THE HERRING AND OTHER FISH 349 
veloped a sucker on his belly, with which, being a lazy fish, 
he fastens himself upside down on any moving thing, and 
will then drift about without the trouble of swimming. 
The common sculpin, or scavenger, exists all along the 
coast. There are two varieties, Cottus scorpioides and C. 
Grenlandicus. He really consists of a large mouth, an 
indefinitely distensible belly, a voracious and omnivorous 
appetite, and an outside coat of sharp spikes. One can 
scarcely credit him with feelings, for when fishing with the 
sharp jigger for cod, the same sculpin will run for the hook 
again and again, though the barb may in the earlier capture 
have been in almost any part of the anatomy. Sometimes 
a fisherman has had to oblige him by leaving him on deck 
in order to avoid the worry of repeatedly hauling in the line 
with the useless fish adhering. Our dogs, however, make 
nothing of his horny and thorny exterior, and eat him with 
great gusto, always commencing by biting off his tail. 
At a pinch, the sculpin would be very useful in sustaining 
human life. 
Another fish that stands by us all the winter is the rock 
cod. Heis much likea small cod in appearance, but darker, 
with partly iridescent sides. He remains about the har- 
bours. As a matter of fact, he is “not at all bad eat- 
ing,’ but is considered by the fishermen very inferior to the 
true cod, and is always rejected from those they export. 
He is, however, dried up with the smaller cod, which are 
not split, but simply salt-sprinkled. They are kept for 
winter use under the name of ‘rounders.’ He is also 
taken through the ice in winter, and has frequently shared 
with the lowly clam and mussel the honour of preserving 
the life of those in one of these scattered communities. 
