FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 379 



mately J^ pound at 12^ inches, J^ pound at 15 inches, % pound at 17 inches, 1 

 pound at 18 inches, 134 pounds at 19 inches, 2 pounds at 21 inches, 3 pounds at 

 24 inches, and 4 pounds at 27 inches. 



General range. — Coast of North America from the Straits of Belle Isle and 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence south to Delaware.** The eelpout of North Europe {Zoarces 

 viviparus Linnisus), a very close relative, is distinguishable only by fewer fin rays 

 (about 100 dorsal rays and 6 to 10 spines; 80 to 89 anal rays). 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This fish, known as "yowler" by vessel 

 fishermen, "ling" on Cape Cod, and "laniper," "conger," or "congo eel" in 

 Maine, is familiar in the Gulf and very abundant locally, both near shore in 

 moderate depths of water, and on the outer banks. It is common off western 

 Nova Scotia, in the Bay of Fundy, all along the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts, 

 and is taken in considerable numbers on Georges Bank both by otter trawlers 

 and by line fishermen.*' 



There seems to be a wide difference in the depth zone frequented by the eelpout 

 in different parts of the Gulf. In the Bay of Fundy some of them run up into shoal 

 water in summer and young ones are to be found under stones and among seaweed 

 between tide marks. Similarly, as we can bear witness, one is always apt to catch 

 several in a half day 's flounder fishing in 1 to 3 fathoms in Penobscot Bay or in 

 Northeast Harbor, and this probably applies to bays and harbors all along 

 the coast of Maine east of Cape Elizabeth. We have never seen one taken in less 

 than 10 fathoms of water in the Massachusetts Bay region, where most fishermen 

 speak of it as a comparatively deep-water fish, though it has been recorded from 

 Gloucester Harbor. On the offshore banks eelpouts live at 20 to 50 fathoms, and, 

 taking the Gulf as a whole, the majority of the stock of eelpouts would probably be 

 foimd between 10 and 45 fathoms. We can not state the lower depth limit. 

 Probably, however, few occur deeper than 60 or 70 fathoms, for we have not heard 

 of them on the soft slimy ooze in the bottoms of the deeper basins. 



Eelpouts seek different types of bottom in different localities. They are 

 hardly ever caught on the good fishing grounds — that is, stony or gravelly bottoms 

 or about ledges — in Massachusetts Bay, but if the line trawl chances to run off 

 these the portion resting on the soft sticky mud that floors the deeper parts of the 

 bay often brings in eelpouts and nothing else except an odd hake, and so frequently 

 does this happen that such places are commonly termed "yowler bottom." We 

 have trawled them on rather sticky sand in Ispwich Bay (22 fathoms), however, 

 among a good catch of hake and plaice, likewise on broken bottom at the mouth 

 of Casco Bay, and on pebbles and mud in Penobscot Bay. East of the latter they 

 are commonly caught on stony ground, while Huntsman describes them as taken 

 on hard bottom in the Bay of Fundy. 



The eelpout, broadly speaking, is a resident fish wherever found, its only 

 migrations taking the form of on and offshore movements, and even these are 



" There is a doubtful record for North Carolina (Smith, North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, Vol. II, 1907, 

 p. 379). 



" Clemens and Clemens (1921, p. 69) give a general account of the life history of the eelpout in the Bay of Fundy and a list 

 of the localities whence it has been recorded. 



