PISHES OF THE GULP OF MAINE 



463 



in west Greenland; southward to New Jersey, and 

 to Chesapeake Bay as a stray. 



Occurrence in the Qulj of Maine. — The lumpfish 

 is common along the outer coast of Nova Scotia 

 and is to be found all around the shores of the 

 Gulf of Maine. It has been reported at Yarmouth 

 and in St. Mary Bay on the Nova Scotian side, 

 and is abundant in all stages at various localities 

 in the Bay of Fundy. There are many records for 

 it along the Maine coast, including Eastport, 

 Penobscot Bay, vicinity of Boothbay, the offing of 

 Seguin Island, and Casco Bay; also in Massa- 

 chusetts waters where it has been reported re- 

 peatedly, as at Nahant, Swampscott, Cohasset, 

 Plymouth, Truro, along Cape Cod, and at Mono- 

 moy while we once picked up a lumpfish in the 

 deep bowl between Jeffreys Ledge and the coast, 

 probably as the trawl neared the surface. 39 It 

 even enters river mouths, but it is never found 

 where the water is appreciably brackish, so far as 

 we can learn. According to fishermen large lump- 

 fish are seldom seen on the offshore bank?. 



Importance. — The lumpfish is never eaten in the 

 United States, but it sometimes finds its way to 

 market as a curiosity. At one time a few were 

 consumed locally in parts of the British Isles, and 

 may still be. 



Spiny lumpfish Eumicrotremus spinosus 

 (Miiller) 1777 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2098. 



Description. — The spiny lumpfish is easily dis- 

 tinguishable from its commoner relative by the 

 fact that its skin tubercles are not only much 

 larger relatively, and studded from the base to 

 the tip with rough prickles, but are irregularly 

 and closely scattered over the body and head. 

 Furthermore, its gill openings are much shorter, 

 while its body is not so high-arched, and is nearly 

 round in cross section, instead of triangular. Also, 

 its first dorsal (though fleshy in some of them) 

 retains its fin-like appearance through life, instead 

 of becoming entirely concealed by the skin. 



Color. — Described as olivaceous to brownish. 



General Range.- — Arctic and northern parts of 

 the Atlantic Ocean, south to the Gulf of Maine 

 as a stray. 



Occurrence in the Gulj of Maine. — Stray speci- 

 mens of this northern fish have been reported 

 from Eastport, Maine; from off Cape Ann; and 

 from Salem, in the north side of Massachusetts 

 Bay. We have also seen three small specimens, 

 1-lM inches long that were collected about 15 

 miles southeast of Cape Ann in 23 and 29 fathoms, 

 by the U. S. Fish Commission in 1878 (now in the 

 U. S. National Museum.) 40 



» Blgelow and Schroeder, Biol. Bull., vol. 76, 1939, p. 309. 



» Myers and Boblke (Stanford Ichth. Bui!., vol. 3, No. 4, 1960, p. 199) 

 have described a new species of spiny lumpfish (B. terrae-novae) from New- 

 foundland. But the specimens from off Salem and from off Eastport pic- 

 tured by Goode and Bean (Smithsonian Contrib. Knowl., vol. 31, 1895, 

 pi. 70, fig. 250) and by Oarman (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 14, 1892, 

 p. 71, figs. 1-3) were typical spinosuf, as are the three small ones, from about 

 15 miles southeast of Cape Ann, that are mentioned above. 



Figctbb 242. — Spiny lumpfish {Eumicrotremus spinosus), Massachusetts Bay specimen. 



Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



From Goode and Bean. 



