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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Figure 119. — Common grenadier (Macrourus bairdii), off Cape Ann. From Goode and Bean. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



as the height of the first dorsal fin. The second 

 dorsal fin (about 137 rays) extends back to the tip 

 of the tail, is so low that its membrane is hardly 

 visible, and tapers to practically nothing at the 

 rear end. The anal fin is considerably longer than 

 the second dorsal (only about 120 rays, however) 

 and more than twice as high as the second dorsal. 

 The pectoral fins are rounded at the tip. The 

 ventral fins, which stand under the pectorals or a 

 little behind the latter, are triangular, with the 

 first ray prolonged as a threadlike filament. 



The exposed parts of the scales on the body, 

 including the head and shoulders, are rough with 

 minute sharp spines closely crowded together. 

 The jaws are armed with several bands of small 

 recurved teeth. The vent is situated a consider- 

 able distance in front of the point of origin of the 

 anal fin, and the skin immediately surrounding it is 

 scaleless and black. 



Color. — The many we have seen have been uni- 

 form gray above and below. Also described as 

 light brownish gray above, silvery below, with 

 dark bluish or blackish belly. The lower surface 

 of the snout is pink, the throat is deep violet, the 

 first dorsal is pink with blackish spines, and the 

 eyes are dark blue. 



Size.- — Usually about 1 foot long. The largest 

 we have seen was 16 inches long. 



Habits. — Grenadiers are bottom fish, usually 

 found on soft mud, and they are very feeble swim- 

 mers. They usually live in at least 80 to 90 

 fathoms of water, and down to 1,000 to 1,200 

 fathoms (deepest record 1,255 fathoms). But 

 one was trawled in 9 fathoms in Vineyard Sound 

 by the Fish Hawk many years ago; a second was 

 found floating near the surface at Eastport, Maine, 

 by Dr. W. C. Kendall; and a third was taken in a 

 weir at Lubec, Maine, as reported by Huntsman. 



Hansen 2 reports pelagic euphausiid shrimps {Thy- 

 sanoessa longicaudata) in a grenadier stomach, 

 while several examined by us from 100 fathoms on 

 the edge of Georges Bank contained amphipods 

 chiefly, together with an occasional worm and 

 euphausiid shrimp. 



It is probable that grenadiers spawn in summer 

 and autumn, for the spermaries of a specimen taken 

 in the western basin of the Gulf on August 19 

 were nearly ripe, while a fully ripe male has been 

 reported from South Channel in the last week of 

 September. The eggs of this fish have not been 

 seen, but it is probable that they resemble other 

 macro urid eggs described by European authors 8 

 in being buoyant at least for the first part of the 

 period of incubation, with a large oil globule, wide 

 perivitelline space, and with the surface sculptured 

 into concave hexagonal facets. The larvae have 

 not been seen yet. Those of other species of 

 grenadiers have the rays of the first dorsal and 

 ventral fins greatly prolonged. 



General range. — This (normally) deep-water 

 fish has been found at many localities along the 

 continental slope from the West Indies northward 

 and eastward to the Grand Banks of Newfound- 

 land, 4 and rarely in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

 It is also known from the mouth of the Laurentian 

 Channel, on the Scotian Banks, in the Gulf of 

 Maine, and even in Vineyard Sound. It has also 

 been reported from the Azores. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The common 

 grenadier was formerly regarded as a rare stray 

 in the inner parts of the Gulf of Maine for only 

 two had been recorded there aside from the East- 

 port and Lubec specimens mentioned above, the 



J Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 48, 1915, p. 99. 



« Ehrenbaum (Nordisches Plankton, vol. I, 1905-1909) summarizes what 

 little is known of the eggs and young of this group of fishes. 

 < Rept. Newfoundland Fish. Res. Comm., (1933) 1934, p. 116. 



