FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



507 



on the southwestern part of Georges Bank. 9 But 

 the so-called "south channel" grounds from 

 Cape Cod out to the northwestern part of Georges, 

 with the northern and eastern parts of Georges, 

 and Browns Bank to the eastward, support so 

 large a population that these grounds, combined, 

 yielded about 368,000 pounds in 1945, about 

 840,000 pounds in 1947. 10 And it is much 

 more likely that the differences from year to 

 year in the catch n are due to the fact that 

 wolffish are taken only incidentally, so that the 

 catch depends on the precise grounds fished, 

 rather than on any periodic alterations in their 

 abundance. 



In 1946 (most recent year for which we have 

 seen statistics for the Canadian as well as for the 

 United States catches) something like 1,571,500 

 pounds of wolffish were reported as caught within 

 the limits of our Gulf, or something like 260,000 

 to 270,000 fish, assuming an average weight of 

 5 to 7 pounds. But it is anyone's guess what 

 proportion of the total population this may be. 



Wolffish appear to be about as numerous on 

 the various fishing grounds along outer Nova 

 Scotia (reported catch for 1949, about 800,000 

 pounds) as they are on Georges and Browns Banks. 

 (p. 507). But while they are reported at several 

 localities in the southern side of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, I2 also off the west coast of Newfound- 

 land, and at Anticosti, they are not plentiful 

 enough anywhere in the Gulf to yield commercial 

 catches. " And this applies equally to the New- 

 foundland Banks, though they have been taken 

 widespread there; also along the south and south- 

 east coast of Newfoundland, and as far north as 

 the offing of Hamilton Inlet on the outer Labrador 

 coast, during the experimental trawlings carried 

 out by the Fishery Research Board of New- 

 foundland. 



The fact that we have taken wolffish larvae in 

 the channel between Browns Bank and Cape 

 Sable; near Seal Island (Nova Scotia) ; on German 

 Bank and off its slope; off Lurcher Shoal; off 



• Reported landings were about fi.OOO pounds for Nantucket Shoals and 

 about 13,000 pounds for the southwestern part of Georges Bank for 1945; 

 about 9.000 pounds and 23,000 pounds respectively for these same grounds 

 in 1947. 



10 Weight of dressed fish. 



11 For earlier examples, see Bigelow and Welsh, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 

 40. Pt. 1, 1925, p. 373. 



" Cheticamp; Prince Edward Island; also Gaspe Bay. 

 11 They are not mentioned in the catch statistics for the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 coast of Nova Scotia, for New Brunswick or for Quebec. 



Machias (Maine) ; on Jeffreys Bank (off Penobscot 

 Bay); and in Massachusetts Bay a few miles off 

 Gloucester, is evidence that the wolffish breeds in 

 the Gulf wherever it is to be found, as might, 

 indeed, be expected. And this applies, equally 

 (it seems) to the more northern parts of the Ameri- 

 can range of the wolffish, for its pelagic young 

 have been reported off northeastern Newfound- 

 land; in the Strait of Belle Isle; and off Sandwich 

 Bay on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, by the 

 Newfoundland Fisheries Research Commission. 



Commercial importance. — The market demand 

 for wolffish is of comparatively recent growth. 

 It is an exceUent table fish, selling readily as 

 "ocean catfish" or as "whitefish." In 1947 the 

 average price to the fisherman was between 4 and 

 5 cents per pound, and the Gulf of Maine catch 

 was worth about $70,000 to S80,000. 



Spotted wolffish Anarhichas minor Olafsen 1774" 

 Spotted catfish 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2446. 



Description.- — This species resembles the com- 

 mon wolffish closely in its general form and in 

 the arrangement of its fins. The chief difference 

 is that while the central ("vomerine") band 

 of teeth on the roof of the mouth is longer than 

 the band on either side ("palatine") in the 

 common wolffish, these bands are of about equal 

 lengths in the spotted wolffish, and its teeth are 

 described as red in life, not white. Furthermore, 

 the rear end of its dorsal fin is abruptly indented 

 close to the base of the tail, with its last 3 to 6 

 spines much shorter than those further forward, 

 while the rear end of the dorsal is evenly rounded 

 in the common wolffish. 



Color is, however, the most convenient field 

 mark for the spotted wolffish, its pale olive or 

 chocolate 16 upper parts together with its dorsal 

 and caudal fins, being thickly sprinkled with 

 blackish brown spots, of different sizes and of 

 irregular shapes. 



Size.- — Notwithstanding its Latin name this is 

 fully as large a fish as the common wolffish, said 

 to grow to a length of 6 feet. One 37 inches long 

 weighed 13 pounds, eviscerated. 



" Jordan, Evermann and Clark (Kept. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1928), Pt. 2, 

 1930. p. 472) place this species in the genus Lycichthys Gill 1876; but it seems 

 preferable to follow the older usage here. 



lft The general ground tint has been variously described. 



