338 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
fathoms, Albatross II recently (July 1931) trawled a number in the basin of the gulf 
as deep as 90 fathoms. 
The sizes, in different months, of the young fry show that eelpouts in the Gulf 
of Maine grow to a length of about 2 inches in the first 6 months of their lives, and 3 
inches in 9 months, agreeing in this respect with the growth-schedule of Bay of Fundy 
eelpouts derived by Clemens and Clemens (1921, p. 74) from the annual rings on the 
otoliths. Small specimens 5 to 6% inches long taken from February to May are 
probably about 1% years old. 
Young eelpouts, up to 3 or 4 inches long, are checkered along the sides, and 
irregularly blotched on the back with light and dark brown, with a small but promi- 
nent black spot, which fades out with growth, on the anterior part of the dorsal fin. 
Wolf eel, Lycenchelys verrillii (Goode and Bean) 
The recorded range of the wolf eel, previously known only off the coasts of New 
England and Nova Scotia, has now been extended southward to the offing of New York 
(Beebe, 1929, p. 18). 
The wolf eel is more common within the Gulf of Maine, in deep water, than was 
formerly supposed, for in the autumn and summer of 1928 and 1930 the Albatross II 
trawled 61 specimens, 6 to 6% inches long, in the deep basin to the westward of Jeffreys 
Ledge, in about 90 fathoms of water. It was also found scattered over the central 
basin of the gulf, in July 1931, in 95 to 123 fathoms. 
Silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis (Mitchill) 
The wintering ground of the Gulf of Maine stock of silver hake has been the sub- 
ject of so much speculation that the capture by the Albatross II, of many specimens 
between the offings of No Mans Land and off Cape Hatteras in depths ranging from 
12 to 146 fathoms, in February 1930 at temperatures of 4.2° to 10.6° C. (39.5° to 
51° F.), deserves mention. Such wide ranges of temperature indicate that the silver 
hake are well distributed on these offshore grounds during the winter. 
Young fish are rarely found close to shore within the gulf. Offshore, however, the 
Albatross II and Atlantis have trawled large numbers between 2 and about 8 inches 
long in widely scattered localities and in depths ranging from 20 to 115 fathoms. 
Measurements of young silver hake, 12 recently obtained in the Gulf of Maine 
indicate that a length of 6-7 inches is attained at about 1 year of age. 
Pollock, Pollachius virens (Linnaeus) 
Recent tagging experiments verify the earlier view that the pollock which appear 
in the cold months of the year off New York and New Jersey are winter migrants from 
the region of Nantucket Shoals. In general the pollock in the Gulf of Maine are not 
migratory although occasional fish may make long journeys. 
Cod, Gadus callarias Linnaeus 
Extensive tagging experiments (Schroeder, 1930) have proved that the appear- 
ance of cod in winter southward along the coasts of New York and New Jersey in 
commercial quantities represents a regular annual mass migration from Nantucket 
Shoals followed by a return migration in spring. But only scattering fish join this 
Several hundred specimens. 
