FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



243 



fact that the cusk (frequenting rough bottom) is 

 not a good trawl fish. And 80 to 90 percent as 

 much cusk (pounds) are caught on long lines as 

 are caught in otter trawls even today (as illus- 

 trated by 1947), although the yearly landings of 

 fish of all kinds in Maine and Massachusetts now 



are 70 to 80 times as great by otter trawls as by 

 long lines. 96 



A few cusk are caught from party boats by 

 sportsmen hand lining for ground fish in general, 

 but most of the cusk live too deep to be of any 

 particular interest to anglers. 



THE GRENADIERS. FAMILY MACROURIDAE 



The grenadiers are characterized externally by 

 having large heads, projecting snouts, and slender 

 bodies that taper to whiplike tails, with no defi- 

 nitely demarked caudal fin. They have two 

 dorsal fins, the first high, the second very low 

 but occupying the greater part of the back. The 

 anal fin is nearly as long as the second dorsal, or 

 longer. 



The grenadiers are allied to the cod family, in 

 classification, by the structure of their skull, but 

 they differ from the cod tribe in having one stout 

 spine in the first dorsal fin. They are deep-sea 

 fishes, living on the bottom, loose in texture and 

 weak swimmers. Many species are known, but 

 only three of them have ever been taken within 

 the confines of the Gulf of Maine. 



Besides the species described below, three 

 others, Coryphaenoides rupestris, C. carapinus and 

 Nematonurus armatus, 97 have been taken on the 

 continental slope abreast of the Gulf and off 

 southern New England often enough to show 

 that they are common there below 350 fathoms. 

 They are typical inhabitants of the deep-sea floor, 

 never likely to rise shoal enough to come within 

 the limits of the Gulf of Maine. 98 But fish have 

 a way of straying, and if any grenadier should be 

 picked up in the Gulf that proves difficult to 

 identify, we recommend forwarding it either to 

 the Laboratory of the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 at Woods Hole, to the U. S. National Museum, 

 Washington, D. C., or to the Museum of Compar- 

 ative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., to be named. 

 Parr " has recently published a detailed synopsis 



" Otter trawlers landed about 499 million pounds of fish of all sorts In 

 Maine and Massachusetts in 1947; long liners about 7 million pounds. 



" According to Parr (Bull. Bingham Oceanogr. Coll., vol. 10, art. 1, 1946, 

 p. 54) this is the correct name of the grenadier that was reported by Qoode 

 and Bean (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. 30, 1895, p. 407) as Hymenoce- 

 phalui ooodei OQnther, 1887. 



M For descriptions and lists of localities where they wore taken during the 

 early cruises by vessels of the U. S. Fish Commission, see Goode and Bean 

 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. 30, 1895). In June 1949 we trawled about 

 200 rupettris on the slope off southern Nova Scotia and off the southeastern 

 face of Georges Bank, at 290-420 fathoms, from Caryn of the Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution. 



" Bull. Bingham Oceanographic Coll., vol. 10, art. 1, 1948. 



of all the species known from the western North 

 Atlantic and from central American seas. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE GRENADIERS 



1. The dorsal spine is perfectly smooth 



Long-nosed grenadier, p. 246 



The dorsal spine is serrated, with teeth which can be 



felt if not seen 2 



2. The vent is considerably in front of the origin of the 



anal fin; the skin surrounding the vent is naked and 



black; the dorsal fin spine is strongly serrated 



Common grenadier, p. 243 

 The vent is close to the origin of the anal fin; the skin 

 around the vent is scaly and pale colored; the serra- 

 tions on dorsal fin spine are so fine that they are 



hardly visible, though they can be felt 



Rough-headed grenadier, p. 245 



Common grenadier Macrourus bairdii 

 Goode and Bean 1877. ' 



Rat-tail; Marlin-spike 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2583. 



Description. — This grenadier could hardly be 

 mistaken for any other fish except for one of its 

 own tribe, so characteristic is its slender body 

 (flattened sidewise behind the vent and tapering 

 to a whiplike tail with no definite caudal fin), in 

 combination with a pointed snout that overhangs 

 the mouth; very large eyes; and high first dorsal 

 fin with one large spine ; but very low second dorsal 

 fin. And it has a chin barbel like a cod (not shown 

 in the illustration). As noted above, the second 

 ray of the first dorsal fin is a true spine, serrated 

 along its front edge with about 15 sharp and very 

 noticeable teeth pointing upwards. 



The first dorsal fin (2 stiff rays, the first very 

 short, and 1 1 softer rays) is triangular, about twice 

 as high as it is long; and it originates over the 

 pectorals, close behind the gill openings. The 

 space between the two dorsal fins is about as long 



' Parr (Bull., Bingham Oceanogr. Coll., vol. 10, art. 1, 1946, p. 37) places 

 this grenadier in the genus Nezumia of Jordan, 1904. But it seems wiser to 

 follow the older and more familiar usage here. 



