PISCES. 145 



Habitat. East Indies. 



Hydrophis, Daud. Rostral plate broad, transverse; lower triangular; 

 nasal truncated or notched iu front ; ventral shield flat ; head short ; eyes 

 small. 



H. obscura (Sea snake). East Indies. 



PISCES, 



GADUS (Cod). Order Jugulares. Family Gadidae. Characters. Body 

 elongate, but little compressed, covered with soft scales not very volumin- 

 ous ; head well proportioned and without scales; fins soft; jaws and front 

 of vomcr armed with pointed, irregular teeth, middling or small-sized, in sev- 

 eral rows, forming a sort of curry-comb or rasp ; gills large, with seven rays. 

 Fins. Ventrals separate, jugular; generally with two or three fins on back; 

 one or two behind anus ; and distinct caudal. Stomach in form of a large^ 

 strong sac; caeca numerous and long; air-bladder large, with thick walls, 

 (without duct), and often dentated upon sides. (Cuvier.) 



G. morrhua, Linn. Barbel rather long, as long as, or longer than the- 

 eye, which is one-seventh of the length of the head, and one-half, or rather 

 more than one-half, of the width of the interorbital space. Snout more 

 than twice as long as the eyes, obtuse, with the upper end longest. The- 

 height of the body is less than the length of the head, which is two-sevenths 

 of the total (without caudal). The vent is situated vertically below the an- 

 terior rays of the second dorsal. The two anal fins separated from each 

 other by an interspace. Proportions of the fins : 



ID. 2D. 3D. 1A. 2 A. 



1 1_3 l_i 1_2 10-9 



Greenish or brownish olive, with numerous yellowish or brown spots on the 

 back arid on the side. 



Swim bladder large, broad, and having at its anterior extremity a worm- 

 like process, which is held in relation to the muEcles of the vertebral column. 

 At the upper third of the interior surface of the bladder a congerie of vessels 

 (wonder net) is seen, giving a reddish color to the lining membrane. Kidneys 

 of a blackish red, thickest at upper portions. Urinary bladder small, with two- 

 appendages. Spleen long, small, triangular. Liver of a clear yellow color, 

 very large, of three lobes, the smallest of which lies beneath the stomach. 

 Gall bladder in the middle of the right lobe. (Brandt and Ratzeburg.) 



Habitat. The cod is found in the seas of the northern hemisphere froim 

 the fortieth to the seventy-fifth degree. Coast of North Europe, Iceland^ 

 and Greenland, southward to New York. (Giinther.) 



ACIPENSER. Class Ganoidei (Muller). Fishes with tabular or angular 



10 



