NO. 1782. STRUCTURE AND HABITS OF WOLFFISHES—GILL. 179 



it has been claimed — as by Giinther (1880 and 1886) — that "a lengtli 

 of more than six feet" may be realized,'* but no such instances have 

 been recorded within recent years. The old statements (as by 

 Gronow and Lacepede)^ that a length of 15 or 16 feet is sometimes 

 attained may be relegated to the category of fable. 



VI. 



The almost universal testimony of those who have been able to con- 

 quer the prejudice provoked by the appearance and odor of the fish, 

 is that the common wolfRsh is one of the most savory of the inhabitants 

 of the sea for the table. "The meat is white, firm, and of a fine 

 flavor." It has been repeatedly declared to be "excellent eating." 

 Buckland (1880) considered it to be "very good" and "like a nice 

 veal chop." Donovan (1803) found that cooking eradicates its un- 

 pleasant odor, and then it is "delicious" and somewhat like a mack- 

 erel, but better. Fishermen generally regard it highly and some think 

 "it is the best fish that swims." The fishermen of Bohuslan regard 

 it as "a good catch, and its liver in particular as a delicacy." But in 

 many places, and in America especiall}", most persons are repelled by 

 the forbidding appearance of the fish as well as by the smell ' ' which 

 is highly repulsive to most people." In America, in the words of 

 Storer (1855), "its hideous appearance renders it an object of such 

 disgust that it is not infrequently thrown away as soon as caught. 

 By many of our fishermen, however, it is considered very delicate; the 

 smaller specimens weighing from five to ten pounds, are quite pala- 

 table when fried, boiled, or broiled, the skin having been previously 

 removed. It is also occasionally split and salted, or dried, or smoked, 

 and is said to be, when thus prepared, very good." It is, nevertheless, 

 only exceptionally to be found in any market. 



a Yarrell, in 1836 (I, p. 250), affirmed that "this fish attains the length of six or 

 seven feet", [etc.]. This has been often repeated since. Olsen, in his Piscatorial 

 Atlas of the North Sea (1883), gives the "size, 3 and 4 ft. up to 7 ft.," with the 

 "weight 29 to 50 lbs." Goode, in 1884, also recorded that "the largest individuals 

 of this species are 6 or 7 feet in length and would probably weigh 40 pounds. The 

 specimen mentioned by Richardson, 3 feet long, weighed 20 pounds." If a fish 

 3 feet long weighed 20 pounds, one double that length, if the same proportions were 

 preserved, would weigh eight times as much — i. e., 160 pounds. 



^ Ce poisson pout figurer avec avantage a cote du Xiphias, et par sa force, et par 

 sa grandeur. II parvieut quelquefois, au moins dans les mers tres-profondes, jusqu'^ 

 la longueur de cinq metres; [etc.]. Lacepede, vol. 2, p. 300. 



Valenciennes, as early as 1836 (CV. XI, 488), well summarized the facts as to size: 

 ' "L'anarrhique a ordinairement trois a quatre pieds; tons les auteurs qui I'ont ob- 

 serve par eux-memes ne lui donnent pas une longueur plus considerable et un poids 

 Buperieure a vingt livres. J'ai peine a croire a celle de quinze pieds, annonc^e par 

 Gronovius pour ceux des mers du Nord, et repetee avec tant d'emphase par M. de 

 Lacepede." [etc.]. 



