FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



465 



Color. — Olive to reddish brown with lighter and 

 darker cloudings and dots, the dorsal and anal 

 fins often with crossbars. Its tints vary widely, 

 also its markings and the strength of coloration, 

 whether pale or dark, as is th^. case with so many 

 fishes that live on the bottom. 



Size. — Maximum length about 5 inches. 



Remarks. — This sea snail resembles the follow- 

 ing species (p. 466) so closely that the two are likely 

 to be confused. The most evident difference 

 between them is that the spiny portion of the dor- 

 sal (6 spines hardly stiffer than the soft rays) is 

 marked off from the much longer soft part (22 to 

 27 rays) by a slight notch in the present species, 

 whereas there is no such separation in the striped 

 sea snail. 



Habits. — Sea snails are inconspicuous little fish, 

 usually found coiled up (tail to head) under stones, 

 or attached by the sucker to some kelp stalk or 

 other seaweed. But sometimes they swim to the 

 upper water layers: thus the Halcyon specimens, 

 for instance, mentioned below, were taken in a 

 tow net at 8 fathoms, where the water was about 

 22 fathoms deep. And they seem to be indifferent 

 to depth within moderate limits, for while they 

 have been dredged as deep as 50 fathoms at vari- 

 ous localities in our Gulf, they are often found 

 clinging to lobster pots in the Bay of Fundy, (p. 

 465) , while they have been taken in only a few feet 

 of water in Massachusetts Bay. One was even 

 found in a tide pool near St. Andrews, in Passa- 

 maquoddy Bay 46 so it would not be astonishing to 

 find sea snails left in rock pools elsewhere, or on 

 pebbly beaches by the ebbing tide, as often hap- 

 pens with its European representative. Young 

 ones have been found living within the shells of 

 the giant scallop (Pecten magellanicus) , a curious 

 habit that they share with the striped sea snail 

 (p. 466) and with the hakes of the genus Urophycis 

 (p. 224). Little else is known of the fife of this 

 sea snail, except that it is supposed to work in- 

 shore in winter to spawn. Presumably it feeds 

 chiefly on small crustaceans and on small shellfish 

 as its European relative does. 



The spawning of this species has not been ob- 

 served, but probably it takes place from March 

 until midsummer in our Gulf, for Huntsman 

 found larvae in Passamaquoddy Bay as early as 



April, while we towed one only 7 mm. long on 

 German Bank as late as September 2 (1915). 



The developmental stages of our sea snail have 

 not been seen. The eggs of the European sea 

 snail, which are about 1.1 mm. in diameter, and 

 pale straw color to light salmon pink, sink and 

 stick together, also to hydroids, seaweeds, and to 

 debris of any kind. The little clusters are often 

 brought up on long fines from 4 to 30 fathoms, but 

 are sometimes found close below tide mark. There 

 is no reason to suppose that the males care for the 

 eggs, and the latter are so hardy that they do not 

 suffer from exposure to the air for hours. Judging 

 from the dates when newly hatched larvae have 

 been seen, incubation of the European species 

 occupies a month, perhaps longer in the case of 

 the eggs that are spawned earliest in the season, 

 at winter temperatures. The larvae are about 

 3.3 to 4.5 mm. long at hatching, with a small 

 rose-red yolk sac that contains a large oil globule 

 and that is inclosed in a net of blood vessels. 

 Most of the characters of the adult are apparent 

 at 11 to 12 mm. length, but the pectoral fins are 

 brilliantly pigmented with yellow and black 

 throughout the larval stage. 47 



General range. — Rocky shores along the North 

 American Coast from northeastern Newfoundland, 

 the northern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 

 the Grand Banks to southern New England. 48 It 

 is rare west and south of Cape Cod, but has been 

 taken at Woods Hole, on the coast of Connecticut, 

 and off New Jersey. 49 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This sea snail 

 is generally distributed around the shore line of the 

 Gulf. Thus the Halcyon trawled it off Yarmouth, 

 Nova Scotia, in January 1921 ; it is rather common 

 (according to Huntsman) in the Bay of Fundy and 

 in Passamaquoddy Bay; and it has been definitely 

 reported at Grand Manan; Eastport; Seguin 

 Island; off Portland (where many have been col- 

 lected); off Cape Elizabeth; at Kittery; and at 

 various localities about Massachusetts Bay. It 



«• McKenzie and Homans, Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Scl., vol. 19, Pt. 3, 



1938, p. 278. 



« Mcintosh and Mastermann (Life histories of the British Marine Food- 

 fishes, 1897 p. 191, pi. 2. fig. 9, 10) and Ehrenbaum (Nordisches Plankton, 

 vol. 1, 1905-1909, p. 109) give descriptions of the eggs and larvae of the Euro- 

 pean sea snail N. montagui (as Cydogaster montagui) from which the pre- 

 ceding is condensed. 



«» This fish is so closely allied to the north European sea snail, N. montagui 

 (from which, however, it is quite distinct) that it passed under that name 

 prior to 1898. 



" A specimen was taken by Albatross II. off Atl antic City, lat. 39°24' N., 

 long. 74°05' \V\, in 11 fathoms, in April 1930. 



