498 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Figure 262. — Arctic shanny (Slichaeus punclatus), about 7% inches, Halifax, Nova Scotia, redrawn by E. N. Fischer from 



U. S. Fish Commission wash drawing. 



spines (only 48 or 49). The presence of a series 

 of large roundish spots on the dorsal fin separates 

 it at a glance from the radiated shanny, which is 

 similar to it in form, but which has only a single 

 large blotch on its dorsal; its spotted dorsal and 

 its evenly rounded pectorals mark it off from the 

 shanny; and its much less slender body (only 

 about one-seventh as deep as it is long) from the 

 snake blenny. 



The single long dorsal fin originates directly 

 over the edge of the gill cover, and is of uniform 

 height throughout its length, except that the first 

 2 or 3 spines, and the last 2 or 3, are shorter than 

 the others. It extends backward nearly to the 

 caudal, but the fins are separated by a conspicuous 

 notch. The anal fin (one short spine, closely 

 followed by about 35 rays) is about two-thirds as 

 long as the dorsal fin, is of approximately the 

 same height as the latter, and bears a similar 

 relation to the caudal. The caudal fin is gently 

 rounded in outline. The pectorals are broadly 

 rounded, a little longer than the depth of the 

 body; the ventral fins are somewhat less than 

 half as long as the pectorals. The straight dorsal 

 profile of the head, from tip of snout to origin of 

 dorsal fin, is an outstanding feature, and the 

 lateral line is single (double in the radiated shanny, 

 p. 499), conspicuous, and ends at about the mid- 

 length of the body. 



Size. — Grows to a length of at least 7 inches. 



Color. — The single row of 5 to 9 round black 

 spots with pale margins on the dorsal fin, and 

 irregular dark bars on the cheeks and chin are the 

 most conspicuous markings of this shanny. The 

 ground color of the body of an Alaskan specimen 

 is„ described as bright scarlet, 74 but is brownish 

 (after preservation) on a Gulf of Maine specimen, 

 with darker cloudings extending from close behind 

 the head to the base of the caudal fin. The lower 



» Jordan and Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Pt. HI, 1898, p. 2439. 



surface of the body (except the head) is plain 

 whitish. The anal fin is dusky, edged with 

 white; the pectorals and caudal are crossed by 

 pale bars, and the ventrals are plain yellow. 



General range. — Arctic and circumpolar, from 

 Greenland to northern Siberia and the Arctic 

 Coast of America; 76 southward to Bristol Bay and 

 Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, in the Pacific, and 

 to Mount Desert, Maine on the Atlantic coast of 

 America. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine.— A specimen 

 4% inches (109 mm.) long, of this Arctic species, 

 taken one-half mile off Little Duck Island near 

 Mount Desert, Maine, from the stomach of a cod, 

 on April 30, 1930, was in such good condition that 

 it unquestionably had been living in the immediate 

 vicinity. 



The next most southerly records are of two 

 specimens from Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia, 

 near the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Canso ; 78 

 and of one taken off Cheticamp," on the Nova 

 Scotian shore, within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 where Huntsman 7S classes it as a characteristic 

 of the icy-cold water on the banks; and of one 

 from Battle Harbor, on the outer coast of Lab- 

 rador, a few miles north of the eastern entrance 

 to the Strait of Belle Isle. 



Radiated shanny Ulvaria subbifurcata 

 (Storer) 1839 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2440. 



Description. 79 — The most conspicuous feature 

 of this little fish, and one that sets it apart from 

 all the other blennies of our Gulf, is that the 

 forward part of its dorsal fin is marked with a 



" Reported from Hudson Bay by Vladykov, Contrib. Canadian Biol., N. 

 Ser., vol. 8, No. 3, 1933, p. 35. 

 » Cornish, Contrib. Canadian Biol. (1902-1905) 1907, p. 87, 

 " Cox, Contrib. Canadian Biol. (1918-1920) 1921, p. 112. 

 " Huntsman, Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, Ser. 3, vol. 12, Sect. 4, 1918, p. 63. 

 '• Based on 3 specimens from Grand Man3n, the largest 5?i inches long. 



