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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



parts of the Gulf, nor is it to be expected there, 

 to judge from its general distribution. But the 

 Albatross I took one in a tow net over the south- 

 western part of Georges Bank at about the 82 

 fathom (150 meters) contour line. 25 And subse- 

 quent captures of scattered specimens in that 

 general neighborhood in 1931 by the Albatross II; 

 at 8 stations (30 specimens) between the offing of 

 Nantucket and longitude about 67° 10' W., in 

 41 to 150 fathoms, by the Albatross III in May 

 1950; and on those same general grounds in 39 to 

 65 fathoms by the Eugene H in late June 1951, 

 show that its regular range extends eastward far 

 enough to include not only the slope of Nantucket 

 Shoals, but the southwestern sector of Georges 

 Bank arc as well, at the appropriate depth. And 

 it must be considerably more plentiful on the 

 outer part of the shelf off southern New England, 

 for the Albatross III has trawled a considerable 

 number of them there, including one catch of 100 

 off Montauk Point, in February 1950, and another 

 of as many more off Rhode Island on May 13, 

 1950, at 41 to 50 fathoms. 



» Station 20045, lat. 40° 18' N., long. 68° 09' W., February 22, 1920. 



Hogchoker Achirus fasciatus Lacepede, 1803 

 American sole 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2700. 



Description. — This fish is the closest relative, in 

 northeastern American waters, of the famous sole 

 of Europe. It is right-handed and small-mouthed, 

 and it can be told at a glance from all other 

 Gulf of Maine flatfishes by the fact that it has no 

 pectoral fin on either side. Its mouth gapes 

 along the general fore-and-aft line as the fish lies, 

 with the upper jaw projecting beyond the lower, 

 whereas the gape is oblique in all other local 

 flatfishes, and it is their lower jaw that projects. 

 Furthermore, the rounded outline of the head of 

 the hogchoker, and the lack of a definite snout, 

 gives it an aspect very different from that of any 

 other Gulf of Maine flatfish. 



Equally diagnostic among right-handed species 

 is that its right-hand ventral fin is continuous 

 with the anal fin; its long fins are highest toward 

 their rear ends; its dorsal (left-hand) fin originates 

 at the very tip of the nose (thus, further forward 

 than in our commoner flounders); and its small 

 eyes are set flat instead of in prominent orbits. 

 Other characters worth mentioning are that the 



Figure 155. — Hogchoker (Achirus fasciatus), Woods Hole. After Jordan and Evermann. Original drawing by 



H. L. Todd. 



