360 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



oblique, with its upper jaw armed with several rows of conical teeth, the lower 

 jaw with a single row only. 



Color. — A row of about 10 to 14 round black-centered and pale-edged spots, 

 spaced at equal distances along the middle of the back and spreading out onto 

 the dorsal fin, are the most characteristic feature of the color pattern of this fish. 

 The ground tint of the upper part is yellowish, reddish, or olive brown, with pale, 

 irregularly rounded cloudings on the sides, and an oblique streak from the eye to 

 the angle of the jaw. The belly varies from pale gray to yellowish white. The 

 pectorals, caudal, and anal fins are yellowish. At Boothbay we have seen a 



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F!G. 178.— Adult 



Fig. 179. — Larva (European), 9.4 millimeters. After Ehrenb.ium 



Fig. 180.— Larva (European), 18 millimeters. After Ehrenhaum 



Fig. 181.— Larva (European), 20 millimeters. After Elirenbaum 

 ROCK EEL (Pholis gunnellus) 



specimen brick red above and below, light and dark mottled, flecked with tiny 

 black dots, and with the spots on the dorsal fin dark red instead of black. 



Size. — -The maximum length is about 12 inches but few of those found are 

 more than 6 to 8 inches long. 



General range. — Shoal waters on both sides of the North Atlantic from Hudson 

 Straits to New Jersey on the American coast and south to France on the European 

 coast; commonest north of Cape Cod and north of the English Channel. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This little fish is to be found all along the 

 shores of the Gulf from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod. It is definitely recorded at 

 Yarmouth (Nova Scotia), at various localities on both sides of the Bay of Fundy 

 where it occurs nearly everywhere (writes Doctor Huntsman), at half a dozen 



