FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



89 



fish is deep, Goode and Bean (1896, pi. 46, fig. 170) picture the dorsal as much 

 higher than the anal (the artist evidently having transposed the two fins) , whereas 

 Brauer '° represents the anal as approximately twice as high as the dorsal and the 

 latter as soft rayed in its anterior and posterior portions but composed of short 

 thornlike spines over its central third. In two specimens taken off New England 

 and now in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology the fins are as 

 follows : 



Dorsal, soft rayed and nearly as high as the body is deep for its first half; 

 back of that it consists of a series of very short, stiff jays that extend to the tip of 

 the tail. 



Anal, soft-rayed throughout its length and about as high as the body is deep, 

 tapering to almost nothing on the tail. 



In part the confusion has been due to the rather fragmentary state in which 

 these deep-water fish usually arrive on board, but at the same time it is probable 

 that two distinct species have been confused under the name scotopaceus, as Brauer 



Fig. 37. — Snipe eel (Nemicbthys scolopaceus) 



suspected. Both jaws and the roof of the mouth as well are thickly studded with 

 small sharp teeth. 



Color. — -Described as pale to dark brown above with the belly and anal fin 

 blackish after preservation. Judging from experience with other deep-sea fishes 

 and from Brauer's plate (which, however, may be another species), we suspect that 

 in life it is chocolate brown above and velvety black below. 



Size. — Maximum length about 3 feet. 



General range. — The snipe eel has been taken in the South Atlantic, near Ma- 

 deira, off the Cape Verde Islands, off West Africa, in the Pacific north of New 

 Guinea, and in deep water at many stations off the east coast of North America 

 between latitudes 31° and 42°, longitudes 65° and 75°. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — One specimen taken from the stomach of 

 a codfish caught on Georges Bank in 45 fathoms is the only Gulf of Maine record, 

 but several have been taken in depths of from 300 to 2,000 fathoms seaward from 

 the bank. 



Habits. — Although commonly spoken of as a "deep-sea" fish, this species is 

 undoubtedly an inhabitant of the mid depths, not of the bottom, and judging from 

 the occurrence of other black fishes it probably finds its upper limit at 100 to 200 



" Die Tiefsee-Fische. Wissenschattliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tietsee-Eipedition, 1898-1899 (1900), Band XV, Teill 

 p. 126, pi. 9, flg. 1. 



