446 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



dorsal ray. The caudal fin is small, its rear 

 margin weakly rounded; the fanlike pectorals, 

 of 17 or 18 rays, reach back about as far as the 

 vent. On large specimens the dorsal, anal, and 

 pectoral fins are rather noticeably thick and 

 fleshy. There are two series of prickly plate- 

 like scales along each side of the body, one above 

 the lateral line, the other below it. 



Males and females differ in appearance, the 

 former being the more slender, with higher fins, 

 and the more brightly colored. Each of the scales, 

 too, along the lateral line bears three or more 

 prickles in males, but only one or two at the most 

 in females, while some of the latter have no scales. 

 Furthermore, the inner edges of the rays of the 

 pectoral and ventral fins are armed with teeth 

 or prickles on the males but not on the females. 

 Color. — The basic hue of the upper parts is 

 usually of some shade of brown, ranging from a 

 warm reddish tint to almost black, with the top 

 and sides of the head marked with pale blotches 

 and the back and sides of the body with broad 

 dark bars on individuals on which the ground 

 tint is pale. The lower parts of the sides are 

 more or less spotted with yellow. The belly is 

 whitish or yellowish in females, usually reddish 

 orange with large round white spots in males, 

 this being a good field mark for distinguishing 

 the sexes. The dorsal fins are mottled dark and 

 pale, the second dorsal often marked with 3 or 4 

 definite crossbars, and the caudal fin with various 

 dark mottlings. The rays of the pectoral and 

 anal fins are yellow with 2 or 3 irregular dark 

 crossbars on many specimens, but they are uni- 

 formly dark in some. Males are more brightly 

 colored than females in the breeding season, when 

 their red and yellow tints become very brilliant, 

 and when an intensification of the red or coppery 

 ground color of the belly brings out the white 

 spots more clearly than at other seasons. 



Variability. — European studies have shown this 

 to be a highly variable species, tending to break 

 up into local races. Whether this is equally 

 true of it on our side of the Atlantic is not known. 74 



'•Most American ichthyologists recognize two subspecies of this fish 

 the true "shorthorn" (scorpius) and the "Greenland sculpin" (groenlandkus) 

 And with the prevailing tendency to call American and European fish by 

 different names it is as tho latter that our local sculpin has usually been 

 recorded. But the differences between the two (size, relative breadth of 

 the top of the head, and length of the dorsal fin spines) are so very slight 

 and all of them have proved so variable, that we follow Huntsman (Contrlb. 

 Canadian Biol. (1921) 1922, p. 04) In uniting the two; the more willingly 

 6ince both forms have been found on both sides of the Atlantic. 



Size.— This is the largest Gulf of Maine sculpin. 

 It has been said to grow to a length of about 3 

 feet, but the average run of the adults taken in 

 our Gulf is only about 8 to 14 inches, the longest 

 not more than 2 feet. This species increases in 

 size from south to north, Greenland fish averaging 

 much larger than those taken off New England 

 or off the Maritime Provinces. 



Remarks. — Young shorthorns, up to 6 or 7 

 inches long, resemble the little grubby (p. 443) so 

 closely that they are likely to be confused with it. 

 Points of difference are that the shorthorn has at 

 least 13 or 14 rays in its anal fin, and has a pore 

 piercing each side of the throat close behind the 

 last gill arch, the grubby only 10 or 11 anal rays, 

 and no such pores. 



Larger specimens of the shorthorn could hardly 

 be mistaken for any other Gulf of Maine fish, 

 unless perhaps for the longhorn sculpin. And 

 even a cursory look is enough to separate one of 

 these from the other, the upper cheek spine being 

 less than twice as long as the one below it, and not 

 reaching more than halfway to the edge of the gill 

 cover in the shorthorn, but about four times as 

 long as the one below it in the longhorn, and 

 reaching back at least as far as the edge of the gill 

 cover. 



Habits. — Bays and the vicinity of ledges that 

 rise from comparatively smooth bottom in shoal 

 water are the chief haunts of the shorthorn 

 sculpin. And it is found indifferently there, on 

 mud, sand, or pebbles, on bare bottom or among 

 weeds. Many are also caught off piers and along 

 our rocky shores by cunner fishermen. Off our 

 coasts, the great majority live shoaler than 10 

 fathoms. And while a day's fishing on any of the 

 ledges northward and eastward from Cape Cod is 

 likely to yield an occasional shorthorn among 

 other fish, few are caught on long lines set deeper 

 than 15-20 fathoms. The deepest records for it 

 in American waters of which we know are 50 

 fathoms near Campobello Island, at the mouth of 

 the Bay of Fundy (reported by Huntsman) , and 57 

 fathoms in the northern part of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, just within the Strait of Belle Isle. 76 



This is a cold-water fish. Even in summer it is 

 the most plentiful at localities and at depths where 

 the temperature is lower than 55°-60° F. In 

 winter it endures temperatures close to the freez- 



» Rept. Newfoundland Fish. Res. Comm., vol. I, No. 4, 1932, p. 108, sta. 45. 



