252 SALT-WATER FISHES 



so as to expose the scales, which are scarcely visible in life. 

 There are also yellow reflections near the lateral line, which 

 likewise disappear after death. The barbel on the chin is 

 somewhat shorter than that of the cod, and the lower jaw 

 is somewhat the shorter, so that the snout projects. As in 

 all the genus, there are three fins on the back, the front one 

 being more pointed and triangular than in the cod. The 

 scales are small, and have bronze tints. 



The haddock is said to exceed 3 ft. in length and a 

 weight of 24 lb., but specimens of one quarter that weight 

 are rare at the fishmonger's. 



The distribution of the haddock in our seas appears to 

 be more local and less general than that of the cod, for it is, 

 except at irregular periods, comparatively rare in the English 

 Channel. It is most plentiful, from all accounts, on the east 

 coast of Scotland. 



The haddock has its largest teeth in the upper jaw, and 

 it feeds mostly on shell-fish (which has, however, nothing to 

 do with its German name of " Schellfisch "), worms, sand-stars, 

 and small fishes, and, as has already been mentioned, it 

 frequents the spawning-grounds of herrings to eat the spawn 

 in quantities. The females are, according to Cunningham, 

 nearly twice as numerous as the males, but rather smaller. 

 The haddock, which is said to reach maturity in its third 

 year, spawns on the Scotch coast in early spring and some miles 

 from land. Mcintosh and Masterman give the number of 

 eggs in a fish at from 170,000 to 2,000,000, and the egg is 

 nearly ^00 '^^- — l^^'ger therefore than that of the cod, and, 

 in fact, the largest of British gadoid eggs. It is also deposited 

 somewhat earlier in the year than the rest, though, as might 

 be expected, the earlier eggs take longer to develop than 

 those deposited later in the year, when the temperature is 

 higher. Except in its larger size, the egg so closely resembles 

 that of the cod as to be indistinguishable. The larva is also 

 very similar, though it lacks the dark transverse bands 



