GADOIDEiE. 241 



MALACOPTERYGII SUB-BRACHIATI. 



GADOIDE.E. 



The third order of fish in Cuvier's arrangement is named Jugular, from the for- 

 ward position of the ventrals under the pectorals, and comprehends all the soft- 

 finned fish which have the pelvis attached directly to the humeral bones. It 

 includes the Linnean genera gadus, pleuronectes, cyelopterus, and echeneis, which 

 are raised to the rank of families in the Regne Animal. — The Gadoidece are most 

 abundant in the northern seas, some species being plentiful in the highest latitudes 

 to which navigators have penetrated, but few, comparatively, are known to exist 

 within or near the tropics. Most of the family are agreeable articles of food, and 

 their capture finds employment for myriads of fishermen, and investment for a very 

 large capital. A large portion of the Gadoidece are mentioned by authors as 

 common to both sides of the North Atlantic, and even to the Icy Sea and sea of 

 Kamtschatka ; but there is much reason to believe that the specific identity of fish 

 of this family, inhabiting distant localities, has been very often inferred from a 

 recollection of the general resemblance of the type, rather than from an actual 

 comparison of the specimens. The lists furnished by Fabricius and the ichthy- 

 ologists of the United States seem particularly to require revision. The following 

 have been mentioned as frequenting the coast of the latter country, but I think it 

 probable that several of them are different from the European species whose names 

 they now bear. MorrhUjE. — Gadus morrhua, Bank cod, Penn., Mitchill; 

 G. callarias, Dorse, common cod of New York, Mitchill; G. rupestris, Rock- 

 cod, Smith (G. callarias, var. Mitch.) ; G. arenosus, Shoal-cod, Smith; (G. 

 callarias, var. Mitch.) ; G. tomcod, Schoepf (G. tomcodus, Mitchill) ; G. cegle- 

 jinus, Penn., Mitch. ; G. fasciatus, Frost-fish, Penn. (G. fuscus, Smith, G. 

 tomcodus, pruinosus, Mitchill) ; G. blennoides, Blennoid cod, Mitch. Mer- 

 langi. — Merlangus vulgaris, Whiting, Smith ; Gadus albidus, New York 

 Whiting, Mitchill ; Gadus purpureus, New York Pollack, Mitchill ; Merlan- 

 gus pollachius, Pollock, Smith. Merluccii. — Gadus merluccius, Hake, Mitch., 

 Smith. Lot^e. — Gadus maculosus vel maculosa, Le Sueur ; G. compressus 

 vel Molva Huntia, Le Sueur. Brosmii. — Brosmius vulgaris, Cusk, Smith. 



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