436 



SOFT-FINNED GROUP. 



and it is during the spawning-season that the fish is in the best condition for the 

 table. The burbot is a fish of slow growth, not attaining full maturity till it is 

 upwards of four years old. 



Ling and Rock- Distinguished from the burbot by the presence of several enlarged 



iings- teeth in the lower jaw and on the voiner, the ling (Molva vulgaris) 



may be regarded merely as a marine representative of that genus. The common 



BURBOT AND WELS, immature ( nat. size). 



ling, which generally measures from 2 to 3 feet in length, is a northern form, 

 ranging from the coasts of Greenland and Iceland to those of Britain and other 

 parts of Northern Europe. In this fish the upper jaw is the longer, but the 

 reverse condition obtajns in a second Scandinavian species, and also in a third from 

 the Mediterranean, which are the only other representatives of the genus. The 

 ling-fishery is an important industry, large quantities of these fish being cured 

 and dried. Belonging to the same group of the family as the ling, the rocklings 

 (Motella) are readily distinguished by the reduction of the first of the two dorsal 



