THE COD FAMILY 293 



cent., fish, namely sprats and sand eels, in 24 per cent., while 

 other kinds of food were unimportant. 



The young whiting are scarcer in shallow waters in winter ; 

 they pass out on to deeper grounds with the cold weather. 

 Fulton /ound that in February, March, and April the majority 

 were 5 or 6 inches long, which may be taken as the length at 

 one year of age. 



The smallest mature whiting on the east of Scotland were 

 9 inches long in both sexes, and this length is doubtless reached 

 by many at two years of age. 



The Coal-fish (Gadus virens}. 



Distinguishing Characters. The lower jaw is only slightly 

 longer than the upper, the barbel is rudimentary. The first ventral 

 fin commences beneath the last rays of the first dorsal, and ends 

 below the end of the second dorsal. The body is not much com- 

 pressed and not very deep from the back to the belly, but rather 

 slender. The colour on the back is dark, almost black, the 

 lateral line white. It grows occasionally to 43 inches long, the 

 usual length being between 2 and 3 feet. 



Habitat. From the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean. In 

 the British Islands more abundant on the more northern coasts, 

 very plentiful in the Orkneys and Shetlands and on the east coast 

 of Scotland. It extends to 70 fathoms. 



Names. This fish in its younger stages being very abund- 

 ant and familiar on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, has an 

 extraordinary variety of local names. Green-cod, saithe, and 

 sillock are the most commonly used ; in Yorkshire the young 

 are called blue-backs. 



Breeding. It spawns in February, March, and April, but not 

 being taken in large numbers in the trawl, and ripe specimens 

 not being usually taken on lines, the spawn has not been so easy 

 to obtain as that of other species. The fertilised eggs have how- 

 ever been examined in the living condition at St. Andrews. 

 They are similar in character to the eggs of the cod, but smaller, 

 being only ro2 mm. in breadth, or scarcely more than -^ inch. 

 The hatched larva was much like that of the cod. 



The larvae and transformation stages are to be found near the 



