36 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES, 
Gadus morrhua var. Cod. 
The codfishes devour a great variety of Crustaceans, Annelids, Mol- 
lusks, starfishes, &c. They swallow large bivalve shells, and after di- 
gesting the contents spit out the shells, which are often almost unin- 
jured. They are also very fond of shrimps, and of crabs, which they 
frequently swallow whole, even when of large size. The brittle-star- 
fishes (Ophiurans) are also much relished by them. I have taken large 
masses of the Ophiopholis aculeata from their stomachs on the coasts of 
Maine and Labrador ; and in some cases the stomach would be distended 
with this one kind, unmixed with any other food. 
In this region I have not been able to make any new observations on 
the food of the cod. This deficiency is partially supplied, however, by 
the observations made by me on the coast of Maine, &c., coupled with 
the very numerous observations made at Stonington, Conn., many years 
ago, by Mr. J. H. Trumbull, who examined large numbers of the stom- 
achs of cod and haddock, caught within a few miles of that place, for. 
the sake of the rare shells that they contained. This collection of shells, 
thus made, was put into the hands of the Rev. J. H. Linsley, who in- 
corporated the results into his “ Catalogue of the Shells of Connecti- 
cut,” which was published after his death, in a somewhat unfinished 
state, in the American Journal of Science, Series I, vol. xlviii, p. 271, 
1845. In that list a large number of species are particularly mentioned 
as from the stomachs ofcod and haddock, at Stonington, all of which were ~ 
collected by Mr. Trumbull,-as he has informed me, from fishes caught © 
on the fishing-grounds near by, on the reefs off Watch Hill, &c. Many ~ 
other northern shells, recorded by Mr. Linsley as from Stonington, but — 
without particulars, were doubtless also taken from the fish-stomachs — 
by Mr. Trumbull. There was no record made of the Crustacea, &c., : 
found by him at the same time. ; 
The following list includes the species mentioned by Mr. Linsley as ‘ 
from the cod. For greater convenience the original names given by him — 
are added in parentheses, when differing from those used in this report: 


List of mollusks, &c., obtained by Mr. J. H. Trumbull, from codfish caught 
near Stonington, Conn. 
GASTROPODS. 
Sipho Islandicus (?), young, (Fusus corneus). 
Ptychatractus ligatus (Fasciolaria ligata). 
Turbonilla interrupta (Turritella interrupta). 
Yurritella erosa. 
Rissoa exarata (?) (Cingula arenaria). 
Lunatia immaculata (Natica immaculata). 
Amphisphyra pellucida (Bulla debilis). 
Chiton marmoreus (?) (Chiton fulminatus). 
