THE BURBOT 89 
Second Family, GADIDAE: THE COD FISHES 
The Cod Family are known by their elongated form, and 
their small, smooth scales. They have one, two, or three 
dorsal fins ; one or two anal fins; ventral fins placed on the 
throat, and generally containing several rays, but sometimes 
reduced to a mere filament, in which case the dorsal fin is 
divided into two. All the fins are spineless. The family 
consists almost entirely of marine fishes ; indeed, in the whole 
known world only two or three species have been identified 
as fish of the fresh water. 
The Burbot, or Eel-Pout (Lota vulgaris) 
Fin FoRMULA. TEETH. 
First Dorsal: 14 rays. Villiform ; of equal size; small 
Second Dorsal: 68 rays. and pointed, in dense rows 
Pectoral: 20 rays. on the jaws, and _ stronger 
Ventral: 6 rays. on the vomer; none on the 
Anal; 67 rays. palatal bones. 
The singular creature called the burbot, or eel-pout, is the 
only representative of the great Cod Family in British inland 
waters. The first of these names is a modification of the 
French Jarbote, the bearded fellow, from the Latin darba, a 
beard ; and arises from a long wattle, or barbule, which hangs 
from the middle of the chin, forming a conspicuous feature 
of this fish, although its object and functions are unknown, 
The second name, eel-pout, is as old as Saxon times—aélepitan, 
eel-pouts, being mentioned in A]fric’s Anglo-Saxon Glossary ot 
the tenth century, and has been explained to refer to an alleged 
power of the fish to puff out, or “ pout,’ the membrane 
covering the fore-part of the head *; but in the absence of 
definite evidence as to this accomplishment, I would venture 
to suggest that the name simply means the fat eel, from the 
* See Skeat’s Ltymological Dictionary. 
