FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



297 



gape of its mouth is shorter and much more 

 crooked on the blind side than it is on the eyed 

 side (an asymmetry that has been emphasized in 

 most of the descriptions of this species); that it 

 is evenly oval in outline without a definite caudal 

 peduncle; and that there are 50 to 56 dorsal-fin 

 rays and 36 to 42 anal-fin rays, but no pre-anal 

 spine. The scales are very rough on both sides, 

 those of the upper part of the head and chin on 

 the eyed side and on the wbole head on the blind 

 side are larger than the body scales, and its skin 

 is slimy with mucus. 



Color. — Dusky or slaty olive to dark brown on 

 the eyed side, barred transversely with a varying 

 number (usually 7 or 8) of indistinct darker 

 stripes, with a dark longitudinal stripe along the 

 lateral line, and sometimes with pale mottling. 

 The dorsal, caudal and anal fins are of the general 

 body tint, variously dark clouded. The blind 

 side is dirty white, usually marked with dark 

 round spots which vary in size and number from 

 fish to fish. But some specimens lack these 

 spots. 



Size. — Eight inches is about the maximum 

 length. 



Habits. — The hogchoker is confined to the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the coast, is most common in 

 bays and estuaries where the water is more or 

 less brackish, and sometimes runs up into fresh 

 water. It is a late spring and summer spawner. 

 At Woods Hole fish apparently ripe have been 

 taken in May, while in Chesapeake Bay ripe or 

 nearly ripe fish have been collected in June, July, 

 and August. One female, 6% inches long, con- 

 tained about 54,000 eggs about 0.3 mm. in 

 diameter, whether buoyant or not is not known. 



It reaches a length of 2 to 3 inches at one year of 

 age, and matures when about 4% inches long. 

 It feeds chiefly on annelid worms and on small 

 crustaceans. 26 Fragments of algae also have been 

 found in hogchoker stomachs, but these probably 

 were swallowed with its animal prey. 



General Range. — Off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 

 of North America, from Massachusetts Bay to the 

 Atlantic coast of Panama. The hogchoker is 

 abundant in Chesapeake Bay and to the south- 

 ward, and moderately common as far north as 

 southern New England, but it is rare north of 

 Cape Cod. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This little 

 flatfish has been reported from Provincetown 

 (where Captain Atwood spoke of it as plentiful); 

 from Boston Harbor, whence the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology has several, all caught long 

 ago; from the mouth of the Charles River (two 

 specimens reported in 1847); and from Nahant 

 (one taken in 1840). But it is more than three- 

 quarters of a century since it has been brought 

 to scientific attention anywhere to the north of 

 Cape Cod; if it is caught there from time to time, 

 as it doubtless is, it has not been recognized. It 

 is not known north or east of Cape Ann, nor on 

 the offshore banks. 



Importance. — The hogchoker is said to be deli- 

 cious eating. But it is so small that it is of no 

 commercial value even in Chesapeake Bay where 

 it is plentiful. Incidentally, the rumored origin 

 of the name "hogchoker" is that hogs that "feed 

 on fish discarded on the beaches, have great diffi- 

 culty in swallowing this sole, because of the 

 extremely hard, rough scales." " 



THE JOHN DORIES. FAMILY ZEIDAE 



American John Dory 28 Zenopsis ocellata (Storer) 

 1858 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1660. 



Description. — The John Dory is easily dis- 

 tinguishable from all other Gulf of Maine fishes of 

 similar body form by its long dorsal fin spines, 

 bony armor, tiny tail fin, and the curious profile of 



» Hildebrand and Scbrocder, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 43, pt. 1, 1928, 

 p. 176. 



» Hildebrand and Schroeder, Bull. D. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 43, Pt. 1, 192S, 

 p. 177. 



89 Separable from the common John Dory of Europe by having three anal 

 spines instead of four, and by a greater development of the bony plates. 



its head. Like the butterfish it is very deep (only 

 about one and three-fourths to twice as long as it 

 is deep) and very much flattened sidewise. Its 

 body is rounded in side view, with the dorsal 

 profile of its head noticeably concave, its large 

 mouth is set very obliquely, and its caudal 

 peduncle is very slender. Its dorsal fin is in two 

 parts, spiny and soft ra3 r ed ; the former, originating 

 over the upper corner of the gill covers, has 9 to 10 

 spines; the first, second, and third spines very 

 long, the others graduated. And all the spines are 

 filamentous toward the tip. The soft dorsal fin 



