FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



541 



near Cape Lookout that "as many as 20 large speci- 

 mens are sometimes found in a sink net at one 

 lift," though it has been seen less often of late 

 years. 87 



Egg veils have been reported within the Gulf of 

 Maine from Campobello Island at the entrance to 

 the Bay of Fundy; from Passamaquoddy Bay (2 

 instances) ; 88 in Frenchman Bay, Maine ; 89 about 

 15 miles off Seguin Island, Maine, September 18, 

 1925 (with eggs nearly ready to hatch, found by 

 Capt. Greenleaf of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries) ; 

 and at Provincetown, where we found a veil 

 within a few feet of the shore, on June 26, 1925. 

 The captures of the pelagic larvae within the Gulf 

 have been fewer, namely 3 taken near Brazil Rock 

 off southwestern Nova Scotia, and two very small 

 ones (5 and 6.5 mm. long) collected by us on the 

 Grampus in Massachusetts Bay, one on July 12, 

 1912, the other September 29, 1915. 



The question why the egg veils should have 

 been encountered so seldom in our Gulf when they 

 are so conspicuous in the water, and why so few 

 larvae have been taken in our tow nets, when the 

 parent fish are moderately plentiful and very 

 generally distributed, is an intriguing one that 

 we cannot answer from present information. 



Importance. — No regular commercial use has 

 been made of the goosefish in America up to the 

 present time. But it is an excellent food fish, 

 white-meated, free of bones, and of pleasant flavor, 

 as Dr. Connolly assures us from personal expe- 

 rience. In 1948, 90 English and Scottish vessels 

 landed about 7 million pounds of the European 

 species, as "monk" which fetched nearly as high 

 a price as haddock in English markets, though it 

 brings only about one-half as high a price as 

 haddock in Scotch ports. 91 And some were sold 

 in retail stores during the last year. 



THE SARGASSUM FISHES. FAMILY ANTENNARIIDAE 



The sargassum fishes resemble their relatives 

 the anglers (p. 532) in their peculiar armlike pec- 

 torals and in their large fleshy ventrals, as well as 

 in the fact that the forward part of their dorsal 

 fin is represented by a series of separate spines. 

 But they are very different from the anglers in 

 general appearance, for their bodies and heads 

 are flattened sidewise instead of dorso-ventrally; 

 their soft second dorsal fin is much longer than 

 their anal fin; their second and third dorsal spines 

 are clothed with fleshy skin so thick as to obscure 

 their true nature; and their mouth is much smaller 

 than that of the anglers. 



These curious little tropical-oceanic fishes live 

 chiefly among masses of floating seaweed, with 

 which they sometimes drift far to the north of 

 their normal homes. 



Sargassum fish, Histrio pictus (Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes) 1837 



Mousefish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2716, as Ptero- 

 phryne histrio (Linnaeus) 1758. 



Description. — The peculiar armlike pectoral fins; 

 the rather long fleshy ventral fins situated on the 



throat; the soft flabby skin; and a body flattened 

 sidewise (about 2% times as long as it is deep) 

 distinguish this fish from any other that is known 

 from the Gulf of Maine, or that is ever likely to be 

 found there. The goosefish (p. 532), the only one 

 of its close relatives which normally inhabits the 

 Gulf, is of such different appearance with its 

 flattened body form, and enormous mouth, that 

 it is not necessary to enumerate the smaller 

 differences between the two. 



The head and body of the sargassum fish appear 

 as one, for each gill opening has the form of a pore 

 on the lower margin of the pectoral near its base, 

 so small that it is likely to be overlooked. There 

 are three detached dorsal spines. The first, stand- 

 ing over the front margin of the eye, has the form 

 of a slender tentacle, its tip bearing a bulbous 

 swelling, known technically as an "illicium," 

 which is fringed at the tip. The second spine 

 (close behind the first) and the third are much 

 larger than the first; they are enclosed in skin so 

 thick that they suggest conical horns in then- 

 general appearance, and they bear several tags or 

 streamers of skin. All the other fins are also 

 fleshy. The second (soft-rayed) dorsal fin is more 

 than twice as long as the anal fin; and the detached 



87 Information supplied by the late S. F. Hildebrand. 

 » Connolly, Contrib. Canadian Biol. (1921) 1922, No. 7, p. 116; Berrill 

 Contrib. Canadian Biol. Fish. N. Ser., vol. 4, No. 12, 1929, p. 145. 

 »» Procter and others, Biol. Surv. Mt. Desert, Ft. 2 Fishes, 1928, p. 3. 



" Most recent year for which the International fisheries statistics are 

 readily available. 



•i For catches and values, see Bull. Statist., Cons. Internat. Explor. Mer., 

 vol. 33, 1951, pp. 14, 15-18. 



