FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



233 



definite records of them from the inner parts of the 

 Gulf had been of three specimens taken off Cape 

 Ann," in 1 10 to 140 fathoms, in 1878; and of a few 

 others that were trawled on the northern edge of 

 Georges Bank by the Kingfisher, hi September 

 1929, in 85 to 100 fathoms. But captures of a 

 number to the westward along the Bank and in the 

 central basin of the Gulf in the summer of 1931, 

 by the Albatross II 68 at depths of 70 to 140 fath- 

 oms, show that long-finned hakes are more numer- 

 ous in the deeper parts of the Gulf than had been 

 suspected previously. 



Blue hake Antimora rostrata Giinther 1878 



Jordan and Kvermann, 1896-1900, p. 2544, as A. viola 

 Goode and Bean. 



Description. — This species resembles the white, 

 squirrel and spotted hakes in the form of its body 

 and hi having two separate dorsal fins, the first 

 very short and the second very long; but it is 

 readily distinguished from them by the fact that 

 its anal fin is so deeply notched about midway of 

 its length that it almost seems to have two sepa- 

 rate anals, and that each of its ventral fins is 

 6-rayed, with the second ray prolonged and fila- 

 mentous. The shape of the snout, which is 

 flattened above, keeled at the sides, and blunted 

 at the tip hi some but forming an acute angle in 

 others is distinctive, likewise its vent is situated 

 much farther back than hi the true hakes (genus 

 Urophycis), and its body, in life, is deep violet, 

 blackish brown, or blue black, below as well as 

 above. 



87 These were the basis of Goode and Bean's original descrlptlOD Of the 

 species (Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., vol. 1, 1878, p. 256). 



'» Reported by Bigelow and Schroeder, Bull. U. S. Bur. Pish., vol. 48, 1936, 

 p. 339. 



Size. — The longest yet measured was one of 

 about 2V/ 2 inches (545 mm.). 



Range. — The blue hake was reported at so many 

 localities along the continental slope from the 

 early cruises of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Ma on 

 the Nova Scotian slope ; off southern New England ; 

 and southward to the offing of Cape Hatteras, 

 North Carolina, at 350 to 1,000 fathoms that it 

 must be one of the more plentiful of fishes there. 



We have recently trawled a few at 220 to 460 

 fathoms, on the southeastern Nova Scotian slope, 

 on the Caryn of the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution, between longitudes 64° W. and 65° 56' 

 W., and halibut fishermen have occasionally 

 brought them in. But the blue hake has not been 

 taken within the limits of the Gulf of Maine, and 

 it is hardly to be expected there; the shoalest cap- 

 ture recorded for it so far is from 220 fathoms. 

 We mention it on the chance that vessels trawling 

 on the slope may occasionally work deep enough 

 to pick up a few. 



The known range of this deep sea hake includes 

 the North Atlantic from Denmark Strait to the 

 offing of Gibralter in the east and from the New- 

 foundland Banks to the offing of Cape Hatteras 

 in the west; Uruguay; the eastern Pacific, British 

 Columbia to Panama, and the southern Indian 

 Ocean. It has been taken as deep as 1,456 

 fathoms. m 



Hakeling Physiculus Jvlvus Bean 1884 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2547. 



Description. — This fish is hakelikc in its general 

 appearance, also in the general arrangement of its 



"•See Goode and Bean (Smithsonian Oontrlb. Know!., vol. 30, 1895, pp. 

 374-375) for list of stations. 

 '• For a recent summary, see Schroeder, Copeia, 1940, No. 4, pp. 236-237. 



t ***^r^?*^ 



Figure 112. — Blue hake (Antimora rostrata). La Have Bank. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



