700 NEW YORK STATE MUSF.UM 



Plnjcls tenuis De Kay. N. Y. Fauna. Fishes, 293. 1842; Goode & Bean, Bull. 

 Essex Inst. XI, 8, 1879; Joeda^ & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 7M9 1883- BEAN. 19th Rep. Comm. Fish. N. Y. 248, pi. Ill, fig. 4, 1890; 

 GOODE & Bean, Oceanic Ichth. 359, fig. 312, 1896; Bean, Bui!. Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist. IX, 372, 1897; H. M. Smith, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1897, 107, 

 1898; Jordan & Bvermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. Ill, 2555, 1898; 

 lY, pi. CCCLXY, fig. 901, 1900; Bean, 52d Ann.' Rep. N. Y. State Mus. 

 109, 1900. 



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

 the body and four and one fourth times the length of the head. 

 Snout longer than eye, narrower and more pointed than in P. 

 ohuss. Eye large, usually wider than interorbital space; 

 maxillary reaching beyond pupil; filamentous dorsal ray about 

 two thirds length of head; ventral fins about reaching vent; 

 scales very small. 1). 9-57; A. 48; Lat. 1. 138. 



Brownish, lighter and yellowish below; fins very dark. Dis- 

 tinguished from U. c h u s s chiefly by the smaller scales. 



De Kay calls the hake the American codling, adopting Mitch- 

 ill's common name for the species. He says it appears to feed 

 chiefly on smaller Crustacea; that it is very abundant at some 

 seasons, but most abundant in the early part of autumn; and 

 varies in weight from 3 pounds to 30 pounds. He states that 

 it is called indiscriminately hake and codling by New York 

 fishermen. Small individuals were seined in Mecox bay Aug. 2, 

 1898, and a very young example was received from Southampton 

 Sep. 11. This was caught in the Atlantic. In Great South bay 

 small examples were found sparingly at Blue Point cove and 

 Fire Island late in September. 



The hake, according to Dr Smith, is known also as white hake 

 and squirrel hake in the vicinity of Woods Hole Mass. Fish 

 weigliing 1 to U pounds are abundant there in November, when 

 a great many of them enter Eel pond. Young fish 1 inch long 

 and iiipwnrd associate with pollack in spring and are also found 

 thruughuut the summer in considerable numbers. They are also 

 obtaiiil in snniiurr at the surface, under gulf weed and eel 

 grass. 



As a rule the common hake will not live in water of a tempera- 

 ture abovi! (50 F, but one individual survived the summer tem- 



