TEE BONT FISHES. 163 



to the hake {Merlucius Ulinearis), the haddock (Melano- 

 arammus mglefinus, Pig. 167) and cod {Gadus morrhua, 

 Fig. 168), all of which extend northwards from Cape Hat- 

 teras, the cod abounding on both sides of the Atlantic, 

 being a circumpolar fish. The cod does not, as formerly 

 supposed, migrate along the coast, but seeks the cool tem- 

 perature to which it is adapted by gradually passing in the 

 early summer from shallow to deep water, and returning as 

 the season grows colder. It visits the shallow water of 

 Massachusetts Bay to spawn about the first of NoTember, 

 and towards the last of the month deposits its eggs. About 

 eight or nine millions of eggs are annually deposited by 



FiQ. 167.— The Haddock, Melanogrammus mgUflrvas. 



each female. The eggs laid by the cod rise to the surface 

 of the water, on which they float. The young fish hatch 

 on the New England coast in twenty days after they are ex- 

 truded. 



The cod is the most important of all the food-fishes, 

 whether we consirl'^r the number taken or the amount of 

 capital involved in the cod-fishery. It abounds most on the 

 Grand Banks of ^Newfoundland. The breeding habits of 

 the haddock, hake, and pollock are probably like those of 

 the cod. 



At the head of the TeUocephali stand the flounders, hali- 

 but, and solesj which eire an extremely modified typeof the 



