FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



141 



characteristically different aspects. The head of the capelin is pointed like that of 

 the smelt, the mouth gaping back to below the center of the very large eye with the 

 tip of the lower jaw projecting noticeably beyond the upper. The scales are minute — 

 much smaller than those of the smelt and more numerous (about 200 per row on 

 the sides of the body) — its teeth so small as to be hardly visible to the naked eye, 

 and the tongue fangs, so characterisitc of the smelt (p. 144), are lacking here. The 

 outline of the adipose fin likewise helps separate capelin from smelt, for in the former 

 it is low and about half as long as the anal, while in the latter it is short and high. 

 The pectoral of the capelin is likewise broader, with 15 or more rays. 



The capelin exhibits a pronounced sexual dimorphism, males having much the 

 longer pectoral fins, and the base of the anal is elevated on a pronounced hump, 

 whereas it follows the general outline of the belly in the female. In the males, too, 

 a longitudinal row of scales immediately above the lateral line and another along 

 each side of the belly are not only pointed and distinctly larger than the other 



Fig. 55.— Adult 



Fig. 56.— Larva, 23 millimeters. After Schmidt 

 CAPELIN ( Mallotus villosus) 



scales but become very elongate at spawning time, forming four ridges very evident 

 when the fish is taken in the hand. 



Color. — The capelin, like the smelt, is transparent olive to bottle green above, 

 but its sides are uniformly silvery below the lateral line and the scales are dotted 

 at the margins with minute dusky specks (in the smelt there is a distinct silvery 

 band on each side) ; the belly is white and at spawning time back and head darken. 



Size. — Capelin are seldom more than 6}4 to 7% inches long. 



General range. — Boreal — Arctic seas, south to the coast of Maine 3e on the 

 Atlantic coast of America. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The capelin is a sub-Arctic fish that occurs 

 at irregular intervals in the Gulf of Maine, chiefly on its eastern side, as might 

 be expected of a visitor from the north. 



M According to Jordan and Evermann the capelin finds its southern limit at Cape Cod, but we find no actual records o( its 

 occurrence farther south than here mentioned. 



