384 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Found along our Atlantic coast, in shallow to moderately deep water, reach- 

 ing its southern limit in South Carolina. It is a species of little economic value, 

 as its maximum length is only a foot, while related species are much larger. 



One specimen of codling was taken at Beaufort by Dr. Coues in 1871. None 



of the subsequent collectors at Beaufort up to 1886 met with the species, and 



they inserted it in their lists on second-hand information. In 1880 Col. Marshall 



McDonald collected the species at the mouth of Cape Fear River and in the same 



year Mr. R. Edward Earll obtained specimens in Middle Sound near Wilmington; 



these examples are in the National Museum (iios. 25294-5, 30333). In Beaufort 



Harbor the species is common at times; thus in April, 1904^ almost every seine 



haul yielded specimens 5 to 6 inches long; and the fish is also found at other 



seasons. 



331. UROPHYCIS EARLLI (Bean). 



"Dickie"; Tom-cod (S. C); Hake (S. C); EarU's Hake. 



Phycis earlli Bean, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, iii, 1880, 69; Ciiarleston, S. C. Kendall & Smith, 



1894,21; Hatteras Inlet. Smith, 18935, pi. Ixxiv. 

 Urophycis earlli, Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 2554, pi. ccclxv, fig. 900. 



Diagnosis. — Depth .2 length; head about .25 length; maxillary long, .5 length of head, 

 reaching to or beyond posterior margin of eye; teeth strong; lower jaw included; eye .17 length 

 of head; gill-rakers short and blunt, about 10 on first arch; scales in lateral series about 155; 

 dorsE^l fins separated by a rounded notch, the rays lO-f-60; anal rays 53, caudal rounded; 

 pectorals .5 length of head, not reaching as far as vent; ventrals extending but slightly beyond 

 pectorals. Color: brown, with small light blotches on back and sides; dorsal and anal fins 

 edged with brown, second dorsal with light spots. (Named for Mr. R. Edward Earll, who, 

 when assistant in the U. S. Fish Commission, collected the type specimen.) 



■^^^^, 



Fig. 177. Earll's Hake; Dickie. Urophycis earlli. 



This hake, known only from the coast of North and South Carolina, is not 

 uncommon in the Beaufort and Cape Lookout regions. It has been caught 

 (in May, 1903) in a trap set at the laboratory wharf, and is also sometimes taken 

 by local fishermen. On the adjacent outer shores the fish is common enough to 

 have received a local name, "dickie", although it has no economic value as yet. 

 On December 13, 1890, a party from the fisheries steamer Fish-Hawk landed at 

 Hatteras Inlet and found in eel grass on the beach a living specimen 18 inches 

 long, which is about the maximum length attained by the species. An example 

 17 inches long was collected at Cape Lookout in the winter of 1903-4 by Mr. S. 

 G. Worth. 



