156 
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP FISHERIES 
Spawning takes place late in the fall and early in the winter along the New England coast. The 
eggs are reported (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925, p. 405) 10 to be numerous, as many as 4,000,000 from 
a fish weighing 23J^ pounds, about 1.15 millimeters in diameter, and bouyant, hatching in nine 
days at a temperature of 43° F. The newly hatched larvae are about 3.4 to 3.8 millimeters in 
length. Young fish from 25 to 30 millimeters in length show most of the characters of the adult. 
Young hatched in the winter in the Gulf of Maine attain a length of 1 to 2 inches by spring 
and 3 to 5 inches by late fall. The second spring, or when they are a little more than 1 year old, 
they are 5 to 6 inches long. At Provincetown, on June 26, 1925, we secured numerous young 
125 to 140 millimeters (5 to 5J^ inches) in length, apparently about 1)^ years old. 
On our side of the Atlantic pollock are most abundant from Woods Hole, Mass., to Cape 
Breton, and within this region about 40,000,000 pounds are caught and marketed annually. From 
eastern Long Island to New Jersey it occurs in small numbers, but below Cape May apparently it 
is only a straggler. 
A pollock 44 inches in length and weighing 36 pounds, taken in the Gulf of Maine by the junior 
author, is the largest of which we have record. The average length, however, is from 2 to 3 feet, 
with a weight of 4 to 15 pounds, few exceeding a length of 40 inches or a weight of 30 pounds. The 
pollock is an active swimmer, occupying any or all levels between the surface and the bottom, and 
sometimes it schools. A small part of the catch is salted, and in that state the pollock is said to be 
as good as or better than cod. 
Habitat . — Both sides of the North Atlantic; on the American coast from Hudson Bay and Davis 
Straits to Cape Lookout, N. C., chiefly between Narragansett Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
Dr. Russell J. Coles (in Copeia, No. 151, Feb. 25, 1926) reports the capture of a 10-inch pollock at 
Cape Lookout, N. C., on February 13, 1925. This establishes the most southerly record for the 
species. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: None. (6) Specimens in collection: None; a 
single 12-inch individual is mentioned in the unpublished notes of Dr. W. C. Kendall, this specimen 
having been taken in a pound on March 26, 1894, at Buckroe Beach, Va. 
55. Genus GADUS Linnaeus. Cods 
Body moderately elongate, compressed posteriorly, and tapering to the rather slender peduncle; 
head large, becoming narrower anteriorly; mouth large; upper jaw projecting; teeth on jaws and 
vomer; a barbel on chin; lateral line pale; scales very small; dorsal fins 3; anal fins 2; ventral fins with 
seven rays. 
73. Gadus callarias Linnaeus. Cod. 
Gadus collarias Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 252; European seas. Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2541, PI. 
CCCLXI, fig. 891. 
Head 3.53 to 3.76; depth 4.74 to 5.14; D. 13 or 14 — 19 to 22 — 18 or 19; A. 20 to 22 — 17; scales 
150 to 170. Body elongate, slightly compressed, tapering posteriorly; head conical; snout 2.70 to 
2.90 in head; eye 5 to 5.76; interorbital convex, 3.67 to 4.28 in head; mouth horizontal; upper jaw 
and snout projecting; maxillary reaching anterior third of eye, 2.32 to 2.52 in head; teeth small, 
pointed, cardiform, in bands, present on jaws and vomer, those of outer row of upper jaw and inner 
row of lower jaw somewhat enlarged; chin barbel about equal to diameter of eye; gill rakers moderate, 
length less than diameter of pupil, 15 or 16 on lower limb of first arch (excluding rudiments); scales 
very small, cycloid; dorsal fins separate, the first the highest, outer margin convex; second and third 
tapering gradually posteriorly, outer margins nearly straight; caudal truncate or slightly emarginate; 
anal fins separate, tapering posteriorly, outer margins nearly straight; ventrals inserted below 
posterior margin of gill cover, slightly in advance of pectorals, the first ray slightly filamentous, 
the second ray more so, 2.40 to 2.95 in head, without filament; pectorals moderate, 1.86 to 2 in 
head. 11 
10 For a detailed account of the pollock, see Bigelow and Welsh, 1925, pp. 396-406. 
u For an account of the cod see Bigelow and Welsh (1925, pp. 409-4301. 
