DISTRIBUTION AND LOCATION 277 



Pacific than in the Atlantic, but they all belong to the genus 

 Oncorhynchus of which there are six species, one of them con- 

 fined to Japan. There are also two species of Salmo similar 

 to the salmon-trout of Europe, one occurring in Kamtchatka, 

 the other in Japan. 



South Africa. — Of the Gadidae the only European species 

 which occurs in South African waters is the hake, Merluccius 

 vulgaris, which is called the stockfish, and is one of the most 

 abundant and commercially valuable fishes of the region. The 

 name stockfish in Germany means dried cod, and was 

 probably used because the hake was preserved in the same 

 fashion by the early S. African colonists. The name kabel- 

 jaauw, which means cod in Dutch, and is applied in Holland 

 to this fish in the fresh state, or as a species, in South Africa 

 has been transferred to a fish of a very different species, not 

 belonging to the Gadidae at all, namely, the maigre, Sciaena 

 aqui/a, which is also abundant and of great importance as a 

 food -fish. 



Only two other species of Gadidae besides the hake occur 

 in South African waters : one of these is Motella capensis, a 

 kind of rockling of no great importance, and the other is called 

 Algoa viridis. Another species, Genypterus capensis, which is 

 sufficiently abundant and valuable to have a local name was 

 formerly placed in the cod family ; it is called the king 

 klip-fish, and is now regarded as belonging to the Ophidiidai, 

 a family allied to the Blennies. There is a strong external re- 

 semblance in many points, especially in the tapering tail with 

 confluent dorsal and ventral fins and absence of distinct tail-fin, 

 between the extreme forms of the two groups represented by 

 the Blenniidae and Gadidae respectively. The king klip-fish 

 grows to a length of five feet, and its flesh is excellent for 

 eating and well adapted for curing. 



The maigre belongs to the spiny-finned fishes (Acanthop- 

 terygii), being the type of one of the numerous families of 

 Perciformes. It has a very wide geographical range, being 

 common in the Mediterranean and extending north to the 

 coast of Sweden ; it is occasionally taken on the south coast of 

 England. Eastwards from the Cape it extends to the south 

 coast of Australia, but is unknown on the eastern shores of the 

 Pacific, Three other species which are plentiful in South 



