200 MALACOP. SUB-BRACH. COD FAMILY. 



young of either the Coalfish or the Pollack, we can 

 see no important distinction from the former ; from 

 the latter it may generally be known by the jaws 

 being of nearly equal length, and the lateral line not 

 curved over the pectorals. From the time of Lin- 

 naeus, however, it has generally been regarded as 

 distinct : and by retaining it, in the mean time, as 

 such, its claims to the distinction are most likely to 

 receive a thorough examination. Northern ichthy- 

 ologists seem to entertain no doubt on the point ; 

 and Fabricius includes it in his Fauna of Greenland, 

 where the Coalfish does not occur. It was first 

 noticed as British by Pennant, whose correspondent, 

 Sir John Cullum, obtained specimens from the Ger- 

 man Ocean. It has occurred plentifully round the 

 Isle of Man, and has been taken in the Firth of 

 Forth ; although of late it has become very scarce 

 in that estuary. Linnseus does not attribute to his 

 Gadus vlrens a length exceeding that of the Perch 

 (about a foot). Nilsson gives the dimensions of 

 his fish of the same name as from two to three 

 feet. 



Gen. LXXV. MERLE ccius. Of this genus, the 

 name of which may be translated Sea-pike, we pos- 

 sess only one species, which, like the Merlangi, has 

 no barbule at the chin, but the dorsal fins are only 

 two in number, the first short, the second very 

 long. 



(Sp. 1570 M. vulgaris. The Common Hake, is a 

 fish of considerable size, commonly measuring nearly 

 two feet in length, and not unfrequently exceeding 



