THE COD FAMILY. 



LIKE the flat-fishes, all the kinds of fish in this family are 

 without spiny fin-rays, and generally speaking without spines or 

 bony armour ; they carry no weapons either for offence or de- 

 fence except their powerful jaws and teeth. The fin-rays are all 

 soft and flexible, and even the scales are but slightly developed, 

 being small, smooth, and thin, and usually easily detached from 

 the soft skin. The dorsal and ventral fins together extend along 

 a great part of the length of the fish ; the tail fin is separate. In 

 some there are three dorsals and two ventrals, as in cod, haddock 

 and others ; in some there are two dorsals, a long one behind 

 and a short in front, and a single ventral, as in the ling and 

 hake ; in some there is only one long dorsal and one ventral, as 

 in the tusk. The pelvic fins are on the throat in front of the 

 pectoral or breast-fins. The eyes are large, and in many kinds 

 there are barbels on the lips or chin. 



The fishes of this family belong more especially to the Arctic 

 and Antarctic regions and the temperate zones, but are almost 

 entirely absent in the tropics. They feed for the most part on 

 or near the bottom, and the majority of them abound in the 

 shallower waters less than 200 fathoms, although there are a few 

 deep-sea species belonging to the ocean abysses. The majority 

 feed in the day-time, hunting their prey by sight, and as they 

 are voracious, rapacious fish with large mouths, and haunt the 

 sea-bottom, they are taken by hook or trawl with equal success. 

 Their food is various, consisting both of other fishes and of the 

 lower marine animals, especially Crustacea. One species, the 

 burbot, lives entirely in fresh, water. 



The following are the British kinds of the cod family with 

 their chief peculiarities : 



