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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
and Welsh (1925, p. 449), the young fish are pelagic until 2 to 4 inches long, individuals as small as 
2 inches having been taken on the bottom and as large as 4 inches on the surface. 
The ling is found on muddy or sandy bottom (rarely in rocky places), at all depths down to 
the deepest parts in the Gulf of Maine. During the summer it is taken in moderate and deep 
water, but in the fall it moves inshore. Whether there is a north and south migration is not known, 
but it is certain that along the New Jersey coast ling are almost entirely absent during the summer, 
appearing in vast numbers in November, however. Throughout New York Bay they are caught 
from docks and small boats anchored a few hundred feet from shore. They disappear from the 
immediate shores during the winter, but reappear in April, when they are distended with spawn. 
They remain close inshore only a short period, but are caught 2 to 6 miles off at least until late 
May. On the Cholera Bank, 12 miles south from Long Beach, Long Island, ling are sometimes 
abundant in July at a time when they have virtually forsaken the shore waters. The evidence 
seems to indicate that the migration is an inland-offshore one, particularly in the southern parts of 
its range, where the shore waters no doubt become uncomfortably warm during the summer. 
It is of interest to note that all ling that we have seen in the Chesapeake have been taken either 
with offshore pound nets or with the beam trawls of the Fish Hawk and Albatross from Cape Henry 
to Bloody Point, off Annapolis, and not one specimen has been taken along the shores. A few fish 
12 inches or less in length are mentioned in our field notes as occurring in catches of pound nets at 
Ocean View between November 15 and December 5, 1921. However, all fish taken in the beam 
trawl were caught between March 7 and May 23 of various years, and none of these fish exceeded 
12 inches in length. It is reasonably certain, therefore, that the ling does not spawn in Chesa- 
peake Bay, that adult fish are uncommon, and that young from 2 or 3 to 8 or 9 inches long enter the 
bay late in the fall or in the spring and leave for offshore waters by early June. 
Assuming that the ling spawns off the coasts of Maryland and New Jersey as early or some- 
what earlier than off Woods Hole, Mass., the larvre living nearest Chesapeake Bay begin their 
existence in June or July. Young trawled in Chesapeake Bay were 97 to 134 millimeters (3.8 to 
5.2 inches) in March, 81 to 126 millimeters (3.2 to 5 inches) in April, and 111 to 169 millimeters 
(4.3 to 6.6 inches) in May. At this rate of growth they would probably reach the length of 6 to 7 
inches given for yearlings by Bigelow and Welsh (1925, p. 457). 
Ling of marketable size are too scarce to be of commercial importance in the Chesapeake, and 
the very small catch is utilized by the fishermen themselves. From New Jersey northward this 
ling is an important market fish; and in the Gulf of Maine, where it is taken together and marketed 
with the white hake (both the ling and white hake are called “hake” in New England and are 
not separated), an annual catch of 20,000,000 to 35,000,000 pounds for the past 25 years is 
reported by Bigelow and Welsh (1925, p. 449). 
The extreme length of the ling is given as 30 inches, with a weight of 8 pounds. The usual 
run of fish is from 1 to 4 pounds, and individuals over 5 pounds are uncommon. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Off Cape Henry, Va. ( b ) Specimens in the 
collection: From many deep-water stations from Bloody Point, Md., to the mouth of the bay. 
75. Urophycis regius (Walbaum). Spotted hake; “ Cod.” 
Blennius regius Walbaum, Artedi, Gen. Piscium, III, 1792, p. 186; New York. 
Urophycis regius Lugger, 1877, p. 67; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2553, PI. CCCLXIV, fig. 898. 
Head 3.85 to 4.4; depth 3.9 to 5.05; D. 8 or 9 — 46 to 51; A. 43 to 49; scales 89 to 97. Body 
elongate, compressed; head rather small, somewhat depressed; snout tapering, 3.4 to 4 in head; 
eye 2.9 to 4.6; interorbital 4.9 to 6.25; mouth large, horizontal; upper jaw and snout projecting; 
maxillary reaching well beyond eye, 1.75 to 2.08 in head; teeth present on jaws and vomer, those 
in the jaws pointed, irregular in size, those of upper jaw mostly in a single irregular series, those 
of lower jaw in two irregular series; gill rakers rather short, 13 or 14 on lower limb of first arch; 
scales rather small, thin, cycloid; dorsal fins 2, the first not elevated, scarcely higher than the 
second, none of the rays produced; second dorsal long and rather low, enveloped in scaly skin at 
base; caudal fin round; anal fin long and low, similar to second dorsal but not quite as long; ventral 
fins inserted on margin of gill opening, consisting of two long filaments; pectoral fins rather long, 
1.1 to 1.35 in head. 
