146 



COAL-FISH. 



times varies : il is of a moderately long and elegant 

 shape, with a small head, sharpened snout, and 

 lower jaw exceeding the upper in length : when 

 full grown the head, dorsal fms, tail, and upper 

 parts of the body are of a dusky black, which 

 gradually softens into a silvery tinge as it ap- 

 proaches the abdomen : the lateral line is strait 

 and white : the mouth is rather small, and black 

 on the inside, though the tongue is of a bright silver- 

 colour : the body is covered with small, thin scales, 

 and the jugular and pectoral fins are generally of a 

 pale colour : the tail is pretty large and forked. 



The Coal-fish is an inhabitant of the Baltic, the 

 Northern, and Mediterranean seas: it is common 

 on most of our rocky and deep coasts, but parti- 

 cularly on those of Scotland and the Orkneys, where, 

 according to Mr. Pennant, it swarms, and where the 

 young or fry forms a great part of the support of 

 the poor. In July, according to the same author, 

 the young begin to appear in vast shoals on the 

 coast of Yorkshire, and are at that time about an 

 inch and half long : in August they are from three 

 to five inches in length, and are taken in great 

 numbers with the angling rod, and are then esteemed 

 a very delicate fish, but when about a year old are so 

 coarse that few people will eat them : at this period 

 they are above fifteen inches in length, and begin 

 to blacken on the gills and back; the blackness 

 increasing with their age : the fry of the Coal-fish 

 is known by different names in different places : at 

 Scarborough the young are called Parrs, and when 

 a year old, Billets: at that place such swarms have 



