THE BURBOT 89 



Second Family, GADID^: THE COD FISHES 



The Cod Family are known by their elongated form, and 

 their small, smooth scales. They have one, two, or three 

 dorsal fins ; one or two anal fins ; ventral fins placed on the 

 throat, and generally containing several rays, but sometimes 

 reduced to a mere filament, in which case the dorsal fin is 

 divided into two. All the fins are spineless. The family 

 consists almost entirely of marine fishes ; indeed, in the whole 

 known world only two or three species have been identified 

 as fish of the fresh water. 



The Burbot, or Eel^Pout {Lota vulgaris) 



Fin Formula. 

 First Dorsal : 14 rays. 

 Second Dorsal : 68 rays. 

 Pectoral : 20 rays. 

 Ventral : 6 rays. 

 Afial : 67 rays. 



Teeth. 

 Villiform ; of equal size ; small 

 and pointed, in dense rows 

 on the jaws, and stronger 

 on the vomer ; none on the 

 palatal bones. 



The singular creature called the burbot, or eel-pout, is the 

 only representative of the great Cod Family in British inland 

 waters. The first of these names is a modification of the 

 French barbote^ the bearded fellow, from the Latin barba, a 

 beard ; and arises from a long wattle, or barbule, which hangs 

 from the middle of the chin, forming a conspicuous feature 

 of this fish, although its object and functions are unknown. 

 The second name, eel-pout, is as old as Saxon times — aeleputaUy 

 eel-pouts, being mentioned in ^Ifric's Anglo-Saxon Glossary ot 

 the tenth century, and has been explained to refer to an alleged 

 power of the fish to puff out, or " pout," the membrane 

 covering the fore-part of the head * ; but in the absence of 

 definite evidence as to this accomplishment, I would venture 

 to suggest that the name simply means the fat eel, from the 



* See Skeat's Etymological Dictionary. 



