440 PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. [GADUS. 



(II. SUBBRACHIALES.) 



GEN. 46. GADUS, Linn. 



124. G. Morrhua, Linn. (Common Cod.) Back and 

 sides spotted with yellow and brown ; lateral line white : 

 jaws nearly equal. 



G. Morrhua, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 436. Block, Ichth. pi. 64. 

 Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 89. Don. Brit. Fish. vol. v. pi. 106. 

 Asellus major vulgaris, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 165. tab. L. m. 1. 

 n. 1. f. 4. Morhua vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 191. Common 

 Cod-Fish, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 172. Id. (Edit. 1812.) 

 vol. in. p. 231. La Morue, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 331. 



LENGTH. Two to four feet. Has been known (according to Pennant) 

 to reach five feet eight inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Oval; elongated; thickest behind the pectorals ; 

 somewhat tapering posteriorly: greatest depth about one-fifth of the 

 entire length : dorsal line nearly straight beyond the commencement 

 of the first fin, in front of which it slopes gently downwards to the 

 snout ; ventral line more bellying : head large ; rather more than one- 

 fourth of the entire length: snout rounded: jaws nearly equal; but 

 sometimes the upper a little the longest : both jaws, as well as the fore 

 part of the vomer, armed with small, sharp, card-like teeth in several rows, 

 of unequal lengths: beneath the symphysis of the lower jaw a single 

 barbule about one inch and a half in length : eyes moderate : head 

 smooth and naked : body covered with small soft scales : a longitudinal 

 groove on the nape extending from behind the eyes to the commence- 

 ment of the first dorsal : lateral line arising from the upper part of the 

 opercle, curving gently downwards till beneath the twelfth ray of the 

 second dorsal, then passing off straight to the caudal ; beneath the first 

 dorsal, its course is about one-fifth of the depth : three dorsals ; the first 

 commencing at nearly one-third of the length ; of a somewhat triangular 

 form ; its length rather greater than its height, which last equals about 

 one-third of the depth of the body ; first ray only half the length of the 

 second ; third, fourth, and fifth, rays longest ; succeeding ones gradually 

 diminishing ; the last ray very small : second dorsal almost immediately 

 behind the first, of the same height, but its length half as much again ; 

 third, fourth, and fifth, rays longest : third dorsal resembling the first, but 

 rather longer ; fourth, fifth, and sixth, rays longest ; the first ray very 

 short: two anals; the first nearly corresponding to the second dorsal, 

 beginning a little backwarder, but terminating in the same line ; first 

 ray very small, and easily overlooked; seventh and eighth longest: 

 second anal answering exactly to the third dorsal : caudal nearly even at 

 the extremity ; the rays proceeding principally from the sides of the tail, 

 which is prolonged into the middle of the fin : pectorals rounded, rather 

 less than half the length of the head; fifth ray longest; all the rays, 

 except the first two, branched: ventrals a little shorter than the pec- 

 torals, placed before them, narrow, and pointed; third ray longest: 

 number of fin-rays, 



D. 122019 ; A. 1917 ; C. 34, and several short ones ; P. 19 ; V. fi. 



