish that develops best in open, ocean water. Thus, 

 it is rare on the Norfolk coast, small examples only occurring 

 on the inshore grounds. It feeds on small fishes, chiefly 

 * See The Grimsby Trmvl Fishery, p. 65. 



