THE WOLF-FISH. 330 



pearance, from which circumstance the fish often times re- 

 ceives the name of green-bone. 



Genus ANARRHICHAS.— Dorsal fine on ; ventral 

 fins wanting ; mouth armed with conical incisors and flat 

 grinders. 



Anakrhichas lupus.* — The Wolf-fish. 



Specific character. — Last rays of the dorsal fin abbreviated. 



Description. — From a specimen two feet in length. Body elonga- 

 ted ; sides compressed, covered with a mucous secretion ; forehead 

 sloping ; face wrinkled. Colour of the back and sides light grey, 

 marked with seven or eight broad vertical bands of a bluish-grey 

 tinge. Dorsal fin commencing at the nape, extending down the back, 

 to be connected to the first caudal ray by a short membrane ; first ray 

 shorter than the second, the rest, as far as the sixty-third, of equal 

 length, the remainder gradually decreasing to the base of the first short 

 caudal ray. Anal fin commencing in a line under the thirtieth ray 

 of the dorsal, and ending at a short interval from the caudal ; all the 

 rays of equal length ; no ventral fins ; pectorals broad, the rays strong 

 and branched, the fifth, sixth, and seventh the longest, reaching in 

 a line under the seventeenth ray of the dorsal; caudal fin rounded, 

 rather small, about one-third the size of the pectorals, composed of 

 branched flexible rays. Teeth remarkably strong, of two kinds in 

 each jaw, those in front long and conical, those behind, and on the 

 vomer, closely paved, short, and truncated ; eyes rather small, placed 

 high on the head, on a line over the vomerine teeth. Number of fin 

 rays — 



D. 72; P. 20; A. 45 ; C. 17 : B. 7. 



The Wolf-fish sometimes grows to the length of six feet, 

 and is a rare visitant on the southern coast of England. It 

 is found on the coasts of Norfolk and Yorkshire, and is 

 well known along the northern shores of Europe. This 

 large and ferocious species is the most savage and powerful 

 of all our British fishes. It feeds on crustaceous and tes- 

 taceous animals, and by the power of its large and strong 



• Anarrhichas lupus, Cuv., Yarr., Jen., Pen., Don. Sea-wolf, Sea-cat, 

 Swine-fish, Cat-fish. 



