338 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. VII. 



Family (wadicl^e. 



The Cod Fishes. 



Body more or less elongate, usually not much compressed; dorsal 

 fin long, forming i, 2, or 3 fins; ventral fins jugular; caudal fin distinct 

 or confluent with the dorsal and anal; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; 

 mouth large; chin with a barbel; air bladder usually well developed. 



Genus Lota (Cuvier) Oken 



Burbots. 



Body long and low, compressed behind, covered with small em- 

 bedded scales; head depressed; anterior nostrils each with a small 

 barbel; chin with a long barbel; gill openings wide, the membranes 

 free from the isthmus; jaws with broad bands of villiform teeth; dor- 

 sal fins 2, the first short, the second long and similar to the anal ; cau- 

 dal fin rounded, vertical fins scaly. 



Lota maculosa (Le Sueur). Burbot; Lixg; Eel-pout. 



Head 4.7 to 5.0; depth 5.8 to 7.6; D. 12 or 13, 70 to 75; A. 65. 



Body elongate, compressed posteriorly, the back low; head broad, 

 depressed; interorbital space flat, 3.4 to 3.6 in head; mouth large, 

 its gape horizontal, the maxillary reaching past pupil; chin with a 

 single barbel; dorsal fins 2, the second long, caudal fins rounded 

 slightly separated from dorsal and anal. 



Color dark-olive, thickly marbled, and reticulated with blackish, 

 yellowish or dusky beneath; vertical fins with dusky margins. 



Length about 2 feet. 



This species ranges from the Arctic Sea south to the Ohio River. 



Lake Michigan, Chicago, Illinois; Lake Michigan, Millers, Indiana; 

 Lake Michigan, Pine, Indiana. 



