THE COD FAMILY. 259 



There is scarcely a gap in the sequence of stages ob- 

 served from larval to post-larval forms. In the latter stage 

 the whiting probably closely resembles its congeners the cod 

 and haddock, the brighter colours which are possibly more 

 prominent in the former, being mostly lost before the little 

 fishes come under observation. The pressure to which these 

 minute and delicate forms are subjected in the deeper nets — 

 especially amongst crowds of jelly-fishes — alone would suffice 

 to alter their external characters, and the handling of the 

 heavily laden net increases the injuries. 



At the length of 9 mm. ('35 to '47 inch), the young whiting 

 can be distinguished, and great numbers occur in July and 

 August in the mid-water net 25-30 miles south-east of the 

 Island of May. About this length the dorsal and anal fins 

 form a continuous web with only embryonic rays, but the caudal 

 has its permanent rays developing distinctly, and in a some- 

 what symmetrical manner above and below the tip of the 

 notochord, which here passes straight backwards to the middle 

 of the tail. In spirit, a considerable amount of black pigment 

 occurs on the dorsum of the head, and some at the tip of 

 the snout. On each side of the dorsal median fin a bold line 

 of the same pigment stretches from above the pectorals to the 

 base of the tail, the line along each side of the ventral median 

 fin being much less distinct, though the broad band of black 

 chromatophores which runs backwards above this is more 

 conspicuous than that on the side below the dorsal black line. 

 The lateral pigment is mostly in a single and comparatively 

 short line of chromatophores, whereas the lateral ventral is 

 formed of two or three irregularly distributed from above 

 downward, and is longer. Ventrally a line of chromatophores 

 follows the mandible on each side ; part of a /y is similarly 

 outlined on the hyoid, a group occurs below and in front of 

 the breast-fin, and a median stripe runs along the abdomen. 



Between the foregoing series and 11 mm. permanent rays 

 appear in the dorsal and anal fins, the first dorsal being 

 somewhat behind the others in developing them, a feature of 

 considerable interest. The larval fin, however, still joins the 

 various parts to each other and to the tail. The breast-fins are 



17—2 



