338 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



fathoms, Albatross //recently (July 1931) trawled a number in the basin of the gulf 

 as deep as 90 fathoms. 



The sizes, in different months, of the young fry show that eelpouts in the Gulf 

 of Maine grow to a length of about 2 inches in the first 6 months of their lives, and 3 

 inches in 9 months, agreeing in this respect with the growth-schedule of Bay of Fundy 

 eelpouts derived by Clemens and Clemens (1921, p. 74) from the annual rings on the 

 otoliths. Small specimens 5 to 6% inches long taken from February to May are 

 probably about \)' 2 years old. 



Young eelpouts, up to 3 or 4 inches long, are checkered along the sides, and 

 irregularly blotched on the back with light and dark brown, with a small but promi- 

 nent black spot, which fades out with growth, on the anterior part of the dorsal fin. 



Wolf eel, Lycenchelys verrillii (Goode and Bean) 



The recorded range of the wolf eel, previously known only off the coasts of New 

 England and Nova Scotia, has now been extended southward to the offing of New York 

 (Beebe, 1929, p. IS). 



The wolf eel is more common within the Gulf of Maine, in deep water, than was 

 formerly supposed, for in the autumn and summer of 1928 and 1930 the Albatross II 

 trawled 61 specimens, 6 to 6% inches long, in the deep basin to the westward of Jeffreys 

 Ledge, in about 90 fathoms of water. It was also foimd scattered over the central 

 basin of the gulf, in July 1931, in 95 to 123 fathoms. 



Silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis (Mitchill) 



The wintering ground of the Gulf of Maine stock of silver hake has been the sub- 

 ject of so much speculation that the capture by the Albatross II, of many specimens 

 between the offings of No Mans Land and off Cape Hatteras in depths ranging from 

 12 to 146 fathoms, in February 1930 at temperatures of 4.2° to 10.6° C. (39.5° to 

 51° F.), deserves mention. Such wide ranges of temperature indicate that the silver 

 hake are well distributed on these offshore grounds during the winter. 



Young fish are rarely found close to shore within the gulf. Offshore, however, the 

 Albatross II and Atlantis have trawled large numbers between 2 and about 8 inches 

 long in widely scattered localities and in depths ranging from 20 to 115 fathoms. 



Measurements of young silver hake, 12 recently obtained in the Gulf of Maine 

 indicate that a length of 6-7 inches is attained at about 1 year of age. 



Pollock, Pollachius virens (Linnaeus) 



Recent tagging experiments verify the earlier view that the pollock which appear 

 in the cold months of the year off New York and New Jersey are winter migrants from 

 the region of Nantucket Shoals. In general the pollock in the Gulf of Maine are not 

 migratory although occasional fish may make long journeys. 



Cod, Gadus callarias Linnaeus 



Extensive tagging experiments (Schroeder, 1930) have proved that the appear- 

 ance of cod in winter southward along the coasts of New York and New Jersey in 

 commercial quantities represents a regular annual mass migration from Nantucket 

 Shoals followed by a return migration in spring. But only scattering fish join this 



" Several hundred specimens. 



