378 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



145. Eelpout (Zoarces anguillaris Peck) 

 Yowler; Conger eel; Congo eel; Muttonfish; Lamper eel; Ling 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2457. 



Description. — The eelpout is blennylike or eel-like in form, its body about 

 eight times as long as deep, moderately compressed but noticeably sway bellied, 

 and tapering backward from the pectorals, where it is deepest, to a pointed tail. 

 It is very soft, its scales very small, and its skin as slimy as an eel. Its ventrals 

 are very small like those of the rock eel (p. 359), and situated well forward of the 

 pectorals. The most useful field mark for the identification of the eelpout among 

 the several eel-like fishes with which it might be confused are its vertical fins. 

 Its anal is continuous with the caudal and with no trace of a notch of demarcation 

 between the two, just as is the case with the true eels. In reality this is true of 

 the dorsal fin also, but a few of the dorsal rays near the rear end of the fin are so 

 short as to be hardly visible, so that apparently there is a considerable free interspace 

 between the dorsal and caudal fins. Furthermore, these short rays are spiny instead 

 of soft like all the others. The dorsal fin runs from the nape back along the whole 

 length of the trunk and consists of about 128 rays — first about 95 soft rays and 

 then the 16 to IS short spines followed by about 17 more soft rays. The anal 

 (about 105 soft rays) originates slightly in front of the midlength of the fish. 

 Except as just noted, both the dorsal and the anal are of nearly even height, but 

 the former is nearly twice as high as the latter. The pectoral fins are large and 

 rounded like those of the wolfiish. The mouth is wide, gaping back of the small 

 eye, and set so low that it gives the profile a diagnostic aspect, with thick and 

 fleshy lips. Both jaws are armed with two series of strong, blunt conical teeth, 

 largest in front, but the mouth lacks the crushing teeth so characteristic of the 

 wolfiish. 



Color. — Although this fish has usually been described as reddish brown 

 mottled with olive, or as salmon colored, most of those we have seen caught — a 

 fair number — have been of some shade of muddy yellow, paler or darker, some 

 with brownish, some with salmon, and some with orange tinge, while a few have 

 been pure olive green; and since fishermen usually describe them as "yellow," this 

 is evidently the prevailing hue in the offshore parts of the Gulf. Other eelpouts 

 that we have caught inshore along the coast of Maine, however, have shown yellow 

 only on the margins of the fins, particularly the lower edge of the pectorals, the 

 general ground tint of sides and back ranging from pale gray, sometimes with 

 purplish tinge, to dull brown or dark dusky olive below as well as above. One 

 of a pair caught side by side in Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert, was pale grayish 

 white below while the other was amethyst pink on the belly and lower side of the 

 head. Whatever the ground tint, the sides are dotted with small dark spots 

 clustered in irregular crossbars and extending out on the dorsal fin. 



Size. — The eelpout is said to reach a length of 3% feet and a weight of 12 

 pounds, but most of those caught are much smaller. Two feet 10 inches was the 

 longest we have seen, and 2 feet is a large one, with \y 2 feet in length a fair average 

 for adults. Fish measured by Clemens and Clemens (1921) weighed approxi- 



