36 Metiwir Scars Foundation for Marine Research 



organ" appear to show that this is not the case; either the male portion of the common sex 

 organ matures in each individual, with the female portion remaining rudimentary, or vice 

 versa. It has long been known that the eggs are few in number (only 19 to 30 having been 

 counted in any one female) and large (up to 25 mm. in length), the horny shell with a 

 cluster of anchor-tipped filaments at each end very characteristic in appearance.'^ But it 

 was not until 1900 that any were found which had been laid naturally." The eggs are 

 deposited on the bottom, where they stick firmly in clusters to some fixed object'' by means 

 of their filaments and by threads of slime. The newly hatched Hag has not been seen as 

 yet, but inasmuch as the smallest described, which is about two and one-half inches long 

 and probably not long out of the egg, resembled the adult, there is no reason to suppose 

 that the Hag passes through a larval stage. 



Habits. The Hag is found chiefly, if not exclusively, where the bottom is soft mud 

 or clay; its actions in aquaria'" suggest that it spends most of its time imbedded in the clay 

 or mud, with only the tip of its snout and the nasal barbels projecting, although it swims 

 actively by an undulating motion in the horizontal plane when disturbed or when aroused 

 by food in the vicinity; it is most active in the dark. Its depth range is considerable, extend- 

 ing commonly from 15 to 20 fathoms down to 250 fathoms or so, and it has been taken 

 as deep as 524 fathoms.^" The fact that it seldom, if ever, attacks hooked or netted fishes 

 unless they are close to the bottom suggests that it never rises much above the latter. 



In aquaria Hags die soon if the salinity is as low as 2.0 to 2.5 per cent;"' survive for 

 some weeks but do not feed if it is 2.9 to 3.1 per cent;" feed and thrive if it is as high as 

 3,2 to 3.4 per cent."' Also, it appears to be rather definitely limited in its dispersal toward 

 the surface by high temperature, since it is rarely if ever found in water warmer than about 

 50 to S5 degrees, which in all but the most northerly part of its range would confine it to 

 depths of 1 5 to 20 fathoms or more, except in the cold season. On the other hand, polar 

 temperatures are probably a barrier to its northward dispersal (p. 40). 



By its preference for soft bottom, comparatively high salinity (p. 37) and low 

 temperature (see above), the Hag is confined within its area of regular occurrence to the 

 deeper furrows and troughs on the Nova Scotian slope and in the Gulf of Maine, to the 

 outer parts of the deeper bays, such as Fundy, Passamaquoddy, Massachusetts and prob- 



15. Schreiner (Biol. Zbl., 2^, 1904: 91-104, 121— 159, 162-173); Schreiner and Schreiner (Arch. Biol., 11, 1905 : 

 183-3 14, 8 pis., 3 15-355, 2 pis.; Arch. ZcUforsch., /, 1908: 152); Conel (J. Morph., 29, 1917: 75-163, 12 

 pis.; Dean Memor. Vol., .4mer. Mus. nat. Hist., Art. 3, 1931 : 70). 



16. For reference to early accounts of eggs, see Smitt (Hist. Scand. Fish., 2, 1895: 1206). 



17. Dean, Mem. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 2 (2), 1900: 34, pi. 2. 



18. To a Bryozoan in one case; see Jensen (Vidensk. Meddel. dansk. Naturhist. Foren., Copenhagen, 1900: i). 



19. For an interesting account of the habits of the Hag in aquaria, see Gustafson (Arkiv. f. Zoologi, Stockholm, 

 28A [2], 1935). 



20. Southeast slope of Georges Bank, Lat. 41° 32' N., Long. 65° 55' W. (Goode and Bean, Smithson. Contr. 

 Knowl., 30, 1895 : 3; Spec. Bull. U.S. nat. Mus., 1895 ; Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., 22, 1896). 



21. Gustafson (Arkiv. f. Zoologi, Stockholm, 2SA [2], 1935), in western Sweden. 



22. This is the usual summer range for surface water in Passamaquoddy Bay, where Hags were kept in captivity 

 by Coonfield (Trans. Amer. micr. Soc, 59, 1940: 398). 



