148 BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



tribe, and certain oceanic species such as the pearlsides, among common Gulf of 

 Maine fishes, serve to separate it at a glance from any other species likely to be 

 found -within the limits of the Gulf. 64 



In the argentine, as in the smelt, the body (about one-fifth as deep as long) 

 tapers toward both head and tail, but its sides are so flat, its back and belly so 

 broadly rounded, that it is nearly rectangular in cross section instead of oval. Its 

 scales, too, are larger than those of the smelt, there being only 60 to 70 rows along 

 the lateral line. The adipose fin is very small and the jaws are toothless, though the 

 palate and tongue are armed with small teeth. 



Color. — We have never seen a freshly taken adult, and its color is variously 

 described by different authors. All agree, however, that the back is brownish or 

 olivaceous, the sides silvery or with iridescent golden or brassy luster, and the 

 belly white. The adipose fin is said to be yellow. 65 



Size. — The argentine is a larger fish than the smelt or the capelin, growing 

 to a length of about 18 inches. 



General range. — North Atlantic, usually in water as deep as 80 to 300 fathoms, 

 chiefly on the European side where it is known from northern Norway south to the 

 northern part of the North Sea. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The argentine has seldom been taken in our 

 waters. Records have been published for Belfast and for Biddeford Pool, Me., and 

 we collected two specimens on the Grampus — the first, of 49 mm., taken in the clos- 

 ing net at 35 fathoms, 33 miles south of Mount Desert Rock on August 14, 1912, and 

 the second, of 38 mm., one year later, from an open haul from 85 fathoms nearby, 

 which completes the list. Probably it is more common in the deeps of the Gulf 

 than these few captures suggest, for on April 17, 1920, a haul from 200 meters in the 

 southeast corner of the Gulf yielded 43 eggs unmistakably of argentine parentage. 



Habits. — Nothing is known of the life of the herring smelt in our Gulf, and 

 little enough is known of it in Scandinavian waters, where it is sometimes caught on 

 deep-set lines baited with herring or mussels, and where, like other deep-sea fishes, 

 it is occasionally swept up to the surface by some upwelling of the water, to drift 

 there helplessly. It certainly begins spawning as early as April in the Gulf of Maine, 

 and judging from European experience it probably continues all summer. Although 

 buoyant, the eggs float in the deeper water layers, seldom rising to the surface. 

 They are among the largest of buoyant eggs (3 to 3.5 mm. in diameter), with flat oil 

 globule (0.95 to 1.16 mm.) and vacuolated yolk. Newly hatched larvae averaging 

 about 7.5 mm. long have a large yolk sac, but at a length of 12 mm. this has been 

 absorbed and a line of spots has appeared along the belly. The rudiments of the 

 dorsal and anal fins are visible at 28 mm., and by the time the little fish has reached 

 45 mm. the fin rays are formed, the anus has traveled forward, and the forked out- 

 line of the tail is apparent, but it is not until the larva is about 50 mm. long that 

 the ventral fins appear. 



81 There is a second argentine in Scandinavian waters, but it is not known on our side of the Atlantic. 

 a For an excellent account of the argentine see Smitt (Scandinavian Fishes, 1892). 



