FISHES. 271 



St. Lawrence, and in the Bay of Chaleuv." In the eastern Atlantic its range is com- 

 paratively more extended, and more nearly coincident with that of the cod. According 

 to Mr. Goode, " remarkable variations in the abundance of this fish are upon record ; 

 at certain times they have been exceedingly rare, at others abundant in the extreme. 

 They appear to be much more gregarious than the cod-fish, and to swim together in 

 large schools from place to place." 



As to its food, there is little difference between the haddock and the cod. Most 

 sea animals are acceptable, and Prof. Verrill has said that " a complete list of the ani- 

 mals devoured by the haddock would doubtless include all the molluscs belonging to 

 the fauna of New England." One difference between the haddock and the cod, how- 

 ever, is stated to be that while " salted menhaden is a favorite bait for haddock," it is 

 " not desirable for cod ; " but " both cod and haddock will readily take stale clams, 

 which are much better for bait than fresh ones." 



The haddock spawns on " rocky bottoms in the German Ocean in February and 

 early March, at a dejjth of twenty-two to twenty-five fathoms," and about Cape Ann 

 "begins about the middle of April, and continues during nearly three months, the 

 height of the season being in May," according to Mr. Earll. The haddock being 

 smaller than the cod, the number of its eggs is less. In one of nearly ten pounds, 

 1,839,581 eggs were calculated, while one of two pounds and a half yielded only 

 about 169,050. 



The haddock is held in considerable favor as a food fish, and the demand seems to 

 have increased of late years. " It is especially desirable for boiling, or for making 

 chowders, and is a great favorite in Boston, while in Philadelphia enormous quantities 

 are yearly consumed." It is also cured by smoking in the " Scotch method," which 

 has been introduced into the United States. " Finnan Haddies are manufactured in 

 enormous quantities in Portland and Boston. At Provincetown, a haddock salted 

 and dried after being split is called by the name ' skulljoe,' or ' scoodlo.' " 



Another important Gadid is the pollock, Pollachius virens. This has the lower 

 jaw projecting beyond the upper and the barbel is small, or entirely absent ; the color 

 is greenish-brown above, even inclining to blackish ; the sides and inferior regicSn are 

 of a silvery hue, and the lateral line whitish. Pollock is the chief name by which it 

 known in America. It has a very large number of appelatives in England ; nearly 

 one hundred have been enumerated, but the one most in use appears to be coal-fish. 

 It is intermediate in size between the haddock and cod-fish, the average being probably 

 not far from ten to twelve pounds, but individuals of twenty and even of thirty 

 pounds are by no means uncommon. Its geographical range is peculiar, extending 

 northward nearly as far as the cod, and southward it is said to enter the Mediterra- 

 nean, but is very rare in that sea. It also rarely enters the Baltic. It is confined to 

 the Atlantic, but represented by a related form in the North Pacific. In the words 

 of Mr. Goode, " unlike the cod and haddock, the pollock is, to a great extent, a sur- 

 face-swimming species. The fishes of this species congregate together in large 

 schools, roaming from place to place in search of food. To a certain extent they feed 

 at the bottom, like cod, but they are more often seen at the surface of the water, 

 where they prey upon young fish of all kinds." They are also much more prone to 

 approach close to the shore, and are frequently taken from the wharves and the shores 

 generally. 



The pollock's reproductive habits are essentially similar to those of the cod-fish. 

 The eggs are matured in October or November, and, consigned to the waves, float to 



