OADID^. 



223 



SUBBRACHIAL 



MALACOPTERYGn. 



GADII)^. 



&t^ 



THE AMERICAN HADDOCK. 



Morrhua ^glcfinis ; Cuvier. 



The distinctive coloring of this fish is blackish brown above, and 

 silvery gray below the lateral line, which is jet black. The back and 

 sides are varied by purplish and golden gleams ; there is a large dark 

 vertical patch posterior to the pectorals, crossing the lateral line. 



The fins are dusky blue. 



The body of the Haddock is stout, anteriorly, and tapering back- 

 ward. The head large and arched. The eyes are large. The lower 

 jaw is the shortest ; the teeth small, in a single row on each jaw ; a 

 single small barbel on the chin. 



It has three dorsals, the first and third triangular, the second long- 

 est, respectively of fifteen, twenty-two and twenty rays. The pecto- 

 rals have twenty-one, the ventrals sixteen, the two anals respectively 

 twenty-five and twenty-one, and the caudal thirty-four rays. 



The range of the Haddock is similar to that of the Cod ; it is very 

 abundant, and is about equal in estimation as an article of food with 

 its congeners. 



