DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY 



Frli>r»rc I P^^f- C. H. Batchelder, Orono 

 C^UllOrS (- o, £j„i„ Qo^^ ivi Q _ Rockland 



SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE GRAY-FISH. 

 By Edwin W. Gould, M. D. 



At the annual meeting- of the Knox Academy of Arts and Sciences, 

 held Jan. 8th, 1931, in the Rockland High School building. Dr. E. W. 

 Gould, senior member of the Sea and Shores Fisheries Commission, 

 gave a very interesting address on the Grayfish, known by our fisher- 

 men as the Dogfish. 



Dr. Gould spoke at the outset of the widespread prejudice against 

 this fish as an article of food, presumably because in its annual visi- 

 tation to the coast of Maine in large numbers, it is regarded as a pest, 

 and the same way along other coasts, very destructive to fishing gear 

 and cordially hated by the fishermen. He said that they were be- 

 yond doubt a valuable food, very appetizing when cooked in various 

 ways, soon after being taken, but as yet no satisfactory method has 

 been discovered of canning them so that they would retain the clean, 

 fresh taste for many months. The by-products are so many and 

 varied that they open up a broad field for investigation, one that 

 merits the closest attention and scientific experimentation. 



Touching upon the life history of the fish, he said: 



Very little is known of the life history of the grayfish, with ex- 

 ceedingly scant literature on this so much maligned member of the 

 fish family. It is known with some degree of certainty that from 

 some unknown locality in the depths of the ocean they begin their 

 migration to the coastal waters about the last of the month of June, 

 and are first taken along the inner bank of the Gulf Stream, from 

 there they continue on their journey of migration until the coast is 

 reached, where they remain until cold weather approaches, when 

 they depart for parts unknown. This is not an invariable rule, as 

 these fish have been observed on the coast nearly if not quite all 

 winter. 



A most interesting phenomena is observed in the birth of grayfish. 

 That is, the so called egg and its final disposition. To the unin- 

 formed the term egg in connection with grayfish conveys the impres- 

 sion that grayfish are hatched from the egg. As a matter of fact, 

 the so called grayfish egg is a food pouch or capsule, is nearly as 

 large as a common hen's egg, of pale yellow color that reminds one 

 of the yolk of egg ; the tunic capsule is composed of a strong, fibrous, 

 nearly transparent tissue. The contents of this sac is a concen- 

 trated, highly nutritious, pre-digested food. The embryo grayfish, 



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