THE COD FAMILY 



fin-rays appear they can be recognised by the arrangement of the 

 fins. Specimens in these stages, f- inch, f inch, and 4 inch long, 

 were taken off the Isle of May (Fig. 135) in July and August. 

 They were captured in a large tow-net in mid-water, or not far 

 from the surface, and it appears from this that for about the first 

 two months of its life the young ling resembles in its habits the 



FIG. 134. Larva of Ling thirteen days old, alive and magnified ; after Prince. 



young of the rocklings. The next stage seen was that of a 

 specimen 3^ inches long, stranded on the shore in December. 

 In this, the chief peculiarity was that the colour was in stripes 

 along the body, an olive-brown band passing along the side, a 

 white band above this, and a narrow line of dull orange along the 

 middle of the back. The barbel was long. The history of the 

 ling after this stage is not well known. Specimens from 7f to 12 



FIG. 135. Transformation stage of the Ling, * inch long ; after Prince. 



inches long occur not uncommonly off the mouth of the harbour 

 at St. Andrews, and are caught by line fishermen in the neigh- 

 bourhood. At this stage the stripes are broken up into large 

 irregular blotches. These small fish occur in summer, and are 

 about a year old. During the Irish Survey, of 203 ling caught 

 only six were under 24 inches in length, and these ^occurred at 



