COD-FISH. 139 



supported by the enlarged nasal bones. In the less specialised 

 forms the mouth is terminal, the scales are cycloid, and the dorsal 

 tin is more or less continuous. 



In the Gadidae or Cod-like fishes the mouth is large and Gadidae. 

 terminal, bounded above by the premaxillary bones only; the 

 cheek-plates are much reduced, the gill-openings wide. In most 

 the suture between the two frontal bones has disappeared. The 

 pelvic fins are anterior to the pectorals (jugular position). The 

 dorsal fin occupies nearly the whole of the back, and in many 

 cases is divided up into two or three portions ; the anal fin in like 

 manner may be divided into two parts. The scales are small and 

 cycloid. The " Cod-fishes " and their allies chiefly inhabit the 

 north temperate and arctic seas, but the abyssal forms are of wide 

 distribution. The Burbot {Lota vulgaris, 483) occurs in, and is 

 confined to, fresh water. Many of the Gadoid fishes are valued as 

 food and form the basis of an important fishing industry in 

 European and North American seas, and a staple food of the 

 people in some of the northern lands. 



The Cod, Gadus morrhua, 476, is a most important food-fish; 

 the quantity landed annually at British ports alone is according to 

 the latest returns not less than 2,000,000 cwts., the value of 

 which is over £1,000,000. The Cod grows to a length of four 

 feet and may attain a weight of a hundred pounds. It is a 

 northern fish and does not occur nearer the equator than 

 40° N. lat. The British forms are greenish or brownish olive, 

 with numerous spots, but the more northern forms are darker in 

 colour and without or with fewer spots. Cod are caught, by 

 means of lines and trawls, at any depth down to 120 fathoms. 

 The fishes are kept in ice and sent to market as fresh fish, or they 

 are salted. Most of the salted Cod consumed during the Lent 

 season comes from Newfoundland. The liver of the Cod yields a 

 readily digested oil of great value in the treatment of emaciated 

 patients, those suffering from lung complaints benefiting especially. 

 The preparation of cod-liver oil is an important industry on the 

 Norwegian coast ; the name of the oil must not be taken too 

 literally, for the livers of all species of Gadus, not the Cod only, 

 are used as a source of it. 



The tail of the Cod, although externally similar to that of most 



Cod. 



