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COD

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 632 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COD , the name given to the typical See also:

fish of the See also:family Gadidae, of the Teleostean suborder Anacanthini, the position of which has much varied in our classifications. Having no spines to their fins, the Gadids used, in Cuvierian days, to be associated with the See also:herrings, Salmonids, See also:pike, &c., in the artificially-conceived See also:order of Malacopterygians, or soft-finned bony fishes. But, on the ground of their See also:air-See also:bladder being closed, or deprived of a pneumatic duct communicating with the See also:digestive See also:canal, such as is characteristic of the Malacopterygians, they were removed from them and placed with the See also:flat-fishes, or Pleuronectidae, in a suborder Anacanthini, regarded as intermediate in position between the Acanthopterygians, or spiny-finned fishes, and the Malacopterygians. It has, however, been shown that the flat-fishes See also:bear no relationship to the Gadids, but are most nearly akin to the See also:John Dories (see See also:DoRY). The suborder Anaoanthini is, nevertheless, maintained for the Muraenolepididae Gadids and two related families, Macruridae and Muraenolepididae, and may be thus defined:—Air-bladder without open duct. Parietal bones separated by the supra-occipital; prootic and exoccipital separated by the enlarged opisthotic. See also:Pectoral See also:arch suspended from the See also:skull; no mesocoracoid arch. Ventral fins below or in front of the pectorals, the pelvic bones posterior to the clavicular symphysis and only loosely attached to it by See also:ligament. Fins without spines; caudal fin, if See also:present, without See also:expanded hypural, perfectly symmetrical, and supported by the neural and haemal spines of the posterior vertebrae, and by basal bones similar to those supporting the dorsal and anal rays. This type of caudal fin must be regarded as secondary, the Gadidae being, no doubt, derived from fishes in which the homocercal fin of the typical Teleostean had been lost. About 120 See also:species of Gadids are distinguished, mostly marine, many being adapted to See also:life at See also:great depths; all are carnivorous. They inhabit chiefly the See also:northern seas, but many abyssal forms occur between the tropics and in the See also:southern parts of the See also:Atlantic and Pacific.

They are represented in See also:

British See also:waters by eight genera, and about twenty species, only one of which, the See also:burbot (Lota vulgaris), is an inhabitant of fresh waters. Several of the marine species are of first-See also:rate economic importance. The genus Gadus is characterized by having three dorsal and two anal fins, and a truncated or notched caudal fin. In the cod and See also:haddock the See also:base of the first anal fin is not, or but slightly, longer than that of the second dorsal fin; in the See also:whiting, See also:pout, See also:coal-fish, See also:pollack, See also:hake, See also:ling and burbot, the former is considerably longer than the latter. The cod, Gadus morrhua, possesses, in See also:common with the other members of the genus, three dorsal and two anal fins, and a single See also:barbel, at least See also:half as See also:long as the See also:eye, at the See also:chin. It is a widely-distributed species, being found throughout the northern and temperate seas of See also:Europe, See also:Asia and See also:America, extending as far See also:south as See also:Gibraltar, but not entering the Mediterranean, and inhabits See also:water from 25 to 50 fathoms deep, where it always feeds See also:close to the bottom. It is exceedingly voracious, feeding on the smaller denizens of the ocean—fish, crustaceans, See also:worms and molluscs, and greedily taking almost any bait the fisherman chooses to employ. The cod spawns in See also:February, and is exceedingly prolific, the See also:roe of a single See also:female having been known to contain upwards of eight millions of ova, and to See also:form more than half the See also:weight of the entire fish. Only a small proportion of these get fertilized, and still fewer ever emerge from the See also:egg. The number of cod is still further reduced by the See also:trade carried on in roe, large quantities of which are used in See also:France as ground-bait in the sardine See also:fishery, while it also forms an See also:article of human See also:food. The See also:young are about an See also:inch in length by the end of See also:spring, but are not See also:fit for the See also:market till the second See also:year, and it has been stated that they do not reach maturity, as shown by the See also:power of See also:reproduction, till the end of their third year. They usually measure about 3 ft. in length, and weigh from 12 to 20 lb, but specimens have been taken from So to 70 lb in weight.

As an article of food the cod-fish is in greatest perfection duringthe three months preceding See also:

Christmas. It is caught on all parts of the British and Irish coasts, but the Dogger See also:Bank, and Rockall, off the See also:Outer See also:Hebrides, have been specially noted for their cod-See also:fisheries. The fishery is also carried on along the See also:coast of See also:Norfolk and See also:Suffolk, where great quantities of the fish are caught with See also:hook and See also:line, and conveyed to market alive in " well-boats " specially built for this See also:traffic. Such boats have been in use since the beginning of the 18th See also:century. The most important cod-fishery in the See also:world is that which has been prosecuted for centuries on the See also:Newfoundland See also:banks, where it is not uncommon fora single fisherman to take over 500 of these fish in ten or eleven See also:hours. These, salted and dried, are exported to all parts of the world, and form, when taken in connexion with the enormous quantity of fresh cod consumed, a valuable addition to the food resources of the human See also:race. The air-bladder of this fish furnishes See also:isinglass, little, if at all, inferior to that obtained from the See also:sturgeon, while from the See also:liver is obtained cod-liver oil, largely used in See also:medicine as a remedy in scrofulous complaints and pulmonary See also:consumption (see COD-LIVER OIL). " The Norwegians," says See also:Cuvier, " give cod-heads with marine See also:plants to their cows for the purpose of producing a greater proportion of See also:milk. The vertebrae, the ribs, and the bones in See also:general, are given to their See also:cattle by the Icelanders, and by the Kamtchatdales to their See also:dogs. These same parts, properly dried, are also employed as See also:fuel in the desolate See also:steppes of the Icy See also:Sea." At See also:Port See also:Logan in Wigtonshire cod-fish are kept in a large See also:reservoir, scooped out of the solid See also:rock by the See also:action of the sea, See also:egress from which is prevented by a barrier of stones, which does not prevent the See also:free See also:access of the water. These cod are fed chiefly on mussels, and when the keeper approaches to feed them they may be seen rising to the See also:surface in hundreds and eagerly seeking the edge. They have become comparatively tame and See also:familiar.

See also:

Frank See also:Buckland, who visited the See also:place, states that after a little while they allowed him to take hold of them, scratch them on the back, and See also:play with them in various ways. Their flavour is considered See also:superior to that of the cod taken in the open sea. (G. A.

End of Article: COD

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CODA (Ital. for " tail "; from the Lat. cauda)

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