560 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



our coast. It spawns in March, and the eggs are quickly hatched. It 

 prefers a sandy shore, and is usually found some miles from the coast. 

 It is a small fish, rarely exceeding twelve inches long, and seldom reach- 

 ing two pounds in weight. The whiting is long in the body, clothed 

 with very small, thin, and round scales ; its dorsal fins are, like the cod, 



Fig. 376. The Whiting (Merlangus vulgaris). 



three in number ; it is without barbellary appendage ; its upper jaw 

 projects over the lower ; it is of a silvery white, sometimes relieved by 

 an olive tint, which is contrasted upon the back by the blackish tint 

 which distinguishes the pectoral and caudal, fins, and by a black spot 

 which some individuals have at the junction of the pectorals with the 

 body. 



The whiting, inhabits the seas which wash the whole European 

 coast, often approaching the shore in shoals, and are taken annually 

 in great numbers, 



3. ABDOMINALES. 



The fishes belonging to this order have the ventral fins under the 

 abdomen placed behind, and not attached to the bones of the shoulder. 

 It is much the most numerous and important of the great division of 

 the Malacopterygeans. It includes most of our fresh-water fishes, a 



