Jordan and Evermann . Fishes of North A merica . 2531 



Stomodon bilinearis, MITCHILL, Kept. Fish. N. Y., 7, 1814, New York. 

 Gadus albidus, MITCHILL, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1, 1817, 409, New York. 

 Merlucius albidus, STOKER, Hist. Fish. Mass., 363. 



Merluciiis bilinearis, GOODE & BEAN, Bull. Essex lust., xi, 9, 1879, JORDAN & GILBERT, Syn- 

 opsis, 809, 1883 ; GOODE & BEAN, Oceanic Ichthyology, 386, fig. 330, 1896. 



2901. MERLTJCCIUS PRODUCTUS (Ayres). 



Head 3f; depth 7. D. 11-41; A. 43; V. 7; scales 136. Head with the 

 W-shaped ridges less strongly marked; maxillary reaching center of 

 pupil; eye large; pectorals long and narrow, reaching vent; ventrals 

 much smaller than in M. bilinearis, reaching halfway to vent, their length 

 about | that of head ; caudal somewhat forked. Scales quite small, decid- 

 uous. Teeth moderate. Silver gray; head dusted with coarse black 

 dots; inside of mouth and opercle jet-black; peritoneum silvery, with 

 black specks. Length 3 feet. Pacific coast of America, from Santa Cata- 

 liua Island northward to Puget Sound; everywhere abundant at moderate 

 depths; used as food, (prodnctus, drawn out.) 



Merlangus productus, AYRES, Proc. Gal. Ac. Nat. Sci. 1855, 64, San Francisco. 



Homalopomus troivbridgii, GIRARD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1856, 132, Astoria, Oregon. 

 (Coll. Lieut. W. P. Trowbridge.) 



Gadus productus, GUNTHER, Cat., iv, 338, 1862. 



Herluccius produetus, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 247 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Syn- 

 opsis, 809, 1883. 



Family CCXIV. GADID^E. 

 (THE CODFISHES.) 



Body more or less elongate, the caudal region moderate, coniform 

 behind, and with the caudal rays procurrent above and below ; vent sub- 

 median; suborbital bones moderate; scales small, cycloid; mouth large, 

 terminal; chin with a barbel, more or less developed. Gill openings very 

 wide ; gill membranes separated or somewhat united, commonly free from 

 the isthmus; no spines, the fin rays all articulated. Dorsal fin extending 

 almost the length of the back, forming 1, 2, or 3 fins ; anal fin long, single 

 or divided; caudal fin distinct, or confluent with the dorsal and anal; 

 ventral fins jugular, but attached to the pubic bone, each of 1 to 8 

 branched rays. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth. No pseudobranchiae. 

 Edge of preopercle usually covered by skin of head. Pyloric cjeca usually 

 numerous, but sometimes few or none. Air bladder generally well devel- 

 oped. Genera about 25, species about 140; an important family, many of 

 its members being highly valued as food. They inhabit chiefly the north- 

 ern seas, sometimes venturing into the oceanic abysses. One genus (Lota) 

 is confined to the fresh waters. (Gadidce, Giinther, Cat., iv, 326-369.) 



GADIN^E : 

 a. Anal divided into 2 separate fins; dorsal fin divided into 3. 



6. Lower jaw distinctly projecting; barbel small or obsolete; caudal concave 



behind. 

 c. Teeth in upper jaw slender, wide, set in 1 or 2 series ; caudal forked. 



BOREOGADUS, 976. 



cc. Teeth in upper jaw in a villiform band, the outer somewhat larger; caudal 

 lunate. 



