FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



443 



It is also reported off Bonne Bay on the west 

 coast of Newfoundland, in the Strait of Belle 

 Isle, and from the south coast of Newfoundland. 

 It is so widespread on the eastern part of the Grand 

 Banks that it was taken at 18 stations there on 

 the cruises of the Newfoundland Fisheries Re- 

 search Commission. It is also reported off the 

 east coast of the Avalon Peninsula, and off Sand- 

 wich Bay on the outer coast of Labrador. 



Grubby Myoxocephalus aeneus (Mitchill) 1815 70 



Little sculpin 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1972. 



Description. — The most distinctive features of 

 the grubby, as compared with others of its tribe, 

 are its short, simple head spines, combined with 

 small size at maturity. It is of the tj^pical 

 sculpin form, though proportionately a stouter 

 fish than either the shorthorned or the longhorned 

 species, that is, about one-fourth as deep as it is 

 long with smooth skin but showing the head 

 ridges and spines typical of its genus. Most 

 noticeable of these are a ridge with two spines 

 running along the top of the head over each eye; 

 a pair of spines between the nostrils; and six 

 short spines on each side of the face between 

 snout and gill opening. None of the cheek spines 

 are long (p. 449). The spiny dorsal fin (9 spines), 

 originating a little in front of the upper corner of 

 the gill opening, is shorter (front to rear) than the 



M Placed in the genus Acanthocotlu* Girard, 1849, by Jordan, Evermann, 

 and Clark, Kept. U. S. Comm. Fish (1928), Pt. 2, 1930, p. 38B. 



second dorsal of 13 or 14 soft rays; its longest 

 spines, measured from base to tip, are about the 

 same length as the longest soft rays of the second 

 dorsal; and the two fins are so close together 

 that there is no free space between them. The 

 anal fin (10 or 11 rays) is a little shorter than 

 the second dorsal, under which it stands. The 

 pectorals are of the fanlike outline characteristic 

 of this family, while each ventral fin consists of 

 one spine and three rays. There is no slit or 

 pore behind the last gill arch (there is such a slit 

 or pore in the shorthorn sculpin, at least in most 

 specimens, p. 445). 



Color. — Grubbies, like other sculpins, vary in 

 color according to the bottoms on which they he. 

 All that we have seen, however (this confirms the 

 published descriptions), have been light to dark 

 gray or greenish-gray above, with darker shadings 

 or irregular barrings that are most evident on 

 the sides and on the fins. The sides of the head 

 are usually mottled hght and dark; the belly is 

 pale gray or white. According to information 

 supplied by Dr. A. G. Huntsman, the presence 

 of an uninterrupted pale band of considerable 

 length along the lower sides of the caudal peduncle 

 is a useful field character. But we have seen 

 some specimens intermediate in tbis respect be- 

 tween the extreme condition shown in figure 228 

 and the variable motthngs and cloudings of the 

 shorthorn sculpin. 



Size. — This is the smallest of our common 

 sculpins, few growing to more than 5 or 6 inches 

 in length, and perhaps none to more than 8 inches. 



?iqure 228. — Little sculpin (Myoxocephalus aeneus), Staten Island, New York. From Jordan and Evermann. Drawing 



by H. L. Todd. 



