FISHES OF NEW YORK 699 



The cod is an inhabitant of the north Atlantic and the north 

 Pacific. It is a very important food fish and grows to a large 

 size. Individuals weighing about 100 pounds have occasionally 

 been taken. Mitchill has described this fish under several 

 names: the torsh, or common cod, or rock cod of New York. 

 De Kay calls it the American cod. In November 1897 the cod 

 was abundant in Gravesend bay. It thrives in captivity during 

 the winter and spring, but can not be kept during the warm 

 months without cooling the water. In Vineyard sound, accord- 

 ing to Dr Smith, the cod appear about April 1 to about April 15, 

 when the dogfish drive them away. After the middle of October 

 the cod come again but in less numbers than in the spring, 

 remaining till the first wintry weather. The fish spawns during 

 the late fall and winter. The young are first observed at Woods 

 Hole about the first of April, when fish about 1 inch long are 

 seined. Most of the young leave by June 15, having attained a 

 length of from 3 to 4 inches. No cod are seen between small 

 fish of that size and fish weighing from IJ to 2 pounds, which are 

 caught in traps in the spring. Off the coast of New Enoland 

 cod are very abundant in the deep waters, and they come up to 

 the shoals and near the shores to spawn, from November about 

 Cape Ann till February on Georges banks. 



Genus melanogrammus Gill 



This genus is distinguished from G a d u s by its smaller 

 mouth, the produced first dorsal fin, black lateral line, and spe- 

 cially by the great enlargement of the hypocoracoid, which is 

 dense and ivorylike. The lateral line is always black, and the 

 supraoccipital and other crests on the head are largely devel- 

 oped. Food fishes of large size. 



348 Melanogrammus aeglefinus (Linnaeus) 

 EaMoch 



Gadiis aeglefinus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat, ed. X, I, 251, 1758; Mitchill, Trans. 



Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 370, 1815. 

 Morrliua aeglefinus Storee, Rep. Fish. Mass. 124, 1839; De Kay, N. Y. 



Fauna, Fishes, 279, pi. 43, fig. 138, 1842; Storee, Hist. Fish. Mass. 177, 



pi. XXVIII, fig. 1, 1867. 



