134 FISH HARVESTING, 
is the rock cod, as it is usually styled by the 
fishermen who provide the Victoria and San 
Francisco markets ; one of the best and daintiest 
table-fish caught in the seas round Vancouver 
Island. It often attains a considerable size, and 
being in tolerable abundance, constitutes an ar- 
ticle of some commercial value. 
As numbers are taken all through the year, 
and as I never saw them in fresh-water, it is fair 
to assume they are strictly marine. Their ap- 
pearance is not prepossessing, giving one the 
idea of being all head, fins, and bones, as they 
lie gasping on the shingle; an error of the eye 
only, as you discover when testing the substance 
and quality of a large one, smoking hot from the 
fish-kettle. Three species are commonly offered 
for sale in the markets, one of which is also taken 
in Japanese seas. They vary in size; I have 
often seen a rock cod thirty inches in length. 
Biting greedily at any bait, they are constantly 
caught by the Indians when trolling for salmon. 
The one usually seen in the Victoria markets 
is Sebastes inermis (Cuv. and Val., p. 346; 
Faun. Japon., ‘ Poiss.,’ p. 47, pl. 21, figs. 3, 4), the 
Weak-spined Rock Cod.—Sp. Ch.: The height of 
the body equals the length of the head ; the upper 
surface of the head flat, with some depressed 
