GADIDiE. 291 



Lateral-line — commences opposite the upper edge of the opercle, and curves 

 gently downwards, from opposite the anterior half of the second dorsal it goes 

 direct to the centre of the base of the caudal. The vent is situated beneath the 

 middle of the first dorsal fin. Colours — back greenish gray or yellowish, becoming 

 silvery on the sides and beneath ; in the fresh state several yellow lines pass along 

 the sides. A bluish-black blotch exists in the axil of the pectoral fin. Vertical 

 fins dark in their outer two-thirds. 



Varieties — in colour. — The axillary spot is occasionally little marked or even 

 entirely absent. 



Names. — Whiting pronounced fittin in Scotland. Cuideag pronounced 

 cuitschach in the Moray Firth (Gordon). Whiting-mop, "a young whiting" 

 (Halliwell). At Aberdeen those found in June and July are termed dargs (Sim). 

 De Wijting, Dutch. Le merlan commun, French. 



Habits. — It appears in the spring in large shoals, and though delighting in 

 sandy bays where young fish abound, it seems to be shy, and mostly keeps from 

 half a mile to three miles from the shore, in spring time hanging about the 

 more distant rocks : even during the warm summer months it often keeps two or 

 three miles from the coast. In Cornwall it swarms into the bays in autumn to 

 feed on yonng pilchards which are from 3 to 4 inches long. It appears to be very 

 susceptible to the influence of cold, thus Couch gives an instance how numbers 

 were off the Cornish coast during the month of February, the largest being full of 

 roe, when the wind changed to the north, and the thermometer fell from 47° to 

 44°, and notwithstanding the weather continued moderate, all the adult fish at 

 once retired to deeper water. In the Moray Firth it is said to be most abundant 

 in May and June, but in the best condition during November and December 

 (Gordon). It is a voracious feeder, subsisting on small fish, Crustacea, and any 

 animal substances it can obtain. Yarrell took several sprats from inside one, 

 and Couch some pilchards. Mr. Gosden found in one a female broad-tailed 

 lobster, Scylnrus arctus. 



Means of capture. — Whiffing when it gives good sport, especially during 

 rough weather : it is likewise taken by the trawl. It bites best early in the 

 morning or in the evening. It will rise by moonlight into midwater after its 

 prey. 



Baits. — Common mussels, a slice of the herring or cuttle, but it generally 

 prefers living pi'ey. 



Breeding. — It spawns in March not far from the shore. 



Hermaphrodites have been recorded by Yarrell (Pro. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 91). 

 As food. — It is much esteemed, more so perhaps than any other species of 

 the genus, being very easy of digestion. It is in the best condition from 

 November, not being so deleteriously affected by breeding as the other gadoids, 

 therefore eaten throughout the year, but being somewhat out of condition during 

 April, May and June, invalids should avoid them, as they are apt to occasion 

 nausea and even vomiting. It has to be disembowelled prior to being 

 transmitted to inland markets or it rapidly decomposes, and is best when 

 eaten immediately after being captured. Whiting may be fried, filletted, boiled 

 or baked. A considerable portion of these fish are salted or dried when the takes 

 are in excess of the demand. Small ones salted and dried are termed buckoni 

 from Dartmouth to Cornwall. 



Habitat. — Off Scandinavia and in the northern seas, the German Ocean, and 

 along the Atlantic coasts of Europe to the Mediterranean, where it is likewise 

 widely distributed, if Oadus euxinus is the same species as suggested by 

 Bteindachner (Sitz. Ab. Wiss. Wien. 1868, lvii, p. 703). 



It is distributed around the British shores, but the largest quantities are 

 obtained off the south coast, especially in the vicinity of Plymouth, while very 

 fine ones from 21b. to 3 lb. each are got Erom Dartmouth. In the Orkneys Low 

 observed upon having seen this species caught once or twice, but he concluded 

 that it could scarcely bear the rough gusts of the winter seas, being a delicate fish. 

 When haddock are caught in any quantities, whiting are taken in numbers. 

 Orkney and Zetland m>t common (Baikie) : at Banff often captured, but not so 



19* 



