584 MISCELLANEOUS 



fathoms water, on a bank to which the cod resort for spawning in 

 August and September. The largest cod of this species brought into 

 Halifax market, during the season of 185], weighed 86 Ibs. 



The second species named above, the American cod, is slightly, 

 though permanently, distinct from the common or bank cod. The 

 back is of a light olive green, (becoming pale ash in the dead speci- 

 mens) covered with numerous reddish or yellowish spots, to a short 

 distance below the lateral line, which is an opaque white throughout 

 its whole extent. 



There are several varieties of the American cod, the most usual of 

 which are the arenosus, or shoal cod of Dr. Mitchill, with a greenish 

 brown hue, and inconspicuous spots; and the rupestris, or rock cod 

 of the same author, of a smaller size, with a reddish hue, occasionally 

 a bright red, very numerous on the whole coast of Nova Scotia, and 

 in the vicinity of Grand Manan. Fine specimens of this variety 

 may be seen in the fish market of Halifax, during the season; their 

 quality is admirable. 



The southern limit of the American cod is New York; thence it 

 ranges northwardly, along the whole coast of North America, to the 

 Saint Lawrence. 



It is believed, that there are several species and varieties of cod. 

 within the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and especially on the coast of 

 Labrador; but these have not yet been examined with precision. In 

 the Gulf, deformed fish are of common occurrence, the deformity 

 frequently consisting in a fore-shortening of the head, whence the 

 fishermen call them bull-dogs ". 



The cod is an exceedingly voracious fish. It attacks indiscrim- 

 inately everything in its way, devouring smaller fish, Crustacea, and 

 marine shell-fish. Its stomach is the great repository, from which 

 naturalists have lately obtained so many rare and undescribed species 

 of shells, inhabiting deep water, and which are unattainable by any 

 other means. 



A fisherman at Brier Island assured the writer, that he had often 

 seen the cod in shoal water, with their heads straight down and tails 

 up, working mussels and clams off the bottom. 



GENUS 2. Phycis. 

 SPECIES 1. Phycis Americanus the American Hake. 



The geographical range of this fish appears to be from Cape Cod, 

 northwardly. It is taken largely on muddy bottoms, both in the Bay 

 of Fundy and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, chiefly by fishing during 

 the night, at which time it feeds on the smaller Crustacea, with which 

 its stomach is generally found to be filled. In the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence, and Bay of Chaleur, it is invariably called " ling," under 

 which name, when salted and dried, it is exported by the Jersey mer- 

 chants, who have fishing establishments there, and who probably in- 

 troduced the name. 



This fish is frequently taken of the length of three feet, especially 

 in the Gulf; it is of a reddish brown colour, with slight metallic re- 

 flections on the cheeks, and a dark patch beneath the orbits ; abdomen 

 lighter, mixed with gray. It has one barbule under the chin; the 

 ventral fins are simple rays, divided or forked, one of the divisions 

 longer than the other. Head pointed, flattened above; snout promi- 



