258 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Two Gadoids, a group so interwoven with the fortunes of the 

 British Fisheries, are alluded to in this fasciculus, viz. Pollachius 

 brandti, Hilgend, the Madara or Common Codfish of Japan, and 

 Theragra chalcogramma, a lean Gadoid. The former is found in 

 latitudes above 40° N. on rough ground, the most important 

 fishery being off the west coast of Hokkaido. It attains a length 

 of 4-7 ft. and a weight of 38 lbs. It is chiefly used in the dried 

 state, and the roes are also salted and dried. It spawns in 

 January and February, and the pelagic eggs are 1*4 mm. in 

 diameter, and are hatched in thirteen days at a temperature of 

 44*6° F. (7° C), and therefore in this respect do not differ much 

 from the British Cod. It is captured mainly by gill-nets and 

 trawl-lines somewhat after the fashion of those on our own coast. 

 Statistics are not given up to date, but, in 1901, 6,175,000 lbs. 

 was the total catch. It will be interesting for future naturalists 

 to watch the progress of this fishery in Japan, surrounded as it 

 is by sea like Britain, and with the vast North and South Pacific 

 oceans in continuity. History will probably repeat itself as the 

 fishing industry in Japan extends. 



The other Gadoid or Suketo-dara (Theragra), the Alaska 

 Pollack, is a deep-water fish somewhat like a Whiting, though 

 the tips of the pelvics are longer and the first anal short. It is 

 a valuable food-fish widely diffused through the North Pacific, 

 attains a length of two feet, and is the cause of important 

 fisheries off the Japanese coasts. In 1895 the total catch was 

 11,717,690 lbs. It would have been instructive if the authors had 

 added statistics of this and other food-fishes up to date, but per- 

 haps such were not available. The Alaska Pollack spawns in 

 the shallow waters in April, but no mention is made of the eggs, 

 which are probably pelagic. It is captured by similar methods 

 to the former. 



The last of the series is the so-called " Dolphin" or Dorado 

 (Coryphcena hippuris, L.), a fairly large, swift, predaceous fish 

 well known in all warm seas, but which does not seem to reach 

 so large a size (6 ft.) as in other seas, the Japanese form being 

 3£ ft. and having a weight of 13-15 lbs., for it is not indicated that 

 capture of the smaller forms is preferred for economic purposes, 

 as in the case of the Tunny. It is esteemed both in the fresh 

 and the salted condition, and is as popular in Western Japan as 



