DORSE. 



Gadus Callarias. G. cinereus subtus albus, capite corporeque 

 fusco-maculatis, cauda Integra, maxilla superiore longiore. 



Cinereous Gaduc, white beneath, with head and body spotted 

 with brown, even tail, and upper jaw longest 



Gadus Callarias. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 436*. 



Gadus linea laterali lata senea maculataque. Blocli. pL 63. 



The Dorse. 



This is a somewhat smaller species than the 

 Haddock, those which are usually taken rarely 

 exceeding the weight of two pounds. 



The head is smaller than that of the Haddock, 

 and is marked by several spots, which in the 

 summer are generally brown, and in the winter 

 black: the general colour of the fish is cinereous 

 above, and white beneath, several brown spots 

 being scattered over the body, which, in the young 

 fish, are often of an orange-colour : the scales are 

 small, thin, and soft : the upper jaw is longer than 

 the lower, and is furnished with more rows of teeth ; 

 at the tip of the lower jaw is a cirrus or beard. 



The Dorse is a native of the Northern seas, as 

 well as of the Mediterranean and the Baltic. It is 

 taken both by the line and the net, and is highly 

 esteemed as an article of food. It lives, like most 

 others of this genus, on the smaller fishes, and sea- 

 insects. Instances are adduced by authors in which 

 this fish, like the Haddock, has been found greatly 

 to exceed the usual size, and to weigh seven^ eight, 

 ten, or even fourteen pounds. It spawns in the 

 month of February. 



