FISHES. 621 
frequents the same localities, and is caught with long lines baited 
usually with mussels ; the old fish keep close in shore, and are only 
got with herring bait. In the village of Findhorn, Morayshire, large 
numbers of haddocks are dried and smoked with fumes of hard wood 
and sawdust. Hence the term ‘“ Finnan haddies,” an article in such 
request at a Scottish breakfast. The village of Findhorn affords a 
very small portion of the haddocks sold as such, but the true “ Fin- 
nans” are supposed to have the finest flavour. 
The Whiting, Merlangus vulgaris (Fig. 392), by some amateurs 
-considered the most delicate of all the Gadide, is plentiful all round 
our coast. It spawns in March, and the eggs are quickly hatched. It 
prefers a sandy shore, and is usually found some miles from the coast. 
It is a small fish, rarely exceeding twelve inches long, and seldom 
reaching two pounds 1 in weight. The whiting is long in the body, 
clothed with very small, thin, and round scales; its dorsgl fins are, 
like the cod’s, three in number ; it is without barbels ; its upper jaw 
projects over ‘the lower 3 It is of a silvery white, sometimes relieved 
by an olive tint, which is contrasted upon the back by the blackish 
tint which distinguishes the pectoral and caudal fins, and by a black 
spot which some individuals have at the junction of the pectorals with 
the body. 
The whiting inhabits the seas which wash the whole European 
coast, often approaching the shore in shoals, and are taken annually 
in great numbers. 
VI.—ACANTHOPTERYGEA. 
The number of fishes belonging to this sub-order, which may be 
regarded as the most typical of the class, is exceedingly great. The 
families are also, as might be expected, very numerous. The first of 
these we will mention is the Az/ostomide, in which the bones of the 
face are drawn out into a longish tube at the end of which is the 
small mouth. Of this family, Fistwlaria tabacaria (Fig. 393) may be 
considered the type. The tube of the muzzle is long and flat, and 
from the caudal fin springs a terminal filament nearly as long as the 
body. This species of pipe-fish is common at the Antilles; it 
attains the length of about three feet, but its flesh is leathery and 
insipid. It feeds upon crustaceans and small fishes, which it drags 
from the interstices of the rocks and stones by means ‘of its long and 
taper snout. 
The TZrachinide, known in England as the Weevers, form 
another family. They are characterised by their very compressed 
head and the strong spines of the operculum. They are elongated 
