THE COD FAMILY. 381 



lower jaw also protrudes less. The habits and food 

 seem, indeed, to bear considerable resemblance to those of 

 the pollack, but the present species is said to spawn some- 

 what later. It is also known as the "green cod," and the 

 young go by the name of " podleys." l 



Another species without the barbel is the little Poutassou, 



which is known as Couch's whiting. The general colour 



is brown, and there is a yellow band on either 



side the nearly straight lateral line. Nowhere 



very common, this fish occurs seasonally on every part of 



the British coast. 



As an example of the more voracious gadoids, a greater 

 offender by far than the pollack, we may take the formid- 

 able Hake, which is caught in the pilchard-nets 

 weighing over 20 Ibs. It differs from the fore- 

 going mainly in the presence of but two dorsal fins ; it 

 has no barbel, and the teeth are large. Of elongated 

 form, its scales are large and rough ; and its colour is 

 dark grey above, silvery beneath. It chases the pilchards 

 on our south-west coast, the herring and mackerel farther 

 east, causing irreparable damage among the nets, most of 

 its raids being perpetrated at night. 



Another very large member of the group, which reaches 

 a weight of upwards of 100 Ibs., the Ling is dark grey on 

 the back, lighter on the head and belly. It 

 is yet more elongate than the last, the skin 

 being much smoother, fins soft and narrow, upper jaw 

 protruding beyond the lower. Essentially a ground-fish, 

 wherein it differs from the hake, it feeds almost exclu- 

 sively on the small fish that inhabit those depths. It 

 spawns in summer. 



The Burbot, our only fresh-water form of cod, is much 



1 M'Intosh and Master-man, Life-Histories, p. 209. 



