WHITING, a name applied to several quite unrelated fishes probably in allusion to the note worthy whiteness of their flesh, or, in some cases, of the skin of the lower pans. In the United States, and more especially in the South, several species of Mesticirrhus, a genus of Scieisede, are known as whiting, but more widely as kingfishes (q.v.). The common whiting (M. aaseritanas) reaches a length of about a foot; the body is elongated and slender with a high spinous dorsal and a long low soft dorsal fin, an undulate caudal fin, and is com Fletely covered with ctenoid scales; the outer row of teeth of the upper jaw are enlarged and strung and the color silvery gray with faint oblique dusky bars. It is very common along sandy shores of the entire Gulf Coast and on the Atlantic Coast northward to about the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and southward to Brazil. Though remaining on these coasts throughout the year they are most plentiful in summer when they frequent the bays and estu aries, but prefer strung currents and the deeper waters. They feed upon crabs, shrimps and other crustaceans, and being vigorous biters and gamy fighters afford splendid angling. Great numbers arc caught on lines for the market and the flesh is unusually firm, delicate and well ftasored. Spawning is said to occur in May. The surf whiting (M. littoralis) is so called lerause, unlike the last, it frequents shallow along sandy shores and is captured in Eric quantities by means of seines. The outer teeth of the upper jaw are not enlarged; the 'll-rakers are better developed than in the com mon whiting; and the black tip of the caudal fin is another mark of distinction. The com mon northern kingfish (M. saxatdis) also ex tends into southern waters and is there con !used with the above species under the name of whiting. It may be recognized by its dusky color and the distinct, dark bands which the sides obliquely. Other species occur on the l'aeifie Coats. By the New England tisht rman the name of whiting or silver hake is given to a common species of the cod family (Gadide), the Merlsoccius bilimearis of American ichthyolo gists, though many European authorities fail to distinguish it from the Old World M. vulgaris.
From the great majority of the cods the whiting is distinguished by the total absence of a chin barbel and by the peculiar excavated area of the top of the skull; the second dorsal and the anal fin are long and each divided nearly in two by a deep notch. The body is elongated and covered with small scales; the color grayish silvery white below. This whiting is common in waters of moderate depth along the shores of New England and somewhat northward, and extends southward in deep water to Virginia and even to the Bahamas. Unlike most of the Gadide, which are essentially bottom-feeders, it is an active, roving species, which comes to the surface to pursue and feed upon herring and other fishes. Sometimes large schools appear on our coasts and many are captured in purse seines and pound-nets. Spawning takes place at the bottom on the edge of the continental slope. Owing to its comparatively smaU size and the softness of its flesh it is one of the least important economically of the family.
The European whiting (M. vulgaris) is scarcely distinguishable from the American, but has much smaller scales, fewer spines in the first dorsal fin and larger teeth. It frequents shallower water and is very abundant along the northern coasts of Europe. It makes its ap pearance in vast shoals, keeping at a short dis tance from the shore, and is taken by the line in great numbers. It is considered the most delicate and most wholesome of all the species of cod; but it does not attain a large size, usually not exceeding a foot in length and under two pounds in weight. The food of the adults consists chiefly of fishes and of the young of shrimps and other crustaceans. Spawning occurs in, and the young frequent, the shore waters. As long as the young feed chiefly on the bottom they retain a chin-barbel, but as their habits change this degenerates and finally disappears. Other fishes sometimes called whit ing are the hog-fish, harvest-fish and a white fish (q.v.).