232 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



the southwestern part of the Gulf every year, 

 for 49 spotted hake were taken south of Block 

 Island, in 47 to 67 fathoms, January 27 to Feb- 

 ruary 3, 1950, by the dragger Eugene H. 



Long-finned hake Urophycis chesteri (Goode 

 and Bean) 1878 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2556. 



Description.- — The most distinctive character of 

 the long-finned hake is its very long ventral fins, 

 the longest of the rays of which reach back nearly 

 to the rear end of the anal fin (about to its for- 

 tieth ray), with the next longest ventral ray 

 considerably overlapping the origin of the anal. 

 The filamentous dorsal ray is longer also, than 

 in the other Gulf of Maine hakes, reaching back 

 to about the middle of the second dorsal fin or 

 beyond. Furthermore, there are only about 90 

 rows of scales from gill opening to caudal fin 

 along the lateral line, and the scales are rela- 

 tively larger than in either the white hake or 

 the squirrel hake; the eye is larger in the long- 

 finned hake; the anal fin rays are more numerous 

 (average about 56), the rear corners of the dorsal 

 and anal fins are more rounded. The outline 

 of the anal is slightly concave instead of straight 

 (fig. Ill); the pectoral fins are more slender and 

 more pointed, and the caudal fin is narrower with 

 more strongly convex margin; these differences are 

 more clearly shown in the illustrations than 

 verbally. The skin of the long-finned hake is 

 curiously loose, like that of many deep-sea fishes. 



Color. — Freshly preserved specimens are olive 

 above and on the sides, with a silvery white 

 belly. The fins are olive, with dusky markings 

 on the dorsal filament, on the outer edge of the 

 dorsal fins, on the caudal fin, and on the ventrals. 



Size. — Specimens 14 to 15 inches (36 to 38 

 cm.) long, trawled by Albatross III, on the south- 

 western slope of Georges Bank and off Nantucket 

 Shoals, in 105 to 240 fathoms, May 11-18, 1950, 

 are the largest yet recorded. 



Habits.- — The long-finned hake is a bottom 

 fish, living chiefly between 100 and 500 fathoms, 

 the deepest record for it is from 538 fathoms. 

 It is a summer and autumn spawner, judging 

 from the fact that Goode and Bean saw specimens 

 in breeding condition at that season. We have 

 taken pelagic young of 8 to 35 mm. in our tows 

 off Marthas Vineyard during the last week of 

 August. 66 And captures of 3 fry, about 2% to 

 2% inches (57-71 mm.) long on April 26 (1931) 

 and of 16 fish of about 3 to 4% inches (74-1 10 mm.) 

 late that July suggests that a length of 4 to 5 

 inches is reached at 1 year of age. 



General range.- — This is a deep-water fish, 

 occurring in great abundance on the continental 

 slope off North America from the Laurentian 

 Channel in Cabot Strait to abreast of Cape 

 Lookout, N. C. 



Occurrence in the Gulf oj Maine. — This hake is 

 plentiful all along the seaward slopes of Browns 

 Bank, of Georges Bank and of Nantucket Shoals 

 at depths greater than 100 fathoms, where it 

 has been trawled at many stations. 5 * 



The Albatross III, for example, caught 861 

 in 63 half-hour trawl hauls, at 105 to 240 fathoms 

 on the slope between the south-central part of 

 Georges Bank (long. 67° 14' W.) and the offing 

 of the eastern end of Long Island, New York (long. 

 71° 57' W.) in May 1950. Up to 1931 the only 



« Bigelow, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 59, No. 8, 1917, p. 276. 

 ■* For early locality records see Goode and Bean, Smithsonian Contrib. 

 Knowl., vol.30, p. 361. 



Figure 111. — Long-finned hake (Urophycis chesteri), off Cape Ann. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



