252 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



[100.] 1. Gadus (Brosmius) flavescens. (Le Sueur.) Yellow tusk. 



Family, Gadoideae. Cuv. Genus, Gadus. Linn. Sub-genus, Brosmius. Cuv. 

 Le Brosme jaune {Brosmerus flavescens). Lh Sueur, Mem. du Mus., v. p. 158. 



An. 1817. PI. 16, f. 2. 

 Tusk, or Cusk. Newfoundland Fishermen. 



The brosmii, or tusks, have only a single long dorsal. — Fabricius refers the 

 neyorpalloogak of the Green landers to this sub-genus, but as he did not see the 

 fish himself, and gives no description of it, we have no means of judging how far 

 it agrees with the Yellow tusk, which inhabits the banks of Newfoundland spar- 

 ingly. M. Le Sueur, who is our sole authority for the latter as a distinct species, 

 does not say whether or not it is the same with the cusk of the Massachusetts 

 coast, which Dr. J. V. C. Smith refers to the brosmius vulgaris. In the Yellow 

 tusk the lower jaw is longer than the upper one, but in the Common tusk the upper 

 jaw is the longest. The following is M. Le Sueur's description of the Newfound- 

 land species. 



Colour, generally, an agreeable yellow, the dorsal, pectoral, and anal, edged with black 

 and white. The very thick skin is furnished with small, round, crowded scales, very irre- 

 gularly placed. The lateral line is arched above the pectorals. Form. — The body is long, 

 broadest next the head, and compressed towards the tail. The head broad and flat, the 

 snout obtuse and rounded. The eye large and oblique, the lower jaw has two barbels. The 

 orifice of the mouth is wide. The teeth on the jaws and palate are sharp, with the points 

 turned backwards, and are crowded into many rows. The pharyngeal bones, above and 

 below, are toothed, and the branchial arches are armed on the sides with little tubercles 

 studded with strong conical curved teeth. Fins. — Br. 7 ; P. 25; V. 6. The dorsal and 

 anal are very long, and their rays consequently numerous, as is the case also with the caudal, 

 which is of a large size. The length of the specimen was two feet. Le Sueur, I. c. 



Fabricius mentions one other species of gadus as an inhabitant of the Green- 

 land seas, the akooleedkeetsok, which he supposes to be the merluccius, or hake, 

 but this reference must be very uncertain, as his knowledge of the fish was derived 

 solely from the reports of the natives. 



