158 G A D U S. 
and being alfo much longer than the reft, occafion at firft 
fight an appearance of only two rays to this fin ; hence the 
trivial name of bUnnioides, becaufe the blennies in ge¬ 
neral have but two rays in tlie ventral or jugular fins. 
This fpecies haunts the Mediterranean ; grows to about a 
foot in length ; itis not much in requeft for food. Pallas 
firft defcribed it j it is fometimes miftaken for the whit¬ 
ing, which it much refembles. The fcales are fmall ; it 
is moftly of a 111 very colour, with fome gold-yellow lints 
on the fins. 
S. Gadiis faida, the faida : fpecific charadler, the low¬ 
er jaw rather longeft, the fecond ray of each ventral fin 
ending in a long filament. The firft dorfal fin has ten or 
eleven rays, the fecond fixteen or feventeen, the third 
twenty ; each ventral five or fix, each pedloral fixteen j 
the firft anal eighteen, the fecond twenty ; the tail twen- 
ty.foiir or twenty-fix. This fpecies was firft made known 
by Lepechin. The jaws are armed witlt ftiarp hook 
teeth ; there are two rows in the palate, and two lenticu¬ 
lar bones with fmall teeth in the throat. The opercula, 
or gill-coverts, confift each of three pieces; the firft 
triangular, and furniflied with two fpines; the fecond 
elliptic, the third femilunar. The lateral line is ftraight, 
and near the back. Tlie dorfal and anal fins are triangu¬ 
lar : the fourth ray of the third dorfal, the fifth of the 
firft anal, and fecond of the ventrals, end in a long briftle. 
The upper furfacc is of a dark colour with irregular black 
fpots, which are diftributed alfo on thefilvery gill,-coverts; 
the fides are bluifli j the under parts white; the top of the 
head quite black. This fpecies feldom exceeds a foot in 
length ; it is ufed as food, but not greatly efteemed. It 
is found in the White Sea, in the north of Europe. 
II. Three dorfal jins \ no barbies at the mouth, 9. Gadus 
virens, the green gadus; fpecific chara6ler, the back is 
green, the tail forked, the jaws of equal length. Tlie 
firft dorfal fin has thirteen rays, the fecond twenty, the 
third nineteen ; the pertorals feventeen, the ventrals fix ; 
the firft anal twenty-four, the fecond twenty, the tail-fin 
forty. Tilts fpecies refembles the pollack, and has been 
often miftaken for it; but hefides the equal length of the 
jaws, the lateral line being ftraight, and the green colour of 
The upper furface, fufficiently diftinguifti them. Thele 
fifli are very plentiful on the coaft of Norway, and form a 
pretty coniiderable branch of commerce ; fo that they 
have five different names for them according ro tlieirage. 
In that country they are faid to be five inciies and a half 
long at a year old, feventeen inches at three years, and 
twenty-eight inches at four years. 
10. Gadus ineriangus, the whiting; the filvery hue 
which pervades the whole body of this fifti, (whence the 
name,) and the protrunoii of the upper jaw, form the fpe¬ 
cific charaifer. There are feven rays in tlie membrane of 
thegills, twenty in the peiSforal fin, fix in the ventral, thirty 
in the firft anal, twenty in the fecond, thirty-one in the 
tail, fixteen in the firft dorfal, eighteen in the fecond, and 
tiitieteen in the third. The body is long, covered with 
fmall, round, thin, filvery, fcales. The head ends in a 
point ; the eyes, near wliicli are the iioftrils, are round, 
with a large black pupil, and filvery iris. The upper javv 
is armed with feveral rows of teeth, of which thofe in 
front are the longeft; the lower jaw has but one row ; in 
front of the palate, on each fide, is a large triangular bone ; 
in the throat there are two round bones below, and above 
two long rugged bones; on each fide of the lower jaw 
there are nine or ten little dents. The back is olive 
colour, and arched, as is the belly. The Tides are foine- 
what comprelfed, and the anus is nearer the head than 
the tail. The lateral line lids a ftraight direftion ; and there 
is a black fpot at the origin of the pectoral fins. The 
fins are white, except the pectorals and tail, which are 
blackifh. This filh is found in the Baltic and North Seas, 
tl'iough not numerous in the former ; but they are plenti¬ 
ful on the coafts of Holland, France, and England, where 
they arc reckoned the moft delicate and wholefome fpe¬ 
cies of tli5 genus. They attain the length ofa foot, I’ome- 
times one and a half, rarely two; but on the Dogger-bank 
they are caught of the weight of from four to eight pounds. 
They live at the bottom of the fea, feeding on little 
crabs, worms, and young fry, particularly of fprats and 
herrings; which therefore are the ufual bait. They are 
caught ufually with a ground-line, fixty-four fathoms long, 
with from a hundred to two hundred hooks. One veffei 
throws out about twenty of thefe lines, armed with 4000 
hooks, and they need only lie about two or three hours. 
The greateft fifhery for whiting is carried on in France 
from Decemberto February; but in England and Holland 
in the fpring. They appear in fuch quantities on our coafts, 
as to form fhoals of three miles long and a mile and a half 
wide ; and, as they are caught in too great numbers to be 
eaten frefh, they fait them, by which however they lofe 
the delicacy of their tafte, and are then called buckthorn ; 
they are often ufed in this ftate as ftiips’ ftores. As they 
purfucthe herring', they are often taken in the fame nets ; 
and are in greateft perfeftion at this time, becaufe they 
are fattened by feeding on tlic young herrings. In Otfo- 
ber the roes and ovaries begin to fwell ; and they conti¬ 
nue fpawning from the end of December till tlie beginning 
of February ; and about that time they become foft, 
lean, and infipid to the tafte. They are purfiied by the 
rapacious animals which iniiabit the fea ; yet they multi¬ 
ply faft. 
There are feveral varieties of the whiting, fome per¬ 
haps arifing from the feafon and the nature of the places 
they frequent, but others abfohitely in fliape and colour. 
Citizen Noel lias the following obfervations on the whit¬ 
ings caught in the department of the Lower Seine. “Nov. 
1798. There is a great difterenefe between the whitings 
caught about Yport, Dalles, and Fecamp, and thofe from 
about Ailly to Treport, and beyond. The firft are (hort- 
er, their bellies broader, and the lateral line is flightly 
curved inftead of being ftraight; tlie head and tail of a dark¬ 
er colour inerming to brown ; the flefh is more firm, bet¬ 
ter tafted, and confequently much Ibuglit after.” Thefe 
dift'erences in colour, &c. Noel attributes to the nature of 
the foil or bottom they haunt, and of the food they coii- 
fequently meet : about Yport and Fecamp, is moftly a 
rocky bottom; but gravel or clay at Ailly, Dieppe, and 
Treport. He is of opinion that the whitings will be 
fmaller but more delicate food in .ftiallows near the fhores, 
than ill ftony places far diftaiit from tlie land. 
II. Gadus carbonarius, the coal-fifh : the mouth 
black, the lateral line white and ftraight, form the fpecific 
character. There are feven rays in the membrane of the 
gills, twenty-one in tiie peiStoral fins, fix in tlie ventrals, 
twenty-five in the firft anal, twenty in the fecond, twen- 
ty-(ix in the tail, fourteen in the firft dorfal, nineteen in 
the fecond, twenty in tlie third. The liead is narrow. 
At the gill-coverts and the belly, a filvery hue arifes from 
the black ground, and the belly is, as it were, encompafT- 
ed with a firing of black dots ; the reft of the body and 
the head are ofa ftiiiiing black, whence the name in Eng- 
lifli and German. This colour, however, is conftant only 
ill the old ones ; for when young they are olive or brown ; 
which inclines to black as they grow older, and grows 
darker and darker: and hence they have different names 
according to their age in fome parts of England. The 
mouth is lmall; and the jaws, which are armed with 
teeth, end in a point; the lower is the longeft ; tlie tongue 
is a bright (ilver colour. The irides of the eyes are 
white, with a black fpot on each fide. Tliis fifli is furnifti- 
ed with thin fcales, round and lozenge-ftiaped. Under 
the peftoral fins is a fpot of the deepeft black ; and the 
anus is nearer to the liead than to the tail. Tliis fpecies 
inhabits the Baltic and North Seas ; they alfo frequent 
the rocky and deep coafts all round thisiftand, but are 
•found in greateft plenty in the viciiiiiy of the Orkneys, 
where their fry conftitutes a great part of the fupport of 
the poor. The young begin to appear on the coaft of 
Yorklliire, in the month of July, in numbers that defy 
all computation: they are at that period only an incli and 
a a half 
