248 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



the name referring to a supposed resemblance of its flesh to mutton ; and I can myself testify to 

 the delicacy of its flavor. The European species is also on the border-line between food and refuse 

 fishes. Parnell writes : " In the Firth of Forth it exists in great plenty, hiding under sea- weed 

 in rocky situations. They are even taken with lines in the winter months and brought to market, 

 where they fetch a ready sale at the rate of three a penny. Some people consider the flesh as very 

 fine and wholesome, while others, again, announce it as dry and of a disagreeable flavor. The 

 bones of this fish when boiled assume a green appearance, from which circumstance the fish oft- 

 times receives the name of Green-bone." * 



Mr. Neill says: "Though not a delicate morsel, this fish is often brought to the Edinburgh 

 market." 



In Holland and Germany they are not often eaten; there is a general impression, however, 

 that they are edible. 



PACIFIC LYCODIDS. This family is represented on the Pacific coast by Lycodopsis paucidcm 

 (Lockiugton) Jor. & Gilb., and L. microstomus Lockiugton, small fishes, scarcely a foot in length, 

 living in rather deep water from San Francisco northward. They have no economic importance, 

 being only brought into the market when mixed with the tonicod and "soles." 



76. THE WOLF-FISHES OR SEA CATFISHES ANAEEHICHADIDJE. 



SEA CATFISHBS. The Wolf-fish family is represented on our Atlantic coast by three species 

 all large, voracious, and frequently taken by cod and halibut fishermen. The best known, and 

 in fact the only species definitely ascertained to occur in the Western Atlantic until the other two 

 were recently brought to light by the labors of the Fish Commission, is the common "Catfish" of 

 the fishermen, Anarrhicas lupus Linnaeus, and which is found throughout the northern parts of the 

 Northern Atlantic, ranging upon the New England coast south to the region of the Nantucket Shoals, 

 where it ever breeds in deep water, young specimens having been obtained by the Fish Commission 

 at a depth of over one hundred fathoms in the summer of 1880, while in 1874 several specimens 

 were brought to Noank, caught by the New York smacks on the Nantucket Shoals, the largest four 

 feet or more in length. De Kay records the capture of a specimen four feet long off Block Island, 

 and states that they are not unfrequently taken oft'Eock Beach in company with the common cod. 



In the Eastern Atlantic it is found in the German Ocean, on the south coast of Great Britain 

 and in the Channel, and along the shores of Holland. 2 According to Richardson it is somewhat 

 common on the French coast. Though it does not appear to enter the Baltic, it is found on the 

 coast of Norway and in the Cattegat. Yarrell records the capture of this fish on the coast of 

 Yorkshire, in the Frith of Forth, and in the Orkneys. Collet records its presence everywhere 

 along the Norwegian coast up to the North Cape and Varanger Fjord in Eastern Finmark, while 

 it is known to occur in Iceland and Greenland and along the entire eastern coast of Northern 

 North America. This is the best known species, and until recently all others have been con- 

 founded with it. It is readily distinguished from the others by its general color of gray slate, or 

 light brown, marked with from nine to twelve transverse bands of darker hue. By many of the 

 nations of Northern Europe it is called the Catfish; and this name is still in general use among 

 our own soa-ILslierinen, although the fishes most generally known in North America by this name 

 are fresh-water species of the family Siluridfe, closely related to the sheet-fish or wels of Europe. 

 To an untrained observer there is some resemblance between these fishes and the Catfish of the 



1 There is no evidenre that I In- hours ol' Hie American species ever become green. The name Green-bone is also 

 applied in Europe to the silver gar-lish. 



'SCHLKGEL: De Diercn van Nedcrliind. Visschen, p. 08. 



