Cod

or Cod -fish, (kod.) [A.S. cod de.] (Zool.) The English name of the gen. of fishes Morrhua, fam.Gadide. The American Cod, M. American us (Fig. 194), has the abdomen thick and prominent, the head and eyes large. It has dusky fins, the dorsal and anal rather large, the pectoral and ventral rather small. The lower jaw is bearded at the tip by a single cirrus. It is usually abt. 30 inches long, but sometimes attains a very large size. The C.,which is one of the most valuable of fishes, is caught by hooks and lines, and s0 voracious and plentiful that Fig.194. AMERICAN COD. a single fisherman has been known to capture 500 of this fish in a day of ten hours. The great supply of C. is from the ports of Newfoundland, Canada, Nova Scotia, and the Ma achusetts coast between Cape Ann and Cape Cod; and in the Pacific, chiefly from the coasts of Washington Territory. There are more than 2,000 ve els, with a tonnage of 100,000 tons, and employing upwards of 10,000 men and boys, engaged in the cod-fishery of the U. States. The Tom-cod, or Frost-fish, M. pruinosa of the N. Atlantic, is from 4 to 12 inches long, and is usually abundant in the mouths of the rivers after the first frosts of autumn. The Haddock, M. Eylfinus of the N. Atlantic, is 12 to 24 inches long. See COD-LIVER OIL. [s. 202]