Volume 39, Plate IX / Ichthyology (Fish)

Torsk, or Tusk & Great Forked Hake

Brosmius vulgaris & Phycis furcatus

1. The Torsk, or Tusk. A northern fish seldom ranging far south of the sixtieth degree, scarcely known on the mainland but abundant about Shetland, Norway, the Faroe Isles, and Iceland, the Torsk approaches land early in the year to spawn and prefers deep water with a rocky bottom, its stomach usually found empty. Firm and unsavoury when fresh but esteemed dried, it reaches at most three and a half feet, generally a foot to eighteen inches.
2. Great Forked Hake. Distinguished from all other British fishes by the form of its pectorals, the Great Forked Hake is among the rarer species, observed only in small numbers save off Cornwall, where it is not uncommon in winter under the name Hakes Dame. It is thought to come into shallow water to spawn in winter, takes a bait, is used as food but little esteemed, and grows from eleven inches to two feet.