236 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



n, HI i . This fish has, however, proved to be a cattish, and the name lacustris is untenable for the 

 Burbot. In 1817, Le Suenr described a Burbot from Lake Erie under the name of Oadus maculosus, 

 and another species from Northampton, Connecticut, as Oadus compressus. The name maculosus is 

 the oldest available specific name for the American species. In 1818 Mitchill described a Oadus 

 lacustris in the "American Monthly Magazine," evidently not knowing that the same name had 

 been previously applied by Walbaum. In 1819 Le Sueur redescribed Oadus compressus under the 

 name Molva Huntia. In 1842 De Kay described Lota inornata from the State cabinet at Albany, 

 lu 1844 D. H. Storer set up the Wiuuipiseogee Lake Burbot as Lota brosmiana. From this it will 

 appear that six specific names have been applied to the American Burbot, and that the form from 

 Hudson's Bay was considered identical with the European species. All of these names following 

 Oadus maculosus are considered synonyms of maculosus. The name compresm was retained 

 longer than any of the others, but it is now known that the compressed form is simply an indi- 

 vidual variation. 



Giinther, in his " Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum," volume iv, 1862, places all the 

 names applied to the American Burbot in the synonymy of Lota vulgaris, believing that we have 

 only one species, and that identical with the European. Even if his view be correct, he should use 

 the name Lota maculosa, which, dating from 1817, has priority over vuJgaris. The combination 

 Lota vulgaris was not employed, as far as I know, by any author until Jenyns used it in a Manual 

 of British Vertebrate Animals in 1835. It is not, however, established that the European and 

 American Burbot represent the same species. The number of vertebra? seems to be smaller in the 

 European. Giinther gives it as twenty-one abdominal and thirty-eight caudal vertebra?. In two 

 skeletons examined by myself the abdominal vertebrae were twenty- two to twenty- three, and the 

 caudal thirty -eight to thirty-nine. There seems to be no other important difference. For the 

 present it may be best to consider the European Burbot as varietally distinct from the American, 

 and we should call it Lota maculosa, variety vulgaris. 



POPULAR NAMES. In the Hudson's Bay region, according to Pennant, the Burbot is known as 

 " Marthy "; according to Richardson, as " Methy." In Alaska, according to Ball and Turner, it is 

 known as "Losh"; in Canada, as "laLoche." In Vermont it is called the "Eel-pout" (Thompson); 

 by which name also it is known in Mohawk River, New York, according to Loomis ; in Massa- 

 chusetts (Storer); in Connecticut (Wood), and in Bighorn River, Montana (Brackett). It is 

 known as the " Dogfish" in Lake Erie, according to Le Suenr. Commander L. A. Beardslee says 

 it is called "Chub-eel," also, in Mohawk River, New York. It is known as the "Ling" in Lake 

 Ontario (Professor Baird), lakes of Western New York (Baird and Blackford), and New York 

 market (Blackford). It is the "Lawyer" of Lake Michigan, according to Earll; "Lake-cusk" in 

 Lake Winnipiseogee (Davis) ; "Fresh-water Cod" (Baird). It is called "Burbot" in New York 

 (De Kay), and in the Bighorn River, Montana (Brackett). Professor Jordan gives the names 

 "Aleby-trout" and "Mother of Eels" as in use in the Upper Great Lake region. 



The above list is incomplete, both as to names and geographical range. The name "Bur- 

 bot" is the one which should come into general use. The first four will hardly be adopted by 

 English-speaking people. "Chub-eel" is a mere off-hand name given to the species by a fisher- 

 man who supposed it to be a hybrid between an eel and a catfish; this name is known to very 

 few persons. The remaining names, except "Burbot," are preoccupied and well established for 

 marine species, as follows: "Eel -pout," Zoarces anguillaris; "Ling," Molva vulgaris; "Lawyer," 

 Lutjanus caxix; "disk," BrosMius brosme; "Cod," Gadw morrhua; "Dogfish," Mustelus canis. The 

 European variety, Lota maculosa, variety vulgaris, is called "Burbot," a name which has never 

 been applied to any other species than the one under consideration, so far as I can learn. This 



