692 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The length of the body is six and one half times the depth of 

 the body and three and three fourths times the length of the 

 head. Top of head with W-shaped ridges very conspicuous; eye 

 shorter than snout and less than interorbital in width; maxillary 

 reaching posterior border of pupil; teeth not very large, smaller 

 than in M. smiridus; scales larger than in other species; 

 pectorals and ventrals long, the latter reaching three fourths 

 distance to vent, their length being three fifths that of the head. 

 D. 13-41; A. 40; Lat. 1. 100-110. 



Grayish, darker above, dull silvery below; axil and edge of 

 pectoral somewhat blackish; inside of opercle dusky silvery; 

 inside of mouth dusky bluish; peritoneum nearly black. 



The whiting is known by the additional names of hake and 

 silver hake. Mitchill describes it as the hake, Gadus mer- 

 1 u c i u s . He states that it is caught with the other cod. 

 De Kay called it the American hake. He styles it a rare fish in 

 the waters of New York, and, when caught, always associated 

 with the common cod. The specimen described by De Kay was 

 taken in November off Sandy Hook. In his New York Fauna, he 

 mentions MitchilPs description of a specimen which measured 

 21 inches in length. 



The whiting ranges from Labrador to Virginia. Young ex- 

 amples have been found even farther south in very deep water. 

 This fish occurs in Gravesend bay in spring and fall. In Great 

 South bay no individuals were seen by the writer during the sum- 

 mer, but an individual was obtained late in the fall by Capt. 

 Thurber. Oct. 28, 1898, several examples were received from the 

 Atlantic, off Southampton. 



According to Dr Smith, the species is abundant every fall at 

 Woods Hole Mass, and some years it is common in summer. The 

 fish swims close to the shore, and is caught in considerable num- 

 bers at Buzzard's bay at night with spears. Large individuals 

 weighing 5 or 6 pounds are caught in traps. The young measur- 

 ing 2^ to 3 inches long, are seined in the- fall about Woods Hole. 

 The names in use for the fish in that locality are silver hake, 

 whiting, and frostfish. In Massachusetts bay the whiting is a 



