368 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 

 THE WRYMOUTHS. FAMILY CRYPTACANTHODIDiE 



The wrymouths are slender fishes of eel-like form, close relatives of the blennies 

 but much larger. Like the latter they have a long dorsal fin, spiny throughout 

 its length, but the demarcation between dorsal, caudal, and anal fins is so vague 

 that they can be described as continuous. There are no ventral fins and the mouth 

 is so oblique that it is nearly vertical. Only three species are known — all North 

 American — of which the Gulf of Maine harbors one. 



142. Wrym6uth (Cryptacanthodes maculatus Storer) 



Congo eel; Bastard cusk; Ghostfish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2443. 



Description. — The wrymouth is eel-like in form, about thirteen times as long 

 as deep but much compressed, and, eel-like, it lacks ventral fins; but its dorsal 

 fin (which extends from just behind the pectoral back to the caudal) is spiny (about 

 73 spines) for its whole length like that of its close relatives, the blennies, and, just 



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Fig. 185. — Wrymouth (,CTyptacanthodes viaculatvs) 



as in some of the latter, there is no definite demarcation between dorsal, caudal, and 

 anal (about 50 rays), the one merging into the other to form a continuous fin with no 

 interspaces. However, the absence of ventral fins marks it off from all of our local 

 blennies, and its peculiar profile is an equally useful field mark, the head being flat- 

 topped, the eyes set high up in very prominent orbits, and the mouth strongly 

 oblique with the heavy lower jaw lending the face a "bull-dog" expression when 

 the mouth is closed. The wide gill openings, running forward under the throat, 

 the small size and rounded outline of the pectorals, the fact that both dorsal and anal 

 are low (less than half as high as the body is deep) and of even height throughout 

 most of their length, with the latter only about half as long as the former, and that 

 the caudal is oval in outline, are also diagnostic. 



Color. — Described (and the few preserved specimens we have seen corre- 

 spond with this) as of varying shades of reddish brown with the upper sides with 

 two or three irregular rows of small darker brown spots running from head to tail, 

 the- top of the head as thickly speckled, the vertical fins as spotted with similar but 

 smaller dots, and the belly as grayish white. Occasionally spotless specunens have 

 been seen. 



