46 FISHES AKD FISHERIES OF THE IRISH SEA. 



CENTROLABRUS EXOLETUS (Linn.) Rock Cook. 



(Day's British Fishes, vol. I., p. 267, PI. LXXVI.) 



(Fish. Mus., Zool. Dep., Univ. Coll., Liverpool.) 



We have taken this species two miles east of Port St. Mary, in the Isle of Man 

 (February 2nd, 1896). 



C. ANACANTHINI. 



There are no spines on the dorsal, anal and pectoral fins ; the fin rays are soft, 

 and jointed ; the pelvic fins, if present, are far forward in a thoracic or jugular position ; 

 the air bladder, if present, has no duct. 



This is a most important group of fishes, as it includes the two great tribes of 

 food fishes, the cod family and the flat fishes. 



Family GADIDJE. 

 One of the most important families of fishes from the economic point of view. 



GADUS CALLARIAS, Linn. Cod. 



(Day's British Fishes, vol. I., p. 275, PI. LXXVI 1 1.) 

 (Fish. Mus., Zool. Dep., Univ. Coll., Liverpool.) Local names, "Cod" and "Codling." 



The cod is probably the most useful of all fishes to man. No part of the body 

 seems valueless. In additition to its prime importance as a food, oil is extracted from 

 the liver, the head, tongue and sounds can be made to form a good article of food, the 

 offal and bones, when steamed, dried and ground up, are converted into very good 

 manure, said to be equal as a fertilizer to Peruvian guano, the roe is a splendid bait 

 used in the sardine fisheries of France and Spain, and from the swim-bladder isinglass 

 is made. 



It comes from deep water into the Irish Sea in the late autumn in order to spawn 

 about the beginning of the year, and the chief fishery is during the winter. It is 

 sometimes very abundant at the mouth of the Dee, and very large takes are at times 

 made along our coast by the steam trawlers. Although at one time a valuable line 

 fishery flourished along the Lancashire coast, the cod is now caught mostly in the trawl 

 from Lancashire, and still wholly by lines in the Isle of Man. Large numbers are 

 taken by the long lines around the Calf, Port Erin, in winter and early spring. These 

 lines are baited with whelks taken in pots, and usually the cod are caught by lines 

 earlier in the season than their capture in the trawl. In some places lug-worms 

 are also used as bait, especially in lines set near shore. The trawling is most successful 

 at night and during the cold months of the year (Nov. to April). The young are 

 taken as "Codling" on various parts of our shores, in the Barrow Channel, Menai 

 Straits, &c. 



The spawning in spring takes place in the offshore waters, and the young cod does not 

 appear on the coasts till June, when it is about an inch long. It frequents rocky and 

 seaweedy shores till the autumn when it moves out again into deeper water. 



