FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 381 



Breeding habits. — Little is definitely known of the breeding habits of the 

 American eelpout, no ripe specimens of either sex having been seen. Females 

 with eggs in advanced stages of development, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, have been 

 taken about St. Andrews from May until July and in Massachusetts Bay in mid- 

 summer (for instance one in this state caught near Boston was brought in to the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology on August 10, 1922), and it was on the strength of 

 females in this condition that Goode (et al., 1884) assumed July and August as the 

 spawning season. However, the sexual condition of specimens caught in different 

 months near St. Andrews, where no spent eelpouts were taken before October, coupled 

 with the discovery of fry (one from the stomach of a sculpin) in April, convinced 

 the authors just mentioned (and we believe correctly) that spawning takes place in 

 autumn. They likewise suggest that their failure to find either males or females 

 closely approaching sexual maturity at St. Andrews is evidence that the fish move 

 offshore to spawn. This does not necessarily follow, however, because eelpouts, 

 like many other fish, may cease feeding at this time, and hence the ripe fish might not 

 be caught on hook and line no matter how plentiful they were. The fact that fish 

 taken in summer differed widely in the state of development of their sexual products 

 suggested to Clemens and Clemens that they do not breed every year, but it seems 

 to us more probable that this is evidence simply of a protracted breeding period, 

 some individuals ripening early in autumn, others perhaps not until winter. 



The European eelpout (Zoarces viviparus) is viviparous, as its name suggests, 

 but whether this is also true of the American fish is not known. However, the 

 latter produces so many more eggs than the former (Clemens and Clemens counted 

 1,800 in a female of 3% pounds, as against 200 to 400 in the European fish) that if 

 the eggs are not deposited before hatching the young must be liberated soon after 

 and not retained within the oviducts of the mother until 40 to 50 mm. long, as 

 is said to be the case with the European species. 



The smallest fish with large eggs seen by Clemens and Clemens were 16 to 

 18 inches long, indicating that this species does not mature until about 8 years 

 old, if their schedule of age and size (p. 380) be correct. The young of the Amer- 

 ican eelpout have not been described. Those of its European relative are not 

 only very large when set free, 45 as just noted, and of adult form and structure, 

 but some even mature their eggs shortly thereafter. They take to the bottom at 

 once without passing through a pelagic stage, but it remains to be seen whether 

 this applies equally to the American eelpout. 



Commercial importance. — Although the eelpout is described as a very sweet 

 fish (we have never eaten it) there is no regular market for it and the offshore 

 fishermen throw away all they catch, but a few are brought in by the smaller boats 

 and hawked on the streets of Boston. 



" Mcintosh (The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Vol. XV, Fifth Series, 1885, p. 429). Stuhlmann (Abhand- 

 ungen, naturwissenschaftlicher Verein, Hamburg, vol. 10, 1887, No. 12, pi. 4, fig. 87, 88). 



