HABITS OP THE HAKES. 235 



Habits. — Captain Atwood gives this account ot the Hake in Cape Cod Bay: "It is a ground 

 fish, found close to the bottom, and rarely comes to the surface. They are much more inclined to 

 take the hook by night than by day; are found on muddy bottoms, during the whole summer and 

 autumn, along the coast of Maine and Massachusetts. They yield a large quantity of oil, which 

 is used for the same purpose as that of the Pollock and Cod. The autumn finds them in the best 

 condition, and, if prepared with care, they are a tolerably good table fish." Captain Atwood has 

 known them to grow to the size of forty pounds, but the average in summer is only five to ten 

 pounds. 



Perley remarks that they are taken largely on muddy bottoms,, both in the Bay of Fundy and 

 in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, chiefly during the night, at which time they feed on the smaller 

 Crustacea; their stomachs are then generally found to be filled. Hake are frequently taken, in 

 the Gulf especially, measuring three feet in length. 



The Hakes appear to be bottom-loving fishes, and rarely change locality. They feed on 

 crustaceans, and occasionally indulge in a fish diet. One taken at Gloucester, in July, 1878, had a 

 menhaden in its stomach. 



It is believed that they spawn throughout the summer, for the young fish are found during 

 all the summer months, while specimens taken at the depth of thirty-seven fathoms, August 18, 

 1878, off Ipswich, at a temperature of 41° F., contained well-developed ova, and were apparently 

 ready to spawn. 



Uses. — An extensive fishery is carried on from Cape Ann for these fish in winter, and there are 

 sometimes as many as fifty vessels engaged. It was estimated in 1878 that the total quantity 

 landed at Gloucester was not far from 5,000,000 pounds. The fishing is carried on almost entirely 

 at night with the use of trawls, which are about the size of those used in the capture of Haddock. 



Hake are salted and dried in the same manner as Codfish, and are often sold under the name 

 of Codfish. Before the introduction of boneless fish it was sometimes difficult to sell them on 

 account of the difference in appearance, but at the present time great quantities of Hake are put 

 up in boxes under the trade name of "boneless fish," the qualifying word "Cod" being usually 

 omitted from the brands and labels. Hake are rarely eaten fresh. 



The air-bladder, or sound, of the Hake is of great commercial value, being used extensively in 

 the manufacture of isinglass ; great quantities of sounds are sent from the British Provinces to 

 the United States annually, sounds from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence being considered much better 

 than those from farther south. In 1880 New England produced 255,698 pounds of dried sounds, 

 worth $178,808. Massachusetts had eight isinglass and glue factories, employing one hundred 

 and eighty-two men and a capital of $315,000, and producing $450,000 worth of ribbon isinglass 

 and glue ia 1879. These sounds were for the most part derived from the Hake. 



Capt. Epes W. Merchant gave me the following account of hake-flshing at Gloucester in 1818: 

 "Hake used to come in September, October, and the first half of November, and then we would 

 get leady to go baking. Father would say, 'Go down, get your pork, and put on your squid-jig.' 

 We were always sure of bait; the boy would catch enough bait for three men; the squid were in 

 great schools. We used to lay out two nights and get fifteen or twenty quintals of Hake. These 

 were worth fifteen shillings per quintal, and we sold them in Boston for the West Indies trade." 



71. THE BURBOT— LOTA MACULOSA. 



By Taeleton H. Bean. 



Name. — The first name applied to the American Burbot was Gadus lota. This was used by 

 Pennant. Walbaum established the name Gadus lacustris for the Mathemeg, or Land Cod of Pen- 



