2530 . Bulletin ^7, United States National Museum. 



2899. MERLUCCIUS MERLUCCIUS (Linujeus). 

 (EUROPEAN HAKE.) 



Head large, 3 ; depth 6J. D. 10-36 ; A. 36 ; vertebra 25 + 26 ; scales 150. 

 Ventrals a little more than head ; teeth very long. Dusky above, sil- 

 very below; dorsal, caudal, and distal part of pectoral blackish; inside of 

 opercle black ; inside of mouth black posteriorly, pale in front ; peritoneum 

 black. Coasts of Europe, generally abundant, south to Madeira and Italy, 

 straying to Greenland.* Here described from specimens taken at Genoa. 

 The identity of the Greenland Hake with M. merluccius^ is perhaps 

 uncertain. (Eu.) (merluccius, ancient name; ware, sea; Lucius, pike.) 

 Gadus merluccius, LINN^US, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 254, 1758, Europe ; after authors. 

 Merluccius smiridus, RAFINESQUE, Caratteri, etc., 26, 1810 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 



809, 1883; LILLJEBORG, Sveriges Fiske, IT, 121, 1891. 

 Gadus ruber, LACEPEDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v, 673, 1803, Scotland ; Dieppe ; on notes by M. 



NOEL; young. 



Gadus merlus, Risso, Ichth. Nice, 122, 1810, Nice. 



Onus riali, RAFINESQUE, Indice d'lttiol. Sicil., 26, 1810; substitute for merluccius. 

 Merlucius vulgaris, FLEMING, Brit. Anim., 195, 1828 ; GUNTHER, Cat., iv, 344, 1862. 

 Merluccius esculentus, Risso, Eur. Merid., in, 1826, 220, Nice. 

 ? Merluccius ambiguus, LOWE, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 1840,37, Madeira. 

 Merluccius sinuatus, SWAINSON, in Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, 38. 

 Merlucius lanatus, GHONOW, Cat. Fish., Ed. Gray, 130, 1854, Mediterranean. 

 Epicopus gayi, GUNTHER, Cat., n, 248, 1860, no locality; not M.gayi, GUICHEXOT, which is 



the Chilian Hake. 

 Merluccius linncei, MALM, Gotheborgs och Bohusliins Fauna, 489, 1877. 



2900. MERLUCCIUS BILINEARIS (Mitchill). 

 (SILVER HAKE; NEW ENGLAND HAKE ; WHITING.) 



Head Sf ; depth 6|. D. 13-41; A. 40; scales 100 to 110. Top of head 

 with W-shaped ridges very conspicuous; eye shorter than snout and less 

 than interorbital width; maxillary reaching posterior border of pupil; 

 teeth not very large, smaller than in the European species, Mcrluccius 

 merluccius. Scales larger than in other species; pectorals and ventrals 

 long, the latter reaching f distance to vent, their length about f that 

 of head. Grayish, darker above, dull silvery below; axil and edge of 

 pectoral somewhat blackish; inside of opercle dusky silvery; inside of 

 mouth dusky bluish ; peritoneum nearly black. Coasts of New England 

 and northward to Straits of Belle Isle; south, in deep water, to the Baha- 

 mas; rather common ; used as food; breeding in deep water, though often 

 taken near shore, northward. This species resembles the European Hake, 

 Merluccius merluccius, but the latter has smaller scales, about 150, and 

 larger teeth, (bilinearis, two-lined.) 



* The Iceland Hake has been described as Merluccius argentatus (Faber). According 

 to Faber, it has large teeth, the mouth white within, and the rays D. 15-43; A. 51; the tins 

 deeply notched. It is perhaps a valid species, and, if so, it doubtless occurs in Greenland. 

 (argentatuv, silvered.) 



Gadus merluccius (argentatus), FABER, Fische Islands, 90, 1829, Iceland. 

 Merluccius argentatus. GUNTHER, Cat., iv, 346, 1862. 



t "Dans T Amerique du Nord, on cite oe poisson de Greenland, mais 1'exactitude de cette 

 indication parait douteuse." (Collett, Comp. Sci. Hiroudelle, 3896, 58.) 



