510 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



5. Lateral Hue single, running along lower part of side of body ; forward part of dorsal fin marked with one or more sooty 



patches Lycodes vahlii Reinhardt 1838 •« 



Lateral line double, with the more distinct branch of the two running along the lower edge of the side of the body; 

 the forward part of the dorsal fin is not marked with dark patches Lycodes esmarkU, Collett 1875 " 



Ocean pout Macrozoarces americanus (Bloch 

 and Schneider) 1801 



Eelpout; Congo eel; Muttonfish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2457. Zoarces 

 anguillaris (Peck) 1804. 



Description. — The ocean pout is blenny-like or 

 eel-like in form, its body about 8 times as long as 

 it is deep (10 to 11 times in young fish up to about 

 8 inches long), moderately flattened sidewise, 

 noticeably sway-bellied, and tapering backward 

 from abreast of the pectorals, where it is deepest, 

 to a pointed tail. It is very soft, its scales are 

 very small, and its skin as slimy as an eel. Its 

 ventral fins are small like those of the rock eel 

 (p. 492), and they are situated well forward of the 

 pectorals. 



The most useful field mark for the identification 

 of the ocean pout among the several eel-like fishes 

 with which it might be confused are its vertical 

 fins. Its anal fin is continuous with the caudal, 

 there being no trace of any notch between the two, 

 as is the case with the true eels. In reality, this is 

 also true of the dorsal fin of the eelpout. But 

 about 16 to 24 of the dorsal rays near the rear end 

 of the fin are so short as to be hardly visible, so 

 that there seems to be a considerable free gap be- 

 tween the dorsal fin and the caudal fin. Further- 

 more, these short rays are spiny instead of soft as 

 all the other dorsal rays are. The dorsal fin runs 

 from the nape back along the whole length of the 



" Originally described from Greenland; reported from Banquereau Bank, 

 at 130-190 fathoms by Goode and Bean (Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., vol. 

 30, p. 308, as Lycodes zoarchus. See Vladykov and McKenzie, Proc. Nova 

 Scotian Inst. Sci., vol. 19, pt. 1, 1935, p. 109. 



« Spitzbergen and Northern Norway; Grand Banks; LaHave Bank, and 

 southward along the continental slope in depths of 300-420 fathoms to the 

 offing of Rhode Island. 



trunk, and consists of first about 95-100 soft rays; 

 next of the short spines, then of about 17 more soft 

 rays. The anal fin (about 105-124 soft rays) 

 originates a little in front of the mid length of the 

 fish. Both the dorsal fin and the anal are of nearly 

 even height from end to end except as just noted, 

 but the dorsal is nearly twice as high as the anal. 

 The pectoral fins are large and rounded like those 

 of the wolffish. The very small ventrals are on 

 the throat, in front of the pectorals. The upper 

 jaw projects a little beyond the lower, the soft, 

 fleshy upper lip somewhat farther still, 33 enclosing 

 the tip of the lower lip when the mouth is closed. 



The mouth is wide, gaping back beyond the 

 small eyes, and it is set low with thick and fleshy 

 lips that give the profile a distinctive aspect. 

 Both jaws are armed with two series of strong, 

 blunt conical teeth, largest in front, but the mouth 

 lacks the crushing teeth that are so characteristic 

 of the wolffish tribe (p. 502). There are 131-144 

 vertebrae. 



Color. — Although this fish has usually been de- 

 scribed as reddish brown mottled with olive, or as 

 salmon colored, most of those we have seen caught 

 have been of some shade of muddy yellow, paler 

 or darker; some tinged with brownish, some with 

 salmon, and some with orange; a few have beeD 

 pure olive green. Fishermen usually describe 

 them as yellow, and this is evidently the prevailing 

 hue in the offshore parts of the Gulf. Other ocean 

 pouts we have caught inshore along the coast of 

 Maine, however, have shown yellow only on the 

 margins of the fins, particularly the lower edge of 

 the pectorals, with the general ground tint of sides 



8S The ocoan pout has sometimes been described and pictured as with the 

 upper lip and Jaw projecting far beyond the lower; but this is contrary to our 

 observations. 





Figure 269. — Ocean pout (Ufacrozoarces americanus), Eastport, Maine, specimen. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. 



Todd. 



