FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 459 



It is easily taken vrlth. a bait and constitutes the daily food of the Greenlanders who 

 are very fond of it. 



This Sculpin was unknown to DeKay except from a single mutilated specimen 

 which was captured near Hell Gate. His account of the fish was, therefore, 

 borrowed from Storer and the figure from Richardson. 



The Daddy Sculpin appears at Woods Hole, Mass., about October i and remains 

 until December or January. It spawns in November and December. 



199. Sea Raven (^Heuiitriptcnts auiericamis Gmelin). 



The Sea Raven is the Yellow Scorp^na of Mitchill. According to DeKay the 

 name Sea Sculpin is sometimes applied to this species. Other names given to the 

 fish are Rock Toad Fish and Deep Water Sculpin. It is found along the east 

 coast from Nova Scotia to Chesapeake Bay. It grows to a length of 2 feet and is 

 one of the most brightly colored of the marine fishes. Its colors are subject to 

 great variation. The head is covered with numerous fringes and the dorsal spines 

 are often produced into filaments. The mouth is large, the skin rough and the belly 

 very distensible at the will of the fish, making this species one of the curiosities of 

 the sea. It feeds upon moUusks and all other invertebrates of suitable size. It is 

 not eaten, although its flesh is of excellent flavor. It is used as bait for the Eel and 

 Lobster fishery. 



Examples were taken in Great South Bay in the fall of 1884. It is brought in 

 frequently from the fishing banks off Sandy Hook. It spawns in November. The 

 eggs are amber or yellow. Eggs observed November 29, 1897, were in masses stuck 

 tightly together. The egg is 5/„ of an inch in diameter and at the end of November 

 showed the form of the fish distinctly. Its color in that stage is pale salmon, but 

 it is brighter when first deposited. 



Family CYCLOPTERIDiE. Lump Suckers. 



200. Lumpfish ; Lump Sucker {Cycloptertis hnnpus Linnaeus). 



The Lumpfish inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean on rocky shores on both coasts 

 extending south to Cape Cod and France. It grows to a length of 20 inches or 

 more and is rarely used as food. It is reported to spawn near the shore in March or 

 April, after which the female retires to deep water, leaving the male to watch the 

 eggs which hatch among seaweed and eelgrass. Mitchill called it the Blue Lump, 

 fish ; he described and figured it in 181 5. DeKay also gives a description and figure 

 and states that it is considered a great delicacy in Scotland, but it agrees with few 



