FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 511 



174. Witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus Linnaeus) 

 Fluke; Craig fluke; Sole; Pole flounder 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2657. 



Description. — The witch is right-handed (eyes and guts on the right hand as 

 the fish lies) and small-mouthed like the winter and smooth flounders and the dab, 

 but there is little danger of confusing it with any of these as its fin rays are so much 

 more numerous, its body more elongate, its head much smaller, and the large 

 open mucus pits on the blind side of the head are so apparent. It is two and one- 

 half to three times as long as "broad," elhptical in outline, very thin-bodied, with 

 head so short that it only occupies about one-fifth of the total body length, and it 

 has a very small mouth. The dorsal (left) profile of its head is convex. There are 

 100 to 115 dorsal and S7 to 100 anal rays, and the anal fin is preceded by a short, 

 sharp spine pointing forward, a prolongation of the postabdominal bone. The two 

 long fins are of about uniform height throughout most of their length, narrowing 

 gradually toward the head and tail. The pectoral fins and the ventrals are alike 

 on the two sides, or nearly so, while the caudal fin is much smaller relatively than 

 that of the dab, winter flounder, or smooth flounder, though similarly rounded. 

 The lateral line is usually straight, but occasionally somewhat arched abreast the 

 pectoral fin. The jaw teeth are small, incisorlike, and in a single series. There 

 are about 12 open mucus pits or depressions on the blind side of the head, and less 

 obvious ones on the eyed side also. The whole body and head (except the tip of 

 the snout and the lower jaw) are scaly, but the scales are smooth to the touch 

 making the witch as slippery to hold as a female smooth flounder (p. 508). 



Color. — By all accounts (and the fish we have seen are in line with this) 

 the witch is less variable in color than most flounders. Usually it is brownish 

 or russet gray on the eyed side, either uniform or with darker transverse bars, with 

 the vertical fins of the general body hue tinted or tinged with violet and either plain or 

 spotted, while the pectoral fin membrane on the eyed side is dusky or even black, 

 a feature diagnostic of this species. The lower (blind) side is white and more 

 or less dotted with minute dark points. 



Size. — The maximum length is about 25 inches, but while fish of 23 or 24 

 inches and weighing about 4 pounds are not uncommon the general run of those 

 caught is only about 12 to 20 inches. 



The witch probably grows to 40 or 50 mm. within 4 to 6 months from the 

 time of hatching — that is, by autumn or early winter, as detailed hereafter (p. 515). 

 Fry of 65 to 108 mm., such as we have trawled in July, are no doubt in their second 

 summer, their size depending on how early in the previous summer they were 

 hatched. The later growth has not been studied so far as we are aware. 



General range. — Moderately deep water on both sides of the North Atlantic. 

 Its European range is from northern Norway and Iceland south to the west coast 

 of France, while in American waters it is known from the south coast of New- 

 foundland, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 85 from the Laurentian Channel, along 

 outer Nova Scotia and the Scotian Banks, in the Gulf of Maine, including the off- 

 shore banks and their seaward slopes, and along the continental slope as far south 

 as the latitude of Delaware Bay. 



" Huntsman, 1918a, p. 63. 



102274— 25+ 33 



