FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



523 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Odd speci- 

 mens of this filefish have been recorded from 

 Hingham, Lynn, Nahant, and Boston Harbor in 

 Massachusetts Bay; and from Cape Cod; all many 

 years ago. More recent records of it in the Gulf 

 are of 181 fry, 1-2 inches long, picked up from the 

 Albatross II on the northeastern part of Georges 

 Bank among floating Gulf weed (Sargassum), in 

 September 1927; a larger one taken off Seguin 

 Island, Maine, September 12, 1927 ; 93 one of 6 

 inches, at Provincetown, November 6, 1929; one 

 picked up from the schooner Old Glory among 

 floating rockweed (Fucus or Ascophyllum) and 

 Gulf weed (Sargassum), on the western part of 

 Georges Bank, September 15, 1930; 94 one taken 

 off Portland Lightship, July 17, 1931; one taken 

 in a trap at Provincetown, October 6, 1950; and 

 two, about 6 inches long, taken off Wood End, 

 Provincetown, in 17 fathoms, by the dragger Alary 

 Magdalyn (Capt. Charles Santos), on October 30, 

 1951. It is also likely that a "filefish" taken at 

 Beverly on the north shore of Massachusetts in 

 1933 95 was of this species. An occasional filefish 



straying from the south is thus to be expected 

 anywhere on Georges Bank, or in the western side 

 of the Gulf. But we find no evidence that they 

 ever enter its eastern side, or that they ever reach 

 the Bay of Fundy. 



Filefish Monacanthus ciliatus (Mitchill) 1818 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1714." 



Description. — This filefish resembles the species 

 hispidus (p. 522) very closely. But its first dorsal 

 ray is never prolonged, the ventral dewlap extends 

 somewhat farther behind the tip of the ventral 

 spine, and the caudal peduncle in the adult is 

 armed with 2 or 3 pairs of strong forward-curving 

 hooks on either side. 



Color. — Described as varying from olive gray, 

 or grass green to yellowish brown, with darker 

 blotches or crossbands. The dorsal and anal fins 

 are pinkish and they usually have three dark 

 spots at the base. The ventral dewlap is edged 

 with scarlet, and the caudal fin is greenish, mottled 

 dark and pale. 



« Kendall, Bull. 58, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1931, p. 11. 

 •' Firth, Bull. 61, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1931, p. 13. 

 » MacCoy, Bull. 67, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1933, p. 9. 



"The illustration labeled "ciliatus" by Jordan and Evermann (Bull. 47, 

 U. S. Nat. Mus., Pt. 4, 1900, pi. 259, fig. 634) is actually of hispidus, as is their 

 figure 635. 



Figure 277. — Filefish (Monacanthus ciliatus), Bahamas specimen, 85 mm. long. Drawing by H. B. Bigelow. 



