86 



FISHES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 



sometimes taken with it in the fall. The Hacklehead is very abundant in 

 the colder months of the year and may occur occasionally at other 



HACKLEHEAD 



seasons, and the Daddy Sculpin, a northern fish, is supposed to be of 

 occasional occurrence hereabouts although it is possible that the records 

 are erroneous. All these species have large flattened heads, the lower 

 jaw somewhat shorter than the upper, the preopercle with two strong 

 straight spines and other spines also about the head, the body without 

 any true scales. They are not at all valued as food, and yet what little 

 is left of the fish when the inedible spiny head has been removed would 

 probably be excellent eating. 



The Brassy Sculpin and Mitchill's Sculpin have only ten or eleven 

 rays in the anal fin and the spines about the head are rather short. 

 The former is more or less brownish mottled in color, the latter is sharply 

 marked with dark, almost black, and white. The Hacklehead has four- 

 teen rays in the anal fin and its upper preopercular spine is very long, 

 about four times the length of the spine below it, whereas in the Daddy 

 Sculpin, this spine is only about twice as long as the spine below it. 

 Both of these species have a rather sharply mottled dark and white 

 color like the Mitchill's Sculpin and differ from the brownish tints of the 

 Brassy Sculpin. 



The Sea Raven is a fish similar in form to the sculpins, with the head 

 less spiny, bearing numerous small flaps or tentacles, and the spiny 

 dorsal fin very ragged in appearance. Its first three dorsal spines stand 

 up above the others which are excerted beyond the basal membrane, 

 and all the spines have short flaps near their tips. The Sea Raven reaches 



