FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



295 



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mm •■■ ■.?!;,:■ 





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Figure 154. — Gulf Stream flounder (Citharichthys arctifrons), off Rhode Island. From Goode and Bean. Drawing by 



H. L. Todd. 



longer of the pair in males. The body is ovate in 

 outline and very thin. The long (ventral and 

 dorsal) fins are of moderate breadth, with the 

 dorsal fin (78 to S3 rays) originating over the forward 

 margin of the eye, the anal (loft-hand edge) fin (61 

 to 67 rays) originating a little in advance of the 

 pectorals; and the caudal fin rounded. The scales 

 are so large that there are only about 40 rows of 

 them along the lateral line. 



Fish living at different depths vary so widely 

 in the number of fin rays that future studies may 

 reveal the existence of distinct races, if not of 

 species. 23 



Color. — Light brown above, with the scales 

 usually more or less outlined with darker brown; 

 brownish white below. 



Size. — Maximum length about 7 inches. 



Remarks. — This little flatfish parallels the sum- 

 mer, four-spotted, and sand flounders (the latter 



« A second species of this genus (C unicornis Goode 1880) may be expected 

 on the outer slope of Georges Bank in depths of 100 fathoms and more, since 

 it has been taken ofl Marthas Vineyard In 115 to 150 fathoms. The male is 

 separable from C. arctifrons by the fact that there are several short spines on 

 the eyed side of the head above the upper lip (the head of arctifrons is spine- 

 less although old fish may have a bony protuberance on tho snout). Further 

 points of distinction are that unicornis has fewer fin rays (only about 74 to 

 77 dorsal rays and 60 anal rays) and that its body is broader (actually higher) 

 Parr (Bulletin of the Bingham Oceanographlc Collection, vol. 4, art. 1, 1931/ 

 has published a revision of the genus Cuharkhtfiys of the western Atlantic. 



We have towed the pelagic larvae of still a third small deep-water flounder 

 {MonoUne sessilkauda Goode 1880) off the seaward slope of Georges Bank 

 (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 41, No. 8, 1917, p. 277), while the adults have 

 been trawled in depths of 100 fathoms and more off Marthas Vineyard and 

 thence westward and southward along the continental slope. It Is left- 

 handed like the summer, four-spotted, and sand flounders, with arched 

 lateral line, but it has no pectoral fin on the blind side. For a detailed 

 description of it. see Goode and Bean, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl.,'(vol. 

 30, 1895, p. 452). 



its closest Gulf of Maine ally) in its lef t-handedness. 

 But it is distinguishable from all of these by its 

 nearly straight lateral line; by the great disparity 

 in size between its two pectoral fins; and by its 

 very large scales. Its narrow shape and the fact 

 that none of its dorsal fin rays are branched are 

 further points of distinction between it and the 

 sand flounder; also it is much smaller at maturity 

 than any of the flatfishes that are common in the 

 inner parts of the Gulf of Maine. 



Habits.- — Little is known of its habits. It is 

 found chiefly in water deeper than 40 fathoms 

 but it has been trawled as shoal as 12 fathoms. 

 Apparently it spawns from spring through sum- 

 mer, for we have found females with well-developed 

 ovaries in February, while Goode had ripe ones 

 in September. It is not large enough to be of 

 commercial value, but we can witness that it is 

 excellent on the table. 



General range.- — Eastern coast of America, along 

 the outer part of the continental shelf from the 

 southwestern part of Georges Bank to the offing 

 of Charleston, S. C., where the Blake took it many 

 3 r ears ago, 24 usually at depths of 40 to 200 fathoms, 

 but occasionally as shoal as 12 to 18 fathoms. 



A fish occupying this geographic province is 

 misnamed when it is called "Gulf Stream," but 

 this is the only English name by which it has 

 been known. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine.- — This little 

 flatfish has never been reported from the inner 



» Goode and Bean (Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., vol. 30, 1895, pp. 443- 

 444) give a long list of localities where it has been trawled, along the conti- 

 nental shelf from the offing of Nantucket to the offing of Charleston, S. O. 



