370 BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF FISHERIES 



Dannevig^^ records a young wrytaouth only 38 mm. long taken there as late as June 

 10. The localities where the young fish have been taken (p. 369) suggest that 

 wrymouths spawn all around the coast line of the Gulf of Maine and wherever they 

 occur on the offshore banks. 



Neither the eggs nor the early larval stages are known, but by the time the 

 young have gi-o\vn to a length of 21 to 22 mm., with the dorsal and anal fin rays 

 visible, they show the long vertical fins and lack of ventral fins diagnostic of the 

 species, though they are relatively much less elongate than the adult, their caudal 

 fins larger and square instead of rounded, while their mouths are stiU nearly hori- 

 zontal. The pigmentation of the fry is likewise extremely characteristic, the 

 upper sides from the eye back to the caudal fin being thickly speckled with dark 

 brown dots, which become sparser on the lower sides. This color pattern, developed 

 in larvae as small as 18 mm. (that is, even before the dorsal and anal fin rays are 

 visible), makes it easy to distinguish young wrymouths from any of the blenny 

 tribe, in which the abdominal region and the ventral side of the trunk, but not the 

 back, are pigmented. Young wrymouths are likewise deeper bodied than rock-eel 

 or blenny larvae and are further advanced in development at equal lengths. 



THE WOLFFISHES. FAMILY ANARHICHADID.S 



The wolffishes are closely allied to the blennies and like the latter have a single 

 long spiny dorsal fin running the whole length of the back from the nape ; but the 

 presence of large molar teeth and canine tusks, with the total lack of ventral fins 

 and the fact that all but the last 10 or 12 dorsal fin spines are soft and flexible at the 

 tips, justify a separate family for their reception. They are much larger fish than 

 any of the blenny tribe, also. Two species occur in the Gulf of Maine — one com- 

 mon and the other very rare. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE WOLFFISHES 



1. Plain colored or dark barred and blotched but not definitely black-spotted; the central 



band of molars in the roof of the mouth is shorter than the bands flanking it 



Common wolflSsh, p. 370 



Definitely black spotted on a pale ground; the bands of molars in the roof of the mouth 

 are all of equal length Spotted wolffish, p. 375 



143. Wolfflsh (Anarhichas lupus Linnaeus) 



Catfish ^^ 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2446. 



Description. — The wolffish suggests a huge blenny in its general make-up, but 

 only the last 10 or 12 spines of its dorsal fin are stiff to the tips, those farther forward 

 being flexible at the outer ends. There are no ventral fins. The mouth is armed 

 with a set of teeth more formidable than those of any other Gulf of Maine fishes 

 except the sharks. These teeth are arranged as follows: In the upper jaw there is 

 a row of about 6 very large, stout, conical canine tusks with a cluster of 5 or 6 



" Canadian Fisheries Expedition, 1914-1915 (1919) p. 16. On pi. 2, flg. 10, he gives an excellent figure of this specimen. 

 " Wbiteflsh in the markets. 



