FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



301 



SNIPE FISHES. FAMILY MACRORHAMPHOSIDAE 



Snipe fish Macrorhamphosus scolopax (Linnaeus) 

 1758 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 759. 



Description. — The snipe fish is given so unusual 

 an appearance by a long tubular snout with small 

 toothless mouth at the tip, combined with a very 

 long, stout dorsal fin spine that is saw-toothed 

 along the rear edge that it could hardly be mis- 

 taken for any other Gulf of Maine fish. 



Its body is about two-fifths as deep as long, 

 measured from front of eye to base of caudal fin, 

 so flattened sidewise that it is only about one- 

 third to three-eighths as thick through as it is 

 deep; the snout, measured from the front of the 

 eye is about 1% times as long as the depth of 

 the body. The eye is noticeably large. The two 

 dorsal fins stand far behind the mid-length of 

 the trunk. The first dorsal is of 5 to 7 spines 

 and very short, the second, far the longer, is 

 pointed, with about 11 to 13 soft rays; and the 

 two dorsal fins are separated by an interspace 

 nearly as long as the base of the first dorsal. The 

 anal, with 19 to 20 rays, is much longer than the 

 second dorsal, but lower; the caudal is square- 

 tipped, of moderate size. The very small ventrals 

 are located considerably behind the pectorals. 

 The snout, head, and sides are clothed with small 

 rough scales. And the body is further stiffened 

 with bony plates, of which there are 2 longitudinal 

 rows of 4 each, high up on each side behind the 

 gill opening; also 3 longitudinal series of 6 each 

 along the lower breast and belly in front of the 

 ventral fins, followed by 3 pairs behind the latter 



and finally by a single plate close in front of the 

 anal fin, these last forming a sharp keel. 



Color. — Pinkish or reddish on sides above, fading 

 to silvery white below. Described as sometimes 

 golden above. 



Si ze . — Maximum reported size about 6% inches 

 (16 cm.); 42 the few we have seen were about 

 4 inches long. 



General range. — Widespread in warm seas. 

 Eastern Atlantic, from the coast and Banks of 

 Morocco, where it is sometimes taken in numbers, 

 and the Mediterranean, northward to southern 

 England (Cornwall, Devonshire) ; so far known in 

 the western Atlantic only from the offing of Nan- 

 tucket and from Massachusetts Bay. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine.— Oddly enough, 

 the few records of this eastern Atlantic fish in 

 our side of the Atlantic have all been within the 

 limits of the Gulf of Maine; namely, one reported 

 from Massachusetts Bay; *■ a second trawled 

 south of Nantucket, at the 130-fathom contour 

 line, 44 both many years ago; and eight specimens 

 trawled in that same general vicinity (lat. 39°59' 

 N., long. 69°47' W.) at 80 fathoms, by the 

 Albatross III on May 14, 1950. Evidently it 

 reaches the inner parts of the Gulf only as a 

 stray, and at long intervals although it is taken 

 from time to time by otter trawlers along the 

 southwestern edge of Georges Bank in 75 to 85 

 fathoms. 



« One of this sUe is pictured by Murray and n)ort (Depths of the Ocean, 

 1912, p. 397, fig. 268). 



« Qoode and Bean (Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., vol. 30, 1895, p. 483), 

 without further details. 



« Oricinal of Ooode and Dean's illustration (Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., 

 vol. 31, 1895, pi. 127, flg. 396). 



Figure 158.— Snipefish (Macrorhamphosus scolopar), off Nantucket. 



