I'lioH COD. 



497 



18 or 19 branched rays. The fourth or fifth i-ay is 

 the longest. 



The caudal tin is slightly forked, but when it is 

 expanded to its full size, the hind margin is quite 

 straight. 



The internal organs show no essential differences 

 from those of the Whiting, except that the peritoneum 

 is more densely mottled Avith black, and that the py- 

 loric appendages are somewhat fewer in number. 



During life the Poor Cod is a handsome fish enough, 

 though its colour is more monotonous than that of most 

 of its relatives. As is the case with most fishes, the 

 colour fades soon after death, its brilliancy is lost, and 

 tlie appearance of the fish is entirely changed. Our 

 figure (Plate XX1\', fig. 2) is a fairly accurate repre- 

 sentation of the true colour of the Poor Cod during 

 life, with all its phases, and we need, therefore, do 

 little beyond referring the reader to the figure. The 

 ^vho]e of the upper part of the body, above the lateral 

 line, is of a peculiar, yellowish broAvn colour, which 

 gradually grows lighter down the sides, with a marked 

 coppery lustre. The beUy is of a somewhat dark, sil- 

 vei'v gray, shading distinctly into brassy yellow up the 

 sides. The fins are rather dark, of the general colour 

 of the body but lighter at the margin, and like the 

 body are thickly sti*ewn with fine, black dots. 



The Poor Cod (Sw. ghjskoljan or ghjsan, Xorw. 

 kolje) occurs rather sparingly, though it is not rare, 

 on the coasts of Scandinavia. Its range is reallv con- 

 fined to the western islands, from Trondhjem Fjord 

 south along the coasts of Norway and Bohuslan. In 

 the Cattegat is goes as far as Kullen and along the 

 Swedish side of the Sound. Mobius and Heincke state i 

 that on one occasion, in Xovembei", 1874, three speci- . 

 mens between 18 and 23 cm. long were taken off 

 Kiel. On the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland it is 

 more common, and probably on the north-west coast 

 of France, though Moreau remarks that he never suc- 

 ceeded in procuring a specimen thence. S TErsDACHXER 

 found the species both on the west and east coasts of 

 the Spanish Peninsula; and, as we shall soon see, there 

 is scarcely any reason for establishing a specific distinc- 

 tion between the Poor Cod and the ''capelan^' Avhich 



sometimes occurs in enormous numbers on the Medi- 

 terranean coast of France, and according to Gig.moli 

 and XiNXi" is common on both sides of Italy. 



As the Poor Cod frequents fixed and rather cir- 

 cumscribed localities, where it collects in companies 

 and has its true home, our success in finding it de- 

 pends on our previous knowledge of these localities, 

 unless we hit upon them by accident. These haunts 

 of the Poor Cod lie in deep water, at a depth of about 

 12 — 2t) fathoms, and on a sandy bottom, close to pre- 

 cipitous shelves of rock. According to the fishermen 

 it stays here all the year round, and undertakes no 

 long journeys. 



The Poor Cod is said to spawn in the first days 

 of spring, as in Febniary and March the ovaries are 

 full. Risso* gives April and May as the months in 

 which the Mediterranean capelan is full of roe. Though 

 we have as yet no further trustworthy information of 

 the manner in which the spawning is performed, we 

 may assume that the Poor Cod differs only slightlv 

 in this respect from the other species of the genus. 



Neither this fish nor its fry are ever seen close in 

 shore; and that it does not frequent the littoral region, 

 under ordinary circumstances at least, is shown by the 

 fact that it is never taken in the seine. It lives on 

 small victims, consisting chiefly of ci'ustaceans and 

 moUusks. Its flesh is fine and of good flavour, and is 

 consumed in the same way as that of the Whiting. 

 The insignificant size of the fish renders it better 

 adapted, however, to be used as bait for the larger Cods. 



The only tackle used in Scandinavia in fishing for 

 the Poor Cod is the hand-line or dorj. By using quite 

 small hooks and a bait of common mussel, the Poor 

 Cod may be taken freely, for it both bites readily and 

 is easily hooked. To ensure success, however, one must 

 have an accurate knowledge of the haunts of the fish, 

 and the hook must be held close to the bottom. On 

 the English and Irish coasts the Poor Cod is taken 

 pretty frequently in the trawl or in crab and lobster 

 pots. In the Mediterranean it is caught principally in 

 the gangui, an engine which in construction and man- 

 ner of employment is a compromise between the seine 

 and the trawl. (Fries, S>nTT.) 



" See the Italian Catalogue of the Fisheries Exhibition at Berlin in 1880. 

 * Fad-. Meril.. tome III, p. 226. 



5c ant/in aria 11 Fishes. 



63 



