296 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



With the. approach of spring one boat after the other weighs anchor 

 and leaves the Lof oden Islands for home, richly loaded with the treasures 

 of the deep. 



Though the spoils thus wrung from the seas of the Lofoden Islands 

 are of immense value, they are inconsiderable as compared with those 

 obtained on the Banks of Newfoundland. Here at the approach of the 

 warm season about 20,000 ships, manned by about 150,000 men, 

 assemble for the cod fishery, the annual takings being valued at about 

 15,000,000 dollars. 



C. Reproduction. 



Why do the cod assemble in these waters at definite times and in 

 such immeasurable numbers ? Is it for the purpose of spawning in the 

 shallow waters like the herring ? Evidently not, since the eggs of the cod 

 are lighter than the water, and consequently float near or at the surface. 

 They can therefore be deposited in the open sea (compare, on the other 

 hand, with herring). The reason of these annual assemblies is a different 

 one ; the cod, in fact, frequents these localities because they supply it 

 with a superabundance of — 



D. Food. 



This at the Lofoden Islands consists principally of the herring, and 

 in Newfoundland chiefly of a salmon-like fish, the capelin (Mallotus 

 villosus). It is the presence in these places of these fish in large 

 quantities that attracts the cod, their most active pursuer, to the same 

 localities ; whilst both the herring and the mallotus resort hither because 

 they find a rich abundance of their own particular food, the small marine 

 crustaceans. The predatory habit of the cod may be seen, as it were, 

 in its face. 



(a) It is a large and powerful fish. Cod-fish taken in the open sea, 

 on an average, weigh about 44 pounds, in exceptional cases even 

 1 hundredweight. The cod of the Baltic Sea reaches a length of from 

 16 to 20 inches, and weighs from 4 to 9 pounds. 



(b) The elongated body of the cod sufficiently marks it out as a rapid 

 swimmer. (Compare pike ; why is rapid swimming necessary ?) The 

 back and sides are generally of a greenish or brown colour, and sprinkled 

 with dark spots. The belly is white. It has three dorsal and two anal 

 fins. 



(c) The mouth is wide and armed with numerous fine teeth (see pike). 

 The lower jaw is furnished with a small tactile filament (barbel ; see 

 carp). 



