448 Storer on the 
ORDER III. 
MALACOPTERYGII SUBRACHIATI. 
Fawn I. 
GADITES. 
Morruva. Cuv. 
Generic characters. Body elongated, smooth, com- 
pressed towards the tail; back furnished with three 
dorsal fins; ventral fins pointed ; abdominal line 
with two fins behind the anal aperture; the lower 
jaw with one barbule at the chin; branchiostegous 
rays T. 
M. Americana. Nobis. The American Cod. 
Whether the “ Morrhua vulgaris,” the common 
Cod, of European writers, is ever taken in the waters 
of Massachusetts, I am unable to decide. Dr. Mitch- 
ell says it is taken “in the sea near Nantucket, and 
beyond.” Certain it is, I have never seen it in Bos- 
ton market; and Mr. Newcomb, senior, the oldest 
fishmonger in our market, who has repeatedly been 
at the Banks of Newfoundland fishing, assures me; 
he never knew the bank fish to be caught in our 
waters. Our fish is the species which Mitchell con- 
