The Greenlanders cut the animal up, and salt the pieces; then expose them to the air, in order to dry them preparatory to a long voyage.
In its fresh state the halibut is not very delicate, and is hard and difficult of digestion; however, its great size renders it a valuable prize. We may add that, notwithstanding its great size, the halibut has deadly enemies in the dolphins, as well as in the birds which prey upon fishes on the shore. It is itself a voracious fish, devouring crabs, cod-fish, and even the Raiadæ, not even sparing its own species; they attack each other, nibbling at the tail or fins.
III. GADIDÆ.
The Gadidæ embrace the whole of the Linnæan genus Gadus. They are found mostly in the seas of cold or temperate regions in both hemispheres, and are the objects of pursuit for which the great fisheries of Europe and America are established. They are known by the position of the ventral fin under the throat, and by the pointed character of those fins. The body is long and slightly compressed; the head well proportioned. Their fins are soft, and their scales are small and soft. The jaws and front of the os vomer have unequal-pointed teeth of moderate size, and disposed in several rows. The gill-covers are large, and consist of seven rays. Most of the species have the dorsal fin, and contain two others besides—a fin behind the vent, and a distant caudal fin. The stomach is large, and the intestine long. The air-bladder large and strong, and in some cases notched on the margin. The flesh of most of the species yields white, healthy, and agreeable food, easily separable into flakes when cooked, and easy of digestion. The family includes the several genera:—Morrhua, to which belongs the Common Cod-fish, M. callarias; the Haddock, M. æglefinus.—The Merlangus, or Whiting, M. vulgaris, and M. albus; the Coal-fish, M. carbonarus; and the Pollack, M. pollachius.—The Merlucius, or Hakes.—The Lota, or Ling, L. molva.—Motella, or Rock Ling, and Silver Gade, M. argenteola; and other genera of less importance.
The head of the Cod (Morrhua callarias) is compressed; the eyes placed on the side, close to each other, and veiled by a transparent membrane, a conformation which, according to Lacepede, enables the animal to swim on the surface of the water in northern regions in the midst of mountains of ice and under banks covered with snow, without being dazzled by the brilliant light; but this opinion is unsupported by any other naturalist of note.
Fig. 375. The Cod-fish (Morrhua callarias).
The jaws of the cod-fish are unequal, and among the rows of teeth with which it is armed many are mobile, and can be hidden in their cavities, or raised, according to the will of the animal. The dorsal fins, three in number, are in clusters, as in Fig. 375; anal fins are two; pectoral fins narrow, and terminating in a point; caudal fin slightly forked. Its colour is of an ashy grey, spotted with yellow on the back; white and sometimes reddish beneath.
The cod-fish is provided with a vast stomach, and is very voracious, feeding on fishes, crabs, and molluscs. It is so gluttonous and indiscriminating, that it will even swallow pieces of wood and other similar objects. This is essentially a sea-fish: it is never seen in fresh-water streams or rivers, remaining during the greater part of the year in the depths of the sea. Its habitual sojourn is in the portion of the Northern Ocean lying between the fortieth and sixty-sixth degrees of latitude.
In the vast range thus frequented by the cod, two large spaces are pointed out which it seems to prefer. The first extends to the coast of Greenland, and the other is limited by Iceland, Norway, the Danish coast, Germany, Holland, and the east and north coast of Great Britain and the Orkney Isles, comprehending the Doggerbank, Vellbank, and Cromer coast, together with salt-water lakes and arms of the sea, such as the Gairloch, Portsoy, and the Moray Firth, which indent the west coast of Scotland, and attract considerable shoals of cod-fish.