300 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



37. The Echineis or Sucking-fish. The 

 body almost wedge-like, moderately round ; 

 the head broader than the body ; the tin 

 covering the gills with ten rays ; an ovai 



end of October to Christmas. There are two varieties of 

 the Common Cod the Dogger Bank Cod, with a sharp 

 nose, and of a dark brown colour, and the Scotch Cod, 

 with a blunt nose, and of a yellowish ash-green colour. 



The Haddock. This well-known fish is a species of 

 the cod ; it has a bearded mouth, and three fins on the 

 back; the upper jaw longest, and the tail a little forked. 

 On each side of the body, just beyond the gills, there 

 is a dark spot, which the superstitious assert is the im- 

 pression of St Peter's finger and thumb, when he took 

 the tribute money (at the command of his Master) out 

 of the mouth of a fish of this species, and which has ever 

 since been continued to the whole race of haddocks. 



Haddocks seldom grow to any great size ; they very 

 rarely become so large as to weigh twelve or fourteen 

 pounds : they are esteemed more delicate eating when 

 they do not exceed three pounds in weight. These fish, 

 during stormy weather, are said to take shelter in the 

 sand or mud, or among the sea-weeds. They feed on 

 various small marine animals, and frequently become fat 

 on herrings. The females deposit their spawn on the 

 sea-weeds near the shore. The larger ones begin to be 

 in roe in November, and continue so for somewhat more 

 than two months: from this time till May they are 

 reckoned out of season, and are not good. They then 

 begin to recover. The small ones are extremely good 

 from May till February; and those that are not old 

 enough to breed, for even two months longer. 



The Whiting is another species of the cod, but with- 

 out a beard. Its flesh is more delicate than that of any 

 other of the cod species. 



The Ling. The Ling is a valuable species of cod. 

 It is taken in large quantities among the Western 



Islands, in the Orkneys, and on the Yorkshire and Corn- 

 wall coasts. In Yorkshire, the young are called Driz- 

 zles. The ling is very prolific, of voracious appetite, 

 and tenacious of life. Its usual length is from three 

 to four feet. 



The Torsk. The Torsk or Tusk, another species of 

 cod, is occasionally caught in the Forth, and brought to 



the Edinburgh market. It is abundant in Orkney and 

 Shetland. It is a somewhat tough fish, but excellently 

 adapted for curing. Its usual length is from eighteen 

 inches to two feet. 



To the Plcuronectes or Flat-fish belong the Turbot, 

 Sole, Flounder, Plaice, Dab, &c. 



Turbots have sometimes been known to weigh from 

 twenty-five to thirty pounds. Their general form is 

 somewhat square. The upper parts of the body and 

 fins are cinereous, with dark spots ; and the under parts 

 white : on the upper parts there are numerous short 



breastplate, streaked in form of a ladder, 

 toothed. 



38. The Lipidopus or Garter -fish. The 

 body sword-like, the head lengthened out ; 



and blunt spines. The eyes are on the left side of the 

 head. The northern parts of the English coast, and some 



places off the coast of Holland, afford turbots in great 

 abundance, and in greater excellency there than any 

 other parts of the world. Lying here, however, in deep 

 waters, they are seldom to be caught but by lines. In 

 fishing for turbot off the Yorkshire coast, three men go 

 out in each of the boats, each man provided with three 

 lines, every one of which is furnished with two hundred 

 and eighty hooks, baited and placed exactly six feet two 

 inches asunder. These are coiled in an oblong piece of 

 wicker-work, with the hooks baited and placed very 

 regularly in the centre of the coil. When they are 

 used, the nine are generally fastened together, so as to 

 form one line with about two thousand hooks, and ex- 

 tending nearly three miles in length. This is always 

 laid across the current. An anchor and a buoy are fixed 

 at the end of each man's line. The tides run here so 

 rapidly, that the fishermen can only shoot and haul their 

 lines in the still water, at the turn of the tide ; and 

 therefore as it is flood and ebb about every alternate six 

 hours, this is the longest time the lines can remain on 

 the ground. When the lines are laid, two of the men 

 usually wrap themselves in the sail and sleep, whilst the 

 third is on watch to prevent their being run down by 

 ships. The voracity of the turbot in pursuit of its prey 

 is oftentimes such, that it carries them into the mouths 

 of rivers, or the entrance of ponds in salt marshes, which 

 communicate with the sea. But they are not contented 

 with merely employing agility and strength in the pro- 

 curing of their prey, they likewise have recourse to 

 stratagem. They plunge themselves into the mud or 

 sand at the bottom of the sea, and cover their whole 

 body, except their eyes and month. Thus concealed, 

 they seize upon, and devour all the smaller kinds of fish 

 which incautiously approach them. It is said they are 

 very particular in the choice of their food, refusing, in- 

 variably, all except living animals, or such as are not in 

 the least degree putrid. And the fishermen assert, that 

 they are never to be caught with baits which have been 

 bitten by other fish. The holibut has been known to 

 attain so great a weight as between two and three hun- 

 dred pounds. Its general shape is long and narrow. The 

 upper parts are.dusky; and the under parts white. The 

 skin is smooth, and destitute of spines. The eyes on 

 the right side of the head. 



The Sole. This well-known and delicious fish is 

 remarkable for one very extraordinary circumstance; 

 among various other marine productions, they have been 

 known to feed on shell fish, although they are furnished 

 with no apparatus whatever in their mouth for reducing 

 them to a state calculated for digestion. Some that 

 were purchased by Mr Collinson, (as his letter inserted 

 in the Philosophical Transactions states,) had their bellies 

 hard and prominent, appeared to be filled with rows of 

 some hard substance, which, on being opened, were 

 found to be shell-fish. These, from the bulging of the 



