270 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



and were quite fresh, having evidently been but recently ejected by the fish." Even 

 banks of dead shells have been found in various regions, which are supposed to be the 

 remains of molluscs taken by the cod. Sliell-lishes, however, form probably but the 

 smaller portion of its diet, and fishes of its own class contribute materially to its food, 

 — such as the herring family, the capelin, etc. 



The cod-fish, in its mode of reproduction, exhibits some interesting peculiarities. 

 It does not come on the coast to spawn, as was once supposed, but its eggs are dej)os- 

 ited in mid-sea, and float to tlie surface, although it does really, in many cases, approach 

 the land to do so. Prof. G. O. Sars, who has discovered its peculiarities, " found cod 

 at a distance of twenty to thirty Norwegian miles from the shore, and at a depth of 

 from one hundred to one hundred and fifty fathoms." The eggs thus confided to the 

 mercy of the waves are very numerous ; as many as 9,100,000 have been calculated in 

 a seventy-five-pound fish. '* When the eggs are first seen in the fish, they are so small 

 as to be hardly distinguishable ; but they continue to increase in size until maturity, 

 and after impregnation have a diameter depending upon the size of the parent, vary- 

 ing from one nineteenth to one seventeenth of an inch. A five to eight j)ound fish 

 has eggs of the smaller size, while a twenty-five pound one has them between an 



Fjg. IZ3. — M^lanj,ji a,i.thi,o ajUjihUo, liaJdock. 



eighteenth and a seventeenth." There ai-e about 190,000 eggs of the smaller size to 

 a pound avoirdupois. They are matured and ejected from September to November. 



The haddock, Melanogramnms cefflefinns, is another important member of the sub- 

 family Gadinse, and may be distinguished from the cod by the smaller mouth, the 

 black lateral line, and the swollen proscapula or chief element of the shoulder girdle. 

 Its fins are also more angulate or pointed than in the cod. Its average size is about 

 three or four pounds ; one of seventeen jwunds is the largest that has been recorded, 

 but a number of twelve-jiound fishes, and still more in proportion for the lower figures, 

 have been obtained. The range of the haddock is much more limited than that of 

 the cod-fish ; it is confined to the North Atlantic, and extends less to the northward 

 than the cod, although about equally far southward. Within its more limited range 

 it is foimd generally upon the same fishing grounds. In winter and spring, fishes are 

 taken " in Fisher's Island Sound and outside of Fisher's Island, on the coast of eastern 

 Connecticut ; and also in great quantities on Nantucket Shoals, by the smacks, and are 

 carried thence with cod to the New York market. In 1871 it was estimated that the 

 catch of haddock here was nearly equal to that of cod, although the latter usually 

 predominated. They abound north of Cape Cod, in the Gulf of Maine, and in the 

 Bay of Fimdy, in the Basin of Minas, on the coast of Nova Scotia, in the Gulf of 



