196 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



■whicli posteriorly merge into one. Vomer with a double roTV of large molars. 

 On the palatines are also two rows, the outer from four to six, being 

 conical : and the inner, from two to four in number, being tuberculated 

 at their summits. Fins — the dorsal commences at the nape and is con- 

 tinued almost as far as to the base of the caudal fin, its anterior 

 rays are rather short, gradually increasing in length to opposite the com- 

 mencement of the anal, the last ten or twelve rays gradually decrease in 

 height. Pectoral with a broad base, it scarcely extends so far as to above the 

 vent. Anal commences below about the thirtieth dorsal ray, and is continued 

 almost to the root of the caudal fin. Caudal rounded posteriorly. Shin — 

 having rudimentary and not imbricated scales, which are concealed to a great 

 extent by the large amount of mucus that covers the body. Numerous open 

 pores on the head disposed in rows. Colours — grayish brown, darkest along the 

 back : a series of darker vertical bands, nearly as wide as the ground colour, 

 pass down the sides to a little beneath the lateral-line. Numerous small black 

 points exist over the body. Dorsal and anal fins yellowish, with narrow and 

 oblique brown bands passing backwards. Pectoral and caudal gray. 



Varieties.— A. strigosus was a term instituted by Gmelin for the banded 

 examples, but it is probable that when fresh they are always banded, although 

 Pennant remarks that in difi^erent fish these stripes have different appearances. 

 Miiller mentions a variety as " Anarrhiclias lupus nan maculatus." 



Names. — Wolf-fish or sea-wolf, owing to its ravenous propensities. In Orkney 

 it is termed swine-fish, due to a sort of muscular motion of its nostrils, which the 

 fishermen say resembles that in the nose of a swine (Lowe). Wauffs or wuffs, 

 Yorkshire. Sea-cat or Cat-fish (Moray Firth) and Aberdeen (see Zoarces 

 viviparus'). L'Anarrhique loup, French. Zee-wolf, Dutch. 



Hahits. — It approaches the coast about May, and is a ravenous, fierce, and 

 strong fish, which swims rapidly with a lateral undulating motion : when taken 

 it fastens on anything within reach. Its jaws are so powerful that the Danes and 

 Germans, under the idea that it can crush stones with its teeth, call it Steenbider 

 and Steinieisser. Its usual food is crustaceous animals and shell fish, including 

 among the latter, mussels, scollops, large whelks, &c. ; these it crushes and breaks 

 to pieces with its teeth, and swallows the mass, the remains of the broken sheila 

 passing down the intestinal tract. 



From the stomachs of these fish Mcintosh has obtained at St. Andrew's, 

 fragments of Echinus esculentus, Buccinum undatum, Trochi, Nassa incrassata, 

 Natica, Mya, Star-fishes, Stenorhynchus rostratus, and Oalathea. 



Bowerbank found in the stomach of one, 3 feet 1 inch long, abundant remains 

 of shells of a species of Pecten (Zool. p. 4886). Edward remarked that at Banff 

 this fish was frequently found dead cast on shore after a storm, " which would 

 seem to indicate that their habit is not always in deep water." 



" One snapped a large stick with the greatest ease," An. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 

 1853, xi, p. 466. A pair were taken, of diflierent sizes, in a trawl, in the North Sea, 

 about halfway between Grimsby and Norway. One of them bit at a mop handle, 

 which was held out to it, so savagely that it was swung overboard without letting 

 go its hold. When it was shaken ofl', one of its teeth was left behind it fastened 

 in the wood. The fishermen in the Moray Firth say that it is more plentiful in 

 March than at any other season, and that some of them are as big as any cod, 

 and are good for eating (Gordon, Zool. 1862, p. 3460). It lives some time after 

 removal from the water. It seems to prefer rocky coasts, keeping at the sea 

 bottom. 



Means of capture. — Baits or spearing, for which purpose the Norwegians were 

 said to employ a trident. Parnell observed that it is common in all the rocky 

 parts of the Firth of Forth, and often found on the haddock lines, and occasionally 

 in the salmon nets above Queensferry. It also is sometimes taken in large deep 

 sea nets, into which it has entered for the purpose of feeding upon the entangled 

 fishes. Owing to its fierceness when captured the fishermen usually first beat out 

 it.s front teeth and then knock it on the head. 



Vrcediiig. — According to Pennant it spaAvns in May and June, when it deposits 



