ICHTHYOLOGY. 



219 



Malacop- 

 tervf^U 



Sub-bra- 

 cbiati. 



Ciacliclae. 



This is the only Gadus which inhabits fresh water ; it 

 ascends rivers to a considerable distance, and inhabits 

 lakes. It is very abundiuit in North Asia and the Indies. 

 It is also well known in North America. In England it is 

 found only in a few rivers. Tiie flesh and liver of the 

 burbot are esteemed.' 



To this sub-genus may be added Gadus Bacchus, Forst., 

 Gadus Duwulosus, Lesueur, and Lola elongata, Risso. 



Among the lings, Cuvier has distinguished another 

 small group named 



Genus Motella, Cuv., in which the anterior dorsal 

 fin is so small as scarcely to be perceptible. 



As species we may name Gadus 7nustcla, L. described 

 by Bloch as G. iricirrhatus. It is of a fawn-coloured 

 brown, with blackish spots ; two barbels on the upper 

 jaw, and a third on the lower one. Gadus cimbricus, 

 Schn. {G. qumquecirrhatus, Penn.) is also a Motella. The 

 species are called Gades by English writers. 



Genus Buosmius, Cuv. The torsks or tusks have only 

 one dorsal fin, which extends nearly the whole length 

 from the head to the tail. 



B. brosme, or Scotch torsk, seldom ventures farther 

 south than the Orkneys or Caithness ; it is very nume- 

 rous near the Shetland Isles. It is called Brosme by the 

 fishermen, from its resemblance to the blenny genus. 

 The name of torsk is applied in Norway and Sweden to 

 the Gadus callarias (a true Morrhua), which has three 

 dorsal fins. This circumstance has given rise to some 

 confusion. Donovan described the Scotch torsk from a 

 specimen sent him alive from Shetland. It is salted and 

 dried in the north. 



Genus Brotula, Cuv. Dorsal and anal fins united with 

 the caudal, so as to form a single fin, terminating in a point. 



One species only (JEncliehjopus barbatus of Bloch and 

 Schneider) is known. It has six barbels, and comes from 

 the Antilles. 



Genus Phycis, Art. and Schn. Differs from the other 

 Gadi in having ventral fins with only one ray, — fre- 

 quently forked. The head is thick, the chin with one 

 barbel. Two dorsal fins, the second of which is long. 

 Some species are found in European seas. 



Such is Phycis Mediterraneus, Laroche, sometimes call- 

 ed the sea tench (Blentiius p/ti/cis, Linn.). Anterior dor- 

 sal round, and not higher than the other ; the ventrals of 

 the same length as the head. This is a common species in 

 the Mediterranean. 



Phycis blemioides, Schn., S. furcatus, or forked hake 

 of Pennant, occurs also in the ocean. The first dorsal 

 fin is more elevated, and its first ray considerably elon- 

 gated ; the ventral fins are twice the length of the head. 

 It is a British species, though a rare one. 



Genus Raniceps, Cuv. The head more depressed 

 than in Phycis and the other Gadi ; the anterior dorsal fin 

 so small that it is lost in the thickness of the skin. Inha- 

 bits the ocean. 



The trifurcated hake of Pennant belongs to this genus. 



Genus Macroubus, B\. Lepidokprus, Risso. The sub- 

 orbitals unite in front with each other and with the bones 

 of the nose, so as to form a depressed snout, which pro- 

 jects above the mouth, and beneath which the latter pre- 

 serves its mobility. The head and body are covered with 

 hard and spiny scales. The ventral tins are small and 

 somewhat jugular ; the pectorals of moderate size ; the 



first dorsal short and high ; the second dorsal and anal Malacop- 



both very long, and uniting with the caudal ; very fine ''^'"yt!" 

 , ^ ^ ;^, . f. ■ Sub-bra- 



short teeth m the jaws. chiati. 



The species inhabit deep water, and when taken from it pi^,uroriec- 

 utter sounds resembling those of the genus Gristes. Only tjjjg. 

 two species have been as yet described, the Lep. calor- ^.^^.^^^ 

 hynciius and trachyrynchus of Risso. They occur both in 

 the Mediterranean and along the oceanic coasts of France. 



FAMILY II PLEURONECTID.E. 



This family of the sub-brachian malacopterygian order 

 comprehends the great Linnean genus Pleuronectes, 

 which includes all those osseous species usually known un- 

 der the name oi flat Jish. 



They are at once distinguished by a character unique 

 among vertebrated animals, viz. the want of symmetry in 

 the construction of the head ; both eyes being placed on 

 the same side, or on that which remains uppermost when 

 the animal swims, and which is always of a darker colour ; 

 while the side in which the eyes are wanting faces the 

 ground, and is always whitish, or very pale. Some of the 

 other organs participate in this irregularity of the orbits ; 

 thus the two sides of the mouth are unequal, and the two 

 pectoral fins are generally of different sizes. Their body 

 is much compressed, and raised vertically. The dorsal fin 

 runs along the whole of the back, the anal occupies what 

 may be regarded as the under part of the body, and the 

 ventrals have almost the appearance of continuing that fin 

 forwards, so much do they often appear as if imited toge- 

 ther. There are six rays in the branchiostegous mem- 

 brane. The abdominal cavity is small (the anus being far 

 forwards) ; but it is prolonged irrto a sinus in the thickness 

 of the two sides of the tail, in which some portion of the 

 viscera is lodged. There is no swimming bladder, and 

 these fishes seldom quit the bottom. 



The Pleuronectid.*; furnish an agreeable and whole- 

 some food, and occur along the coasts of almost all coun- 

 tries. The disposition of the bones of the head is curious, 

 on account of the inversion which brings the two orbits to 

 the same side ; still we recognise in it all the pieces com- 

 mon to the other genera, but of unequal size. Individuals 

 termed reversed are sometimes found, having the eyes placed 

 on a different side from that on v\hich they are situated in 

 the rest of their species. Others, having the two sides of 

 the body of the same colour, are called double. The brown 

 or upper side is more frequently thus repeated than the 

 white one; but the rose-coloured flounder of Shaw pre- 

 sents an instance of the duplication of the paler side.' 



The genus Pleuronectes was formerly subdivided ac- 

 cording as the eyes were placed on the right or left side of 

 the middle line ; but, on account of the irregularity of in- 

 dividuals in this respect, Cuvier has rejected the charac- 

 ter, and has distinguished various groups, as follows : 



Genus Platessa, Cuv. Has on each jaw a range of 

 obtuse cutting teeth, and generally some teeth in the form 

 of pavement {en pares) on the pharyngeal bones. The 

 dorsal fin advances forwards as far as the upper eye, and 

 leaves, as well as the anal, a naked interval between it and 

 the caudal. The form of the body is rhomboidal ; the ma- 

 jority have the eyes on the right side. They have two or 

 three small caeca. Several inhabit the British seas. 



' " On estime fort sa chair, et surtout son foie, qui est singulierement volumineux," observes Biron Cuvier, Beg'ie Animal, t. ii. p. 

 334. A different opinion, however, has been formed of it in the western world. " The burbot," says Dr Richardson, " is so little 

 esteemed as food, as to be eaten only in cases of necessity. Very good bread, however, may be made of the roe, and the livers are 

 always prized. Dogs will scarcely ever eat this Jish." {Appendix to Captain Franklin's first Journey to the Polar Sea, p. 7--4-) Dr R. 

 addsi that this species preys upon every kind of fish that it can swallow, and that in spring its stomach is generally so crammed with 

 cray-fish as to distort the shape of the body. 



' Gen, Zool. vol. iv. part 2, pi. xliii. 



