TUKMv. 



According to Storm tlic Torsk .-ittMins a l(.;ii"tli of 

 a metre or more. Low says that tlic largest s]jeciineii 

 he ever heard of, was ^'/a t't. (UHu luiii. long). The 

 tish is capable, however, of reprdduciiig its species at 

 M length of 3 dm., and it is only cxccptioiwillv that 

 specimens more tliaii (S or i) dm. long are found. 



In the form of the body the Torsk is most like a 

 Hockliiig, being less elongated than the Common Liii<r, 

 fairly terete in front, but strongly compressed at the 

 tail. The depth of the body at the begiiming of the 

 anal lin in young specimens {2 — ?> dm. long) is about 

 15 %, in older ones (4 — G'/., dm. hmg) about IT'/o %, 

 of the length of the body. The depth (if the tail across 

 the base of the tii'st caudal rays in young specimens 

 measures about S'/g % of the length of the body, in 

 older ones about G — 6' ^ % thereof. The body js l)road- 

 est as a rule across the gill-covers, its greatest bi-eadth 

 in voung specimens being about 14 %, in the oldest 

 about 12 %, of its own length. 



The head is of about the same size as in the Coal- 

 tish, larger than in the Rocklings, but considerably 

 smaller than in the Tadpole Fish. Its length in young 

 specimens is about 25 % of that of the body, in old 

 about 24 — 23V2 ?» thereof. It is of a wedge-shaped 

 (four-sided pi'ismatic) form, the upper contour sloping 

 more evenly and less sharply than the lower. The 

 foi'ehead is fiat, the occiput and snout are slightly more 

 convex, and the sides almost vertical, though they di- 

 verge slightly in a downward direction. The snout is 

 moderately broad, its anterior margin rounded (hori- 

 zontally) and projecting slightly beyond the upper or 

 the lower jaw. The eyes are set fairly high, their 

 upper margin being nearly on the same plane as the 

 forehead, and turned slightly upwards, on the same 

 plane as the cheeks. Their size is moderate for a Cod- 

 tish, their longitudinal diameter in young specimens 

 measuring about 5V2 %> i" the oldest about SVs % of 

 the length of the body, or respectively about 2l'/2 and 

 14'/3 % of the length of the head. Their position is 

 such that the length of the snout varies between about 

 7'/, and 7 % of that of the body or about 30 % (29-2 

 — 3r3 %) of the length of the head, and the post- 

 orbital length of the head between about 12 and 13% 

 of the length of the body or about 50 and 55 % of the 

 total length of the head. The interorbital space is flat 

 and rather broad. Its breadth in young specimens is 



somewhat less, in old considerably UKjre, than llic lon- 

 gitudinal diameter uf ihc eyes. This breadth al.so varir's 

 in dift'erent individuals between 5 and (i % of llie l(n>rth 

 of the body or 20 and iMI % of the Icnglli of Hie head. 

 Th(! nostrils are ratlici' sniidl. The anterior nostril, 

 with its hind margin raised into a canaliridate lid, is 

 set somewhat behind the middle of the snout, the pos- 

 terior, which is somewhat larger and ol)long, about 

 half-way between the anterior nostril and llie eye, and 

 both on about a level with the middle of the eve. The 

 mouth is turned slightly upwards and middle-sized for 

 a Codfish. The length of the upjjer jaw from the lip 

 of the snout to the hind extreinitx' of the maxillary 

 bones measures about 12 — 11 % (1C8— 10"9 %) of the 

 length ol' tlie body or 48 - 4G % (48'3 — 45"7 %) <if that 

 of the head; and the length of the snout is less than 

 "/a (62 — 65 %) of that of the ujjper jaw. The length 

 of the lower jaw is somewhat greater than either the 

 jjostorbital length or the greatest breadth of the head, 

 though in young specimens it is equal to the latter. 

 It measures about 14 — 13' , % of the length of the 

 body or 61 — 56 % of the length of the head. The lips 

 ai'e fleshy and mobile. The upper jaw-bone may be 

 concealed to a great extent, when the mouth is closed, 

 under the dermal fold that hangs down from the mar- 

 gin of the suborbital bones. About half-way along the 

 upper jaw, somewhat in front of the end of the inter- 

 maxillary bones, we find a protuberance, which is chiefly 

 composed, however, of cartilage, on the upper jaw- 

 bone. The teeth are pointed and curved, and in the 

 jaws form well-developed cards, broadest in front, grow- 

 ing narrower behind (in the lower jaw to such an 

 extent that the card ends in a single row), the inter- 

 maxillary teeth being of fairly uniform size, those of 

 the lower jaw largest in the innermost (hindmost) row. 

 On the head of the vomer they form a semicircular or 

 anjrular band, narrow, but in the transverse direction 

 of the palate long, and consisting of two or three rows, 

 the last (innermost) row with tlie largest teeth. Tiie 

 tongue is fleshv, bluntly pointed, and, like the palatine 

 bones, toothless. The pharyngeal teeth are of the same 

 form as the jaw-teeth, and form above, on each side, 

 two transversely .set cards (the two hind pharyngeals 

 are united), the anterior narrow, the i)osterior almost 

 semicircular. The lower pharyngeal cards, one on each 

 side, are oblong and lanceolate, growing narrower, as 



" Faun. Oread., p. 200. 



