92 FISHES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 



visit the vicinity of New York. They are moderately elongate, fine 

 scaled fishes with no spiny fins. Typically they have the back fin broken 

 up into three more or less isolated portions and the anal fin broken up 

 into two. 



The Silver Hake, which is sometimes common near our shores 

 in spring and fall, has the largest mouth of any, with prominent pointed 

 teeth and a long projecting lower jaw without any barbel at its tip. 

 Its eye is rather large, its body tapers posteriorly to a slender weak caudal 

 peduncle and the tail fin is small, squarish or slightly emarginate. The 

 large mouth, absence of a barbel at the chin and silvery color will 

 readily distinguish it from any other species having three back fins. 



The three typical Cods are the Pollack, Codfish and the Haddock; 

 all of these having three separate fins on the back and a barbel at the 

 tip of the chin, which is smallest in the Pollack. The Pollack is the most 

 active species with a tendency to swim nearer the surface than the 

 others. Unlike the other two, its lower jaw is slightly longer than its 

 upper, also its tail fin is more firmly built and more decidedly forked. 

 Cod and Haddock have the lower jaw somewhat shorter than the upper, 

 most noticeably so in the Haddock, and their tail fins are squarish or 

 slightly emarginate. The lateral line of the Codfish is situated in a 

 narrow white longitudinal stripe and that of the Haddock in a narrow 

 black longitudinal stripe. The Codfish has small yellowish spots scat- 

 tered on the back and sides whereas the Haddock is quite uniformly 

 colored. Other marks which will aid in identifying this latter species 

 are a pointed first dorsal fin and a large black blotch on the side under it 

 and immediately below the lateral line. All three species reach a large 

 size. As a general food fish, the Cod is superior to the other two, although 

 with special cooking they are very fine and would probably be even 

 more agreeable to certain palates than the Cod. The flesh of the Pollack 

 being comparatively oilless, is improved by cooking with fat pork or some 

 such material. That of the Haddock, which has a tendency to be too 

 firm and dry, is unsurpassed as the basis for a chowder. 



The Pollack commonly reaches a weight of ten pounds, rarely of 

 twenty-five pounds, with a length of over three feet. The largest Cod 

 recorded from New England weighed 21 1^ pounds and was over six 

 feet long. Ten or twelve pounds is, perhaps, the ordinary weight of 

 full-grown fish, and twenty-five-pounders are common enough. In- 

 dividuals taken offshore are apt to be larger than those from the coast. 

 The usual size of the Haddock is about three or four pounds, and the 

 maximum about 17 pounds. 



