6 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
known to fishermen, that the Pacific codfish has a smaller air bladder 
or sound than the Atlantic cod. Pending an examination of this 
question, which we are not now in a position to make, we propose 
to recognize the Pacific fish as a distinct species.” 
Much has been said and written of the difference in size between 
the sound of the Atlantic cod and that of the Pacific. A large part 
of this is hearsay, based largely on the statements of fishermen, few 
cf whom have ever made any effort to save them. The writer cut - 
out a few sounds in 1913, but, unfortunately, these were lost in some 
way during transportation; and, although it had been some years 
since he had cut a sound from an Atlantic cod, it seemed to him 
that the Pacific sounds were almost, if not quite, as large, but thin- 
ner. Some few years ago the Alaska Codfish Co. made an effort to 
save the sounds at one of its Alaska stations, but the men refused to 
do so except at an exorbitant price. A. Greenebaum, the president 
of the company, writes that the sounds are small in size. 
The only authentic record the writer has of a direct comparison 
of Pacific and Atlantic sounds is in a letter from Dr. W. C. Kendall, 
assistant, United States Bureau of Fisheries, under date of Jan- 
uary 22, 1915, in which he states: 
The air bladder of the big Pacific cod [the weight of this was about 30 pounds 
and its total length about 39 inches], after removal, measured about 13 inches 
in length, with no perceptible horns excepting slight projections, but it had a 
very large pouch on each side of the anterior end. 
The air bladder of the big Atlantic cod [of a weight of 344+ pounds and a 
length of 484 inches] was of the same length approximately, pouches small, 
but the horns, which could not be fully straightened out, measured each 10 
inches in length. In natural position in the fish they are coiled up. 
The small Pacific cod [8 or (9?) pounds and 28% inches long] was in such 
bad condition that the air bladder could not be removed intact, but the one 
horn that could be found was only 1 inch in length. 
. The other Atlantic cod [weights and lengths about the same] had air blad- 
ders and horns as follows: Length 94, horns 24 and 38; length 103, horns 34 
and 34; length 10 inches, horns 7 and 5% inches. 
It is to be hoped that some one will soon take up the study of 
the comparison of the sounds from the cod of both oceans, as should 
the Pacific sound prove to be uniformly smaller than those from 
the Atlantic cod it would furnish a distinguishing feature. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
The Pacific cod is occasionally found as far south as Cape Flattery 
on the Washington coast. From Puget Sound north to southeast 
Alaska they are said to be more common, although in no part of this 
region is a commercial fishery maintained for them. In southeast 
Alaska, in early years, a small fishery was maintained in and ad- 
