Cod-fish.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



167 



for other fish can take but few of them, the numbers 

 found in the stomachs of the whiting and other ra- 

 venous fishes show that they are in considerable 

 abundance." 



In preparing this fish for use the head and viscera 

 are always removed, otherwise the pickle would be 

 intensely bitter ; it was in fact supposed to have the 

 gall in its head. 



ORDER MALACOPTERIGII continued. 

 SECTION SUBBRACHIALES. 



In this section the ventral fins are attached under the 

 pectoral fins, the bones of the former being attached 

 to the bones of the shoulder, supporting the latter. 



Family GADID^E (COD-FISH, COAL-FISH, &c.). 



In this family the ventral tins, seated under the pec- 

 torals, are pointed ; the scales are soft ; the flesh is 

 white, separates into flakes, and is wholesome. 



The common cod-fish, a native of the northern 

 seas universally, is a typical example. In the United 

 Kingdom alone, the cod-fishery gives employment 

 to thousands ; to say nothing of the great iishery on 

 the banks of Newfoundland. There appear to be 

 two distinct varieties of the cod-fish ; one of which, 

 called the Dogger-Bank Cod, has a sharp nose 

 elongated before the eye, and the body of a very 

 dark colour ; the other has a round blunt nose, short 

 and wide before the eyes, and the body of a light 

 yellowish ash green. It is frequently called the 

 Scotch Cod. The former prevails along our south- 

 ern coast ; the broad-nosed fish is mostly confined 

 to the north. Both varieties occur on the coast of 

 Northumberland, and at the Isle of Man, where, 

 perhaps from some peculiar food, they acquire a 

 reddish brown colour, and are called Red Cod", or 

 Ware Cod. 



The Cod Fish (Morrhua vulgaris) has three dorsal 

 fins, two posterior fins below, and one barbule on 

 the chin. 



This well-known fish is very voracious, devouring 

 fimaller fishes, various kinds of moUusks, and Crus- 

 tacea, and it readily seizes a bait : hence it is fished 

 for with lines and hooks. In the deep sea, oft" the 

 Cornish coast, butters are used, that is, long cords 

 with smaller cords at given intervals attached to 

 them, of about six feet in length, and furnished 

 with hooks; these smaller lines are called snoods, 

 and the distance between each snood is double that 

 of its own length, to prevent entanglement. The 

 baits used are portions offish, whelks, limpets, &c., 

 and thus prepared the bulters are laid across the 

 tide, their extension being secured by means of an- 

 chors or grapnels, and buoys are attached by ropes 

 to each end of the line. Were this line not laid 

 or shot across the tide, but longitudinally in the 

 direction of its ebb and flow, the hooks would all 

 be forced together, and the period of one tide's 

 fishing inevitably wasted. It is usual to lay the 

 lines at the time of slack water, between each ebb 

 and flow ; and they are left for one flow and ebb, 

 and then hauled up for examination. Besides 

 bulters, hand-lines are also used, each line armed 

 with two hooks; two of such lines are managed 

 by one man, and a single individual has been 

 known to take from four hundred to five hundred 

 and fifty fish on the banks of Newfoundland in the 

 course of ten or eleven hours. 



Cod-fish are brought alive in well-boats up the 

 Thames as high as Greenwich, where the water is 

 still sufficiently saline to keep the fish alive. These 

 well-boats, in which the live fish are stored, are stout 

 cutter-rigged vessels of eighty or one hundred tons' 

 burthen ; they contain a large well, stocked with the 

 cod-fish, and of these a supply is sent every night 

 to Billingsgate, where the fish arrive still quivering 

 with life. The cod spawns about February, and 

 Mr. Yarrell informs us that nine millions of eegs 

 have been found in the roe of one female. This 

 fish, and indeed all the Gadidae, as Whitings, Had- 

 docks, &c., are in the greatest perfection as food 

 from October to Christmas. 



Young cod-fish abound at the mouth of the 

 Thames, and along the coast, and on various sand- 

 banks in the Channel, and may be easily captured 

 with hand-lines. 



Cod-fish, says Mr. Yarrell, have been kept in 

 salt-water ponds in different parts of Scotland ; and 

 are found to maintain their condition unimpaired. 

 " Of these ponds there are three, one in Galloway, 

 another in Fife, and a third in Orkney. That in 

 Galloway is at Logan, the seat of Colonel M'Dowall ; 

 it is a basin of thirty feet in depth, and one hundred 

 and sixty in circumference, hewn out from the solid 

 rock, and communicating with the sea by one of 

 those fissures so common to bold and precipitous 

 coasts. A fisherman is attached to this preserve, 

 whose duty it is constantly to supply the fish with 

 the necessary quantity of food, which several 

 tpecies soon learn to take eagerly from the hand. 

 In the course of the fishing for this daily supply, 



such fish as are not too much injured are placed in 

 the reservoir ; the others are cut up in pieces for 

 food for the prisoners. The whelks, limpets, and 

 other testacea are boiled to free them from the 

 shells : and no sooner does the keeper or his son 

 appear with the well known basket of prepared 

 food, than a hundred mouths are simultaneously 

 opened to greet the arrival. The cod-fish are the 

 most numerous in this preserve ; and one of them 

 has lived twelve years in confinement and attained 

 to a large size." Allied to the cod-fish are the fol- 

 lowing, which we miw just enumerate : — the Dorse, 

 or Variable Cod (Morrhua callarias), common in 

 the Baltic ; the Whiting-pout or Bib (M. lusca) ; 

 the poor or Power Cod (M. minuta) ; the Speckled 

 Cod (M. punctata) ; the Pollack (Merlangus Polla- 

 chius) ; the Green Cod (M. virens) ; the Hake (Mer- 

 lucius vulgaris) ; the Ling (Lota molva), from the 

 liver of which is extracted an oil, sometimes admi- 

 nistered internally as a medicine, and useful in 

 rheumatism ; the Barbot (Lota vulgaris). A few 

 other species we shall more fully notice. 



2474.— The Whiting 



{Merlangus vulgaris). In this genus there is no 

 barbule at the chin ; the other characters are as in 

 Morrhua. 



The whiting is common in our seas, perferring 

 sandy banks as its haunt ; it may be caught with 

 lines throughout the greater part of the year ; but 

 in the months of January and February, when it 

 approaches our coast in shoals for the purpose of 

 breeding, it is the most abundant. Like the cod, 

 the whiting is a voracious feeder, and often shifts 

 its ground in pursuit of the hordes of fry, which 

 wander about themselves in quest of prey, and be- 

 coming in turn the prey of others. 



The London markets are well supplied with this 

 fish, which is celebrated for the whiteness and de- 

 licacy of its flaky flesh ; we seldom see it more than 

 fifteen or sixteen inches in length, and of a pound 

 and a half in weight ; sometimes, however, speci- 

 mens occur weighing three or four pounds, and we 

 were lately informed of one, by a gentlemen who 

 partook of it, which weighed seven pounds. 



2475. — ^The Coal-fish 



{Merlangus carbonarius). This species is a native 

 of our seas, its range being extended to the shores 

 of Spitzbergen and Davis's Straits. In the Baltic 

 and around the Orkneys this fish swarms in vast 

 shoals ; it is found also on the Cornish coast, and 

 along various parts of the coast of Ireland. Though 

 by no means remarkable for the excellence of its 

 flesh, yet as it affords a cheap and abundant supply 

 of food, vast numbers are taken in the islands of 

 Scotland ; the young are preferred for immediate 

 use, those which weigh twenty or thirty pounds are 

 usually salted and dried. The coal-fish, according 

 to Mr. Couch, is in the highest condition from 

 October to December, at which season it prowls 

 after prey in large shoals, which often prove a 

 valuable capture to the fishermen. " They swim 

 at no great depth, and with great rapidity, but 

 when attracted by bait will keep near a boat until 

 all are taken ; and I have known four men with two 

 boats (two men in each boat) take twenty-four 

 hundredweight with lines in a very few hours. The 

 season for spawning is early in spi-ing ; immediately 

 after which this fish becomes so lank as to be 

 worthless, in which state it continues through the 

 summer." 



The provincial names of this fish are very 

 numerous. The adults are called by the Cornish 

 fishermen Running (ravening) Pollacks ; in the 

 islands of Scotland it is termed Sillock, Pillock, 

 Cooth or Kuth, Cudden, Sey, Sethe, and Grey- 

 Lord ; around the Forth the young are called 

 Podleys ; at Newcastle, Coalsey, and when twelve 

 inches long, Poodlers ; in Ireland it is known as the 

 Black Pollack, Blocking, and Grey-Lord. (See 

 Yarrell.) 



The colour of this fish on the back to the lateral 

 disc is almost black ; below, the tint is paler, and 

 passes into white with golden reflexions on the under 

 parts; lips tinged with purple red; mouth black ; 

 irides silvery white. 



2476.- 



-The Three-bearded Rockling, or 

 Sea Loche 



(Motella vulgaris). In the genus Motella the body 

 is elongated, cylindrical, aud compressed posteriorly. 

 The first dorsal fin is very slightly elevated, delicate 

 in structure, and scarcely perceptible ; the second 

 dorsal and the last under fin are long, and continued 

 almost to the base of the tail fin. The three- 

 bearded rockling is a rare fish, being seldom seen 

 on any of our shores, excepting those of Cornwall 

 and Devonshire, where it frequents the submerged 

 rocks covered with luxuriant fronds of sea-weed, 

 among which it lurks and ploughs its way in quest 

 of food. It is not a deep-water fish, but gives 

 preference to the shallows, where it procures small 



Crustacea, on which it principally subsists. It is 

 seldom used as food, its flesh becoming unpleasant 

 in a few hours. 



This fish is La MustSIe commune of Cuvier ; 

 Gadus Mustek of Linnaeus ; the Weasel or Mustela 

 of the Romans ; Ray terms it Mustela marina : 

 Pennant states that it was called Whistle-fish from 

 the fact of Cornish fishermen whistling when 

 desirous of taking it, as if by that means its capture 

 was facilitated ; but Mr. Yarrell could not find that 

 such a custom was or had been practised, and he 

 suspects, we think with reason, that Whistle-fish 

 was a mistake, and that Weasel-fish should have been 

 written. 



The three-bearded rockling is from fifteen to 

 seventeen or eighteen inches in length ; there are 

 two barbules on the snout above, and one on the 

 chin. The general colour is rich yellow brown, 

 spotted with deep chestnut ; undei" parts pale and 

 unspotted. 



2477. — The Five-bearded Rockling 



(Motella quinquecirrlmta). This species when full 

 grown attains the length of eighteen or twenty 

 inches, and in habits and food resembles the 

 preceding; frequenting rocky and stony shallows, 

 where it conceals itself under tufts of sea-weed, in 

 fissures, and under fragments. It is more common 

 than the three-bearded rockling, and Mr. Yarrell 

 has observed it of small size in abundance along the 

 Kentish coast in autumn, extending thence west- 

 ward as far as Portland Island. According to Mr. 

 Low it is common about the Orkneys. It has been 

 taken at Dublin and Belfast. The general colour 

 of this fish is pale bronze, of a golden tint, with 

 streaks of purer gold above the lateral line in the 

 direction of the ribs. The fins are of a brownish 

 orange margined with red. There are four barbules 

 on the snout above, and one of the chin. 



2478.— The Torsk 



(Brositnus vulgaris). The genus Brosimus differs 

 from Motella in the dorsal fin being single, and 

 there is only one barbule at the chin. 



The torsk is a native of the northern seas, scarcely 

 occurring below60°, orabove73'' ; it is abundant on 

 the coast of Norway, around the Faroe Islands, and 

 off the west and south coasts of Iceland. It is not 

 uncommon around the Orkney Islands, arid swarms 

 among those of Shetland. This fish lives in deep 

 water having a rocky bottom covered with luxuriant 

 sea-weeds, and in the islands of Scotland is cauaht 

 with lines and hooks in the same manner as ling 

 and cod, and is salted and dried in the same manner. 

 In this state the flesh when boiled is excellent, but 

 it is firm and rather tough when eaten fresh. In 

 Scotland the torsk forms a considerable article of 

 commerce, and is either dried or barrelled for sale. 

 In Norway, we believe, it forms no branch of mer- 

 chandise. 



The torsk is from eighteen inches to upwards of 

 two feet in length ; the fins are thick and soft ; the 

 head is dusky; the back and sides yellow, gradually 

 merging into white. The fins are dusky brown, the 

 edges of all, excepting the pectoral and ventral, 

 1)eing abruptly white ; the head in proportion to the 

 body is small. 



Fig. 2479 represents one of the Fish-barks of St. 

 Petersburg, floating fishmongers' shops, in which are 

 bought and sold all the fish consumed in that 

 capital during the summer. This ark is surrounded 

 by numerous floating cisterns and boats, either 

 pierced with small holes to admit the clear waters 

 of the Neva, or filled with salt water for the natives 

 of the sea. In these are kept various kinds of fish 

 alive, while the bark is the fishmonger's residence, 

 which communicates with the quay by means of a 

 railed plank. On the application of a customer for 

 fish, the person is conducted down a sloping plank 

 to the reservoirs, and makes choice of the fish, which 

 are secured by means of a small landing-net ; those 

 which are not approved being returned to the 

 proper vessels. In winter this mode cannot be 

 practised, for the water is ice, and besides all sorts 

 of food, as " fish, flesh, and fowl," are frozen as hard 

 as wood. 



Fig 2480 represents an animated scene (from a 

 celebrated painting by Leopold Robert of Neuf- 

 chatel), representing "Le depart des Pecheurs de 

 I'Adriatique pour la peche de long cours," or in 

 other words, the fishermen of the Port of Chioggia 

 near Venice, preparing to depart for the deep-sea 

 fishing. How different such a scene from that 

 which presents itself on the beach at Hastings or 

 Yarmouth, or any of our British fishing-ports ! yet 

 it is very characteristic. 



Family PLEURONECTID^ (PLAICE, TURBOT, 

 SOLES, and FLAT-FISH generally). 



The Flat-fishes, as soles, &c., are so -vvell known, 

 that were not some errors popularly entertained 

 respecting their form, we might well refrain from 

 entering into minute details j the upper surface of 



