FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 323 



(p. 326), with the general predilection of the shorthorn for water shoaler than these 

 offshore grounds, makes it doubtful whether it is to be found there in any numbers. 



Habits. — Bays and the vicinity of ledges that rise from comparatively smooth 

 bottom in shoal water are the chief habitat of the shorthorn sculpin. It is found 

 indifferently on mud, sand, or pebbles, on bare bottom or among weeds. Many 

 are caught off piers and along our rocky shores by cunner fishermen In Scandi- 

 navian waters this fish is said to vary widely in abundance from year to year, 

 years of plenty alternating with longer periods of scarcity, but this does not seem 

 to be the case to any noticeable extent in the Gulf of Maine where it is always 

 common. 



Like its commoner relative (p. 325) it is a sluggish fish, often to be seen lying 

 motionless, and as a rule it hugs the bottom so closely that it is hard, even by 

 dangling a bait over it, to tempt one to rise as much as a few feet. Nor does it 

 ever come to the surface voluntarily unless, when caught in some tide pool, the 

 surface drops to the sculpin on the ebbing tide. Sculpins usually swim slowly 

 with undulating motion, spreading the great pectorals like bat's wings. They 

 move only a little way when disturbed, but on occasion they can dart ahead with 

 folded ''wings." They are among the most voracious of fishes, feeding chiefly 

 on crustaceans, particularly crabs, of which they are often full, and on shrimps, 

 sea urchins, worms, the fry of various other fish, and rarely on shellfish. They 

 are eager scavengers of any kind of refuse, congregating about fish wharves, lobster 

 cars, etc., to feast on the debris. Like all species of sculpins they bite on any bait, 

 and so greedily that time and again I have caught one, thrown it back, and seen 

 it bite again almost as soon as a fresh bait reached bottom. The shorthorn has been 

 described as hiding in dark crevices or among weeds by day, to emerge at night. 

 This, however, has not been our experience, nor did Gill (1905, p. 352) find it 

 so at Grand Manan. This fish, like the longhorn sculpin, grunts or gurgles when 

 drawn out of the water, particularly when handled, and it is also known to grunt 

 in the water. 



The shorthorn sculpin is resident the year round off the open coasts of the 

 Gulf of Maine, and may be caught in winter as well as in summer. In the Bay of 

 Fundy, where it is very common, it is the only fish remaining near shore during 

 the coldest part of the year, and it has been described as most plentiful along the 

 shores of Massachusetts Bay in winter, as it certainly is south of Cape Cod. This 

 does not apply to shallow bays with broad expanses of flat left bare at every tide, 

 however, such as Duxbury Harbor where sculpins are plentiful in spring and 

 autumn but which they so completely desert both in the coldest part of the winter 

 and during the heat of midsummer that local lobster fishermen are forced to turn 

 to other sources for bait. Probably the explanation is that like many other fishes 

 they avoid both very high and very low temperatures, and that during the breeding 

 season, which falls in winter, practically the whole stock of adults gathers on grounds 

 that for some reason are especially suitable for spawning. 



Breeding habits. — This is the only one of our local sculpins whose breeding has 

 been followed, and even for this one we must turn to European sources, little atten- 

 tion having been paid to this phase of its life by American ichthyologists. 81 



81 Gill (1905, p. 35) gives a summary of its life history. 



