COMMON IJNG. 



nipted or hrokc'ii up into .small spots. The markings 

 of tlie anal (in arc like those of the sectjiul dorsal, but 



529 



the grounil-colour resembles that of the belly, though 

 with a stronger tinge of gray. The caudal iiii is of 

 the ground-colour of the dorsal side, wilh a border 

 broken up into spots, like that of the fins already 

 described. (.)n this tin as well as on the sides of the 

 body and on the dorsal fins appear traces of the above- 

 mentioned opalescent strij)e of the juvenile stages, in 

 the form of vermiform, violet and light blue transverse 

 stripes, spots, and longitudinal bands. The pectoral 

 fins are ash}- I due on the inner part (the base), on the 

 outer (distal) part orange-yellow. The ventral fins 

 are of the same colon i- as the ventral sides. The barbel 

 and the tip of the lower jaw are darker. In old spe- 

 cimens the ordinary coloration is uiucli plainer, the 

 upper jjarts of the bod)^ being grayish brown (chocolate 

 gra}) or greenish, the belly white and more or less 

 grayish. The spots and bands of the younger specimens 

 grow fainter and fainter, only the white margin of the 

 vertical fins becoming still more distinct; but in old 

 specimens we sometimes find large black spots irregu- 

 larly distributed over the body and the vertical fins, 

 twice, three times, or four times as large as the eyes. 

 NiLSSON mentions a variety "strewn witJi scattered, 

 round, black spots, of the size of large peas." 



The internal organs resemble those of Molua di~ 

 pteiiigia, but the abdominal cavity is somewhat shorter, 

 extending back onlv to a line with the base of about 

 the I'ith oi- 13th ray of the anal fin, and the perito- 

 neum is wliite. The pylorus is also situated further 

 back, nearer the bottom of the stomach. 



The Ling is one of the most important Scandi- 

 navian fishes. It is apparently most common on the coast 

 of NorAvay, from the neighbourhood of Bergen north to 

 Finmark; but to the south it is also the object of an 

 important fishery. Its geographical range extends along 

 the coast of Europe from the Murman coast — where, 

 according to Mela, it is common — to the Bay of Bis- 

 cay, where it is extremely rare. Moreau records the 

 capture of one specimen oft' Arcachon and of another 

 in the neighbourhood of the Spanish frontier. In tlie 

 English Channel and round the shores of Ireland it is 

 common. (.)ft" Iceland it is also fairly plentiful; but 



whether it occurs on the Atlantic coast of America, is 

 as yet a doubtful question. P^vbkicius, it is true, in- 

 cludes it in his Fauna groenlandica (p. 148), and gives 

 an Esquimaux name for it, but he had never personally 

 seen it in fii'eeidand. Di hamkl states that the Cod- 

 fishers on the coast of Nortii America sometimes catch 

 nothing but Ling; but as he adds that the Ling is 

 fished for off' Spitzbergen in particular, his authority 

 for both statements seems to be far from ti-ustworthy. 

 On the coast of Spitzbergen there is no recorded in- 

 stance of the occurrence of the Ling. In the official 

 statistics of Newfoundland" and Canada' small catches 

 of Ling appear; but neither Jordan and Gilbert nor 

 Brown-Goode and his collaborators include this species 

 among the fishes of America. 



In the Baltic propei- the Ling is wanting, but at 

 its south-west corner, oft" Kiel, the species has been 

 met with twice, according to Mobius and IIeixcke. In 

 the Sound it is rare, but, according to Wixtfier, has 

 once been taken just north of Copenhagen. (_)ft' Kullen 

 it is somewhat commoner, but its true habitat begins 

 in the north of the Cattegat and the Skager Rack. 



The Ling is really a deep-.sea fish. The most nu- 

 merous and the lai'gest Ling are taken in more than 

 100 fathoms of water. There they lead, without doubt, 

 a life of plunder, so greedy that under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances they do not even associate with each other. 

 The strong teeth of the Ling are an unmistakable sign 

 of this: and in its stomach proofs have been found of 

 the greatest voracit}'. Fishes of all kinds — Sharks and 

 Chima^rfe, Cod and Whitings, Halibut and Dragonets, 

 etc. — form the chief portion of its food, and tiiat it 

 chases and seizes them in their flight, appears from the 

 fact that they are frequently found in its stomach with 

 the heads turned forward. About 8 miles oft' Wick', 

 in March, 1872. a Ling about 6 feet in length was 

 taken which had in its stomach a Salmon 27 in. long. 

 But crustaceans and starfish are also devoured by the 

 Ling, which probably keeps to the bottom of the sea 

 during the greater part of its existence. As in the case 

 of the Cod, we have the most singular evidence of the 

 voracity of the Ling. Oft" Brandon Head on the south- 

 west coast of Ireland a Ling was once'' caught that had 

 in its stomach a pewter flask containing '"tAvo glasses 



" See, for example. Bull. U. S. Fish. Coiiiui., \i<\. 

 >> L. c, vol. VI, p. 54. 



« See BucKLANi), Xat. Hist. Brit. Fish., p. 129. 

 <' Bull. U. S. Fish. Coinni., vol. V (1885), p. 78 



V (1885), p. 71. 



Scandinavian Fishes. 



67 



