TIII: rii-i-: FISH i AMII.Y. 173 



animate. There are three or four upecies in Eastern North America, but their relations have not 

 been definitely learned. I have observed them in Florida spawning in April, and in Southern 

 New England in .Inly and August. They are of no importance to man except as interesting objects 

 for the aquarium. They are too hard and fleshless even to servo as food for other fishes. 



53. THE DEVIL-FISHES ANTENNARIIDJE AND MALTHEID2E. 



The fishes of this group are very grotesque in form and very remarkable in their habits 

 Some of them are pelagic and are met with in tropical seas, especially where there are masses of 

 floating vegetation, whilst others are found in the depths of the ocean. On our coast are several 

 species, the names and distribution of which arc given in the list which accompanies this report. 

 Although they are among the most interesting of all fishes, they have no commercial value, and 

 it is therefore inappropriate that they should be discussed in this report. The best known species 

 :ire the Marbled Angler, Pterophrync hiatrio, and the Sea Bat, Malthe vespertilio. 



54. THE GOOSE FISHES LOPHITJS PISCATORIUS. 



The Goose Fish or Monk Fish, Tjophius piscatorius, is common to the coasts of the North 

 Atlantic States and of Europe. In the Western Atlantic the species has not been observed 

 south of latitude 38, where, according to Uhler and Lugger, it is found in the drains of 

 Worcester County, Maryland, and along the coast of that region, though there is reason to 

 believe that stragglers occur at Cape Lookout (latitude 34 40 7 ), where the jawbones have been 

 found, and the fishermen claim to know them. It abounds along the coast of New England, and 

 has been found at depths of three hundred fathoms or more off Newport, Rhode Island, and one 

 hundred of Halifax. The limits of its northern range are not known, Nova Scotia being the 

 most northerly point of record. Richardson suggests that the Thutinameg or "Wind-fish" of 

 Hudson's Bay, which is said to come to the surface in windy weather only, belongs to this 

 family; and, indeed, this was thought by Pennant to be Lophius piscatoriu*. This is at best 

 extremely doubtful, for its range, as now understood, is limited by the parallel of 50. It is not 

 known to occur in Greenland. 



Instances are on record of its capture in Iceland, 1 and it is said very rarely to occur at the 

 Faroe Islands. It has been found at the North Cape, latitude 71, and doubtless ]>enetrates to the 

 White Sea. It is found along the coasts of Scandinavia, south to Spain, and throughout the 

 Mediterranean, where it is abundant in the Italian waters. Either this or an allied species occurs 

 at the Cape of Good Hope. On the American coast it occurs at temperatures of 32 to 60. 

 There is some reason to think that south of Cape Cod it retreats to deep water in summer. 



The names of the fish are many ; that most commonly in use among the Massachusetts fisher- 

 men is "Goose Fish." In Maine it is often called " Monk Fish"; in Rhode Island, "Bellows Fish"; 

 in Eastern Connecticut, "Molligut," and in North Carolina, "Allmonth." The Connecticut name 

 reminds us of the " Greedigut," a fish, probably the same, mentioned by early colonial writers, 

 particularly in the poem in Wood's "New England's Prospect." 



In England the same names are in use; also, "Angler," " Fishing Frog," "Frog Fish," "Mer- 

 maid," "Round Robin," "Sea Devil," "Toad Fish "(Germany), "Wide Gut," and "Wide Gap." 

 "Kettlemaw" is like the American "Allmouth." Scotland has "Keethie," "Keghie," and "Keit- 

 hok." The continental languages have at least fifty distinct names in addition. 



Goose Fishes are sluggish, slow-moving animals, and are occasionally seen swimming near the 

 surface, though ordinarily found upon the bottom. They feeds upon other fish often on large 

 ones, their swallowing powers being practically unlimited. Mackerel, sculpins, sea ravens, and 



< KAIIKK: Fiaohe Island*, p. 68. 



