FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



235 







Figure 114. — Rockling (Enchelyopus cimbrius). A, adult, Bay of Chaleur, from Jordan and Evermann, drawing 

 by H. L. Todd; B, egg; C, larva (European), 3.6 mm.; D, larva (European), 5.3 mm.; E, larva (European), 13.6 

 mm.; F, silvery fry (European), 17.5 mm. B, after Battle; C, after Ehrenbaum and Strodtman; D, after Brook; E, 

 after Ehrenbaum; F, after Brook. 



and (hakelike) they are rounded in front of the 

 vent but flattened sidewise behind it. Their upper 

 jaw is longer than the lower and their teeth are 

 smaller than in the hakes, while their noses are 

 shorter and blunter; their eyes are smaller, and 

 the dorsal profile of their heads is more rounded 

 than it is in any of the hakes. The pectorals are 

 rounded and the narrow pointed ventrals are sit- 

 uated well in front of the latter. The second 

 dorsal fin (45 to 53 rays) originates over the mid 

 length of the pectorals, runs back nearly to the 

 base of the caudal fin, and is equally high from 

 end to end with a rounded rear corner. The anal 

 fin is similar to the second dorsal in shape, but 

 it is shorter (39 to 43 rays). 61 The caudal fin is 

 oval when it is spread. 



Color. — The color of this rockling is compara- 

 tively constant by all accounts and this is cor- 

 roborated by our own experience. Its back is 



•i Storer credits It with 48 rays, but subsequent students have not found 

 so many. 



dark yellowish olive or dusky brown, its sides are 

 paler, and its belly is white dotted with brown. 

 On some individuals the sides behind the vent 

 are more or less clouded with a darker shade of the 

 general body hue. The first dorsal ray, the 

 posterior edges of the second dorsal fin and of the 

 anal fin, the lower half of the caudal fin, and the 

 pectoral fins are sooty or bluish black. Other- 

 wise the vertical fins are grayish or bluish brown. 

 The ventral fins are pale, and the lining of the 

 mouth is dark purplish or bluish. 



Size. — This rockling has been described as 

 growing to a length of 16% inches in Scandinavian 

 waters, but about 12 inches is the longest recorded 

 from the Gulf of Maine, where they average only 

 about 6 to 10 inches. 



Habits. — Rocklings are bottom fish, like hake. 

 Occasionally they have been found in very shallow 

 water, on Nahant Beach in Massachusetts Bay, 

 for example; in water only a few feet deep at 

 Woods Hole; in 6 to 7 fathoms, both in St. Mary's 



