180 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.39." 



In England sometimes the flesh is colored with anatto. A. H. 

 Patterson " saw some prepared for market at Great Yarmouth cut 

 into "rich yellow sections" looking "uncommonly like filleted had- 

 docks, the colouring being much more ochreous, and the general ap- 

 pearance exceedingly appetising." They sold well so dressed and 

 a piece cooked like haddock was found "fairly good eating, slightly 

 'twanging' of a skate-like flavour." 



Equally worthy of esteem with the Atlantic wolffish are the 

 spotted and Alaskan wolfiishes. The deepest-water species or blue 

 wolffish is, however, with one accord, rejected by all. That species, 

 according to Sparre Schneider, is regarded as uneatable by "even 

 the Russians," but a few are utilized by being "flayed and hung up 

 to dry" for their skins. 



It is not only the flesh of the wolffishes that is utilized by man. 

 The skin is also appropriated to his use in some places, and, as just 

 noted, even that of the blue wolffish {Lycichthys latifrons), which 

 is contemned for its flesh, may be accepted for economical purposes. 

 According to Smitt, "not only the flesh," of the common wolffish, 

 "but also the strong skin is of comparatively high value." Smitt, 

 however, does not give any information as to the mode of utili- 

 zation of the skin. 



The skin of the Alaskan wolffish {A. lepturus) is equally valued. 

 Turner (1886) says that "the natives strip the skin from this fish 

 and tan it, to be used in inserting between the seams of boots and 

 other waterproof garments. The skin of the fish is said to swell 

 when moistened and thus draw the threads tighter together. The 

 dried skin is totally different from the fresh skin, in that it is nearly 

 black and beautifully mottled with black and silvery dots." 



Partly because there is no general demand for it, and partly because 

 it is a solitary fish and not very common, there is no extensive or 

 exclusive special fishery for the wolffish in any country. 



Individuals are elsewhere often taken by lines set for cod and had- 

 dock, and sometimes in salmon nets in estuaries. A notable mode 

 of capture is practiced for the Alaskan wolffish at St. Michaels. "The 

 Eskimo bait a large hook with tender grass roots and cast it into the 

 water when the tide is at half-flood in the evening, as the fish is 

 mostly nocturnal in its habits. The part of the line near the hook 

 is usually made of a stiff strip of baleen to prevent the numerous teeth 

 of the fish from cutting the line in two." 



The most extensive captures are by the trawl. The most reliable 

 and comprehensive statistics of catches of the wolffish or catfish have 

 been published by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in their 

 annual reports. In the Annual Report of proceedings under acts 



o Zoologist, 1908, p. 443. 



