GADID^. 301 



B. viJ, D. 10/36-40, P. 14, V. 7, A. 36-38, C. 22, Coec. pyl. 1, Vert. 25/26. 



Length of head 3| to 4^, of caudal fin 6j to 6|, height of body 6j to 8 in the 

 total length. Eye — diameter 5^ to 7 in the length of the head, 2 to 2^ diameters 

 from the end of the snout, and 1| to 2 apart. Head flattened above. Mouth 

 deeply cleft : the lower jaw slightly the longer : the posterior extremity of the 

 maxilla reaches to beneath the middle or hind edge of the orbit. No barbel 

 below the chin. Teeth — large, acicular, in two rows, the inner of which is the 

 larger, while the anterior ones are more movable than the posterior ones. In a 

 V-shaped band on the vomer, none on the palatines or tongue. Fins — the first 

 dorsal triangular, commencing above the base of the pectoral, its third ray 

 the longest and equalling two-thirds the height of the body below it : a slight 

 interspace between it and the base of the second dorsal, which anteriorly is less 

 than the height of the first dorsal, while it reaches almost to the base of the 

 caudal : its first 20 to 24 rays are of about equal height, then they increase 

 for four or five rays and subsequently rapidly decrease, so as to occasion the last 

 portion of the fin to form a rounded elevation. Pectoral as long as the head 

 excluding the snout. Ventral inserted on the throat a short distance in front of 

 the pectoral : its second ray exceeding half the length of the head. Anal com- 

 mences on a vertical line beneath the third or fourth ray of the second dorsal 

 and terminates below the end of the base of that fin. Caudal square at its 

 extremity. A single short coecal appendage. The vent is situated on a vertical 

 line beneath the anterior rays of the second dorsal fin. Scales — rather small : 

 some on the gill covers and upper surface of the head. Lateral-line — nearly 

 straight. Colours — grayish along the back, becoming lighter on the sides aad 

 beneath : a purplish tint over the head and along the back. Pins dusky : base 

 of pectoral, inner ventral rays, and anal straw-coloured. A small black spot 

 often present at the upper part of the base of the pectoral. Inner surface of 

 mouth and gill cavities black. 



Varieties. — Merluccius argentatus, from Iceland, is said to have the inside of 

 its mouth white instead of black, and the second dorsal and anal fins notched 

 about their centres. 



Names. — The hake, said to be sold in London as Cornish sahnon. Cegddu, 

 Welsh. It has also been termed herring -hake ; merluce, or sea-luce, or sea-pike. 

 De stokvisch, Dutch. Le merlus ordinaire, Prench. 



This fish is one that has been employed in heraldry and figures in the 

 armorial bearings of several families. 



Hakes-teeth have been recorded as present in various soundings in charts of 

 the sea ; they consist mostly of a species of Dentalium, a shell having the 

 popular name of " dog's teeth," and do not pertain to any fish. 



Habits.— T^he, hake is a night feeder, keeping quiet at the sea bottom at day- 

 time. It is a bold and ravenous fish, a great wanderer, and rather uncertain in 

 its movements, which seem to be sometimes due to its being chased by sharks, 

 porpoises, and other voracious inhabitants of the deep. It is very fearless 

 and will take fish out of the nets which appear alight with phosphorus, and are 

 often entangled by their teeth in the nets. Seasons, and the presence or absence 

 of food likewise aifect the localities wherein it lives : thus during the summer 

 it is often taken in bays, but in the winter more commonly in deep waters. It 

 accompanies shoals of mackerel, herrings, pilchards, sprats, and anchovies, on 

 which it feeds, and Couch alludes to seventeen of the latter having been taken 

 from the stomach of one of these fishes. When food is scarce it will eat the 

 sea-lice. Although present all the year round, it is in the autumn and winter 

 months that the largest takes are made. In October during the present year 

 (1881) the fisheries in Cornwall took more than in the preceding months, and 

 the numbers augmented to the end of the year, besides becoming pretty plentiful 

 off Devonshire, where during the commencement of January they occasionally 

 are a glut in the market, but at the end of that month or in Pebruary begin 

 to go off their feed due to spawning. In Donegal Bay hake-fishing com- 

 mences in the month of September. In Devonshire and along the S.W. coast 



