FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



459 



experience on the Grampus suggests "not uncom- 

 mon" as a better description, for our largest catches 

 were 8 specimens from 32 fathoms in Ipswich Bay; 

 6 specimens from 27 fathoms in the inner part of 

 Massachusetts Bay ; and 14 specimens off Chatham, 

 in May 1930, from 28 fathoms. 



Other recent catches in various parts of the 

 Gulf have been of 1 or 2 fish each. And the fact 

 that we found it at only 4 out of our 10 trawling 

 stations of 1912 (all in the western part of the 

 Gulf) is in line with Huntsman's statement that 

 it is found only occasionally in the Bay of Fundy. 



It is perhaps more plentiful along the Nova 

 Scotian shelf eastward and northward from Cape 

 Sable. 22 It is numerous enough in the southern 

 part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for Huntsman M 



to describe it as "characteristic" of the ice-cold 

 Banks water there; it has been reported in the 

 estuary of the St. Lawrence River near Trois 

 Pistoles; 24 and at several localities along the west 

 coast of Newfoundland. It is so widespread over 

 the eastern half of the Grand Banks, along 

 eastern Newfoundland, and off southeastern Lab- 

 rador that it is listed at 14 stations there from the 

 experimental trawlings of the Newfoundland 

 Fisheries Research Commission, 25 and is reported 

 from Hamlton Inlet. 26 



The only records of it to the westward of Cape 

 Cod are of the head of one that was dredged off 

 Watch Hill, N. J., in 1874; " and of one that was 

 taken off Sandy Hook, N. J., in 1864 . 2S 



THE LUMPFISHES. FAMILY CYCLOPTERIDAE 



The lumps are characterized among Gulf of 

 Maine fishes by their short, thick, high-arched 

 bodies; by having a bony sucking disc on the chest 

 with the very much reduced ventral fins at its 

 center; and by the fact that the skin is set with 

 tubercles. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE LUMPFISHES 



1. The body is roughly triangular in end view; the large 



tubercles on each side are in widely separated rows: 

 the lower end of each gill opening is below the level 

 of the upper edge of the base of the corresponding 

 pectoral fin; the head (measured to the upper edge 

 of the bases of the pectoral fins) occupies only about 

 one-fourth of the length of the trunk; the first dorsal 

 fin is entirely concealed within the skin after the fish 

 is 2-3 inches long Common Lump Fish, p. 459 



2. The body is nearly round in end view; the large tubercles 



on each side are close set, in irregular pattern; the 

 lower end of each gill opening is considerably above 

 the level of the upper edge of the base of the cor- 

 responding pectoral fin; the head (measured to the 

 upper edge of the bases of the pectoral fins) occupies 

 about one-third of the length of the trunk; the first 

 dorsal fin (though more or less fleshy) continues ex- 

 posed throughout life Spiny Lumpfish, p. 463 



Lumpfish Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus 1758 



Lump; Lump sucker 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2096. 



Description. — The lumpfish is about twice as 

 long (counting its caudal fin) as it is deep, with a 

 short head, and the dorsal profile of its trunk is 



much more arched than the ventral. There are 7 

 longitudinal ridges on its body. One of these 

 ridges runs along the back as a cartilaginous flap 

 that incloses the first dorsal fin in adults and that 

 continues rearward as 2 ridges from the first dorsal 

 fin to the second dorsal fin. There also are 3 

 ridges along each side, one of them over the eye, 

 one close above the level of the pectoral fin, and 

 one marking the line of transition between side 

 and belly. Each of these ridges is marked by a 

 line of large pointed tubercles, and the entire skin 

 between the ridges is thickly studded with small 

 knobs. The presence of these ridges makes the 

 trunk of the lumpfish roughly triangular in end 

 view, with flat belly (except when swollen by milt 

 or roe) and sharp back, but the caudal peduncle 

 is rounded. The profile of the head is characteris- 

 tic, being concave above, convex below, with 

 mouth at the tip of the snout. The teeth are 

 small and the eyes and gill openings of moderate 

 size. 



The first dorsal fin (visible only on very small 

 specimens) is of 6 to 8 spines. The second dorsal 

 fin and the anal fin below it are alike in outline, 

 both of them of 9 to 1 1 rays. The caudal is broad 



» Vladykov and MacKenzie (Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci., vol. 19, 1935, 

 p. 97) describe it as "very common" there. 



» Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada Ser. 3, vol. 5, sect. 4, 1918, p. 63. 



" Vladykov and Tremblay, Natural. Canad., vol. 62, 1935, p. 80. 



*■ Annual Reports, Newfoundland Fisheries Research Commission, vol. 1, 

 No. 4, 1932, p. 108; vol. 2, No. 1, 1933, p. 126; vol. 2, No. 2, 1934, p. 116. 



» Kendall, Proc. Portland Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 2, No. 13, 1909, p. 214. 



« Goode and Bean, Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., vol. 30, 1895, p. 284. 



>• Abbot, Geology of New Jersey, 1868, p. 816' 



