FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
159 
74. Urophycis chuss (Walbaum). Squirrel hake; “Ling.” 
Blennius chuss Walbaum, Artedi, Qen. Piseium, III, 1792, p. 186; New York. 
Urophycis chuss Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2555, PI. CCCLXV, fig. 902; Evermann and Hildebrand, 1910, p. 163. 
Head: 4.25 to 4.5; depth, 4.8 to 5.05; D. 9 to 11 — 56 to 61; A. 52 to 56; scales about 104 to 
112. Body elongate, compressed; head somewhat depressed; snout tapering, 2.95 to 3.6 in head; 
eye, 2.55 to 3.54; interorbital, 5.05 to 6.8; mouth horizontal; upper jaw and snout projecting; 
maxillary scarcely reaching opposite posterior margin of eye, 1.9 to 2.05 in head; teeth small, 
pointed, present on jaws and vomer, those in lower jaw in a very irregular series, those of the upper 
jaw more or less definitely in two series; gill rakers short, slender, 12 or 13 on lower limb of first 
arch; scales very small, cycloid; dorsal fins separate; the third ray of first dorsal produced, fila- 
mentous; second dorsal long, of nearly uniform height throughout; caudal fin round; anal fin long 
and low; ventral fins composed of two filamentous rays, inserted on margin of gill opening; pectoral 
fins rather narrow, 1.2 to 1.35 in head. 
Color brownish above; lower part of sides more or less silvery; white, gray, or yellowish under- 
neath; ventrals and pectorals pale; the other fins with dusky punctulations. 
Many specimens of this species, ranging in length from 80 to 205 millimeters (334 to 834 
inches), were preserved. This ling is recognized by its produced, filamentous ray in the first dorsal 
fin, by the numerous rays in the dorsal and anal fins, and by the number of oblique rows of scales 
on the sides. It differs, with respect to the scales, from U. regius in having more numerous oblique 
rows and from U. tenuis (a northern species that has been recorded from the coast of Maryland 
Fig. 83. — Urophycis chuss 
and also reported from North Carolina, although not yet taken in Chesapeake Bay) in having 
fewer oblique rows of scales on the sides. U. regius has about 88 to 97 oblique rows, U. chuss 
has approximately 104 to 112, and U. tenuis has about 140. 
The food in eight stomachs examined consisted wholly of crustaceans, principally shrimp. 
Squids, the smaller sizes of many species of fish, prawns, shrimps, and amphipods have been recorded 
by various investigators. However, it is said to seldom take mollusks of any kind (excepting 
squid) or the larger crustaceans, such as cod feed upon (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925, p. 450). As 
with many other species of fish, the sand launce (Ammodytes) is a favorite food of the ling. We 
have observed ling caught off Sandy Hook, N. J., gorged with launce, in some cases the tails extend- 
ing into their mouths because their stomachs could hold no more. 
With respect to the spawning of this ling, Bigelow and Welsh (1925, p. 452) state that they 
trawled fish with running spawn and milt in Ipswich Bay in July. The height of the spawning 
season falls in the early summer in the Massachusetts Bay region and begins in June south of Cape 
Cod. It is quite certain that the ling spawns at least as far south as New Jersey, for we have 
observed large schools of fish in April and May off Rockaway, N. Y., and Sandy Hook, which were 
distended with spawn. No ripe fish were observed in Chesapeake Bay. However, one individual, 
taken April 15, 1922, had the ovaries somewhat developed and contained eggs plainly visible under 
a low-power hand lens. 
The eggs are buoyant, 0.72 to 0.76 millimeter in diameter. The fry attain a length of 27 to 
70 millimeters in late summer and autumn off the New England coast. (Bigelow and Welsh, 
1925, p. 452.) The fry are greenish on the back and silvery on the sides. According to Bigelow 
49826—28 11 
