The Atlantic wolffish (''Anarhichas lupus''), also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel (the common name for its Pacific

relative Relative may refer to: General use *Kinship and family, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be ''relatives'' Philosophy *Relativism, the concept that ...

), woof or sea cat, is a marine fish of the wolffish family

Anarhichadidae Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes, sea wolves or wolf eels, is a family of marine ray finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These are predatory, eel shaped fishes which are native to the cold waters of the Arctic, North Pacific and ...

, native to the North Atlantic Ocean. The numbers of the Atlantic wolffish in US waters are rapidly being depleted, most likely due to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

and

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

, and it is currently a Species of Concern according to the U.S.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stew ...

. Apart from their unique appearance wolffish are distinguished by the natural antifreeze they produce to keep their blood moving fluidly in their very cold habitat, involvement by both the male and female in brood bearing, and the large size of their eggs. They are also an important factor in controlling

green crab ''Carcinus maenas'' is a common littoral crab. It is known by different names around the world. In the British Isles, it is generally referred to as the shore crab, or green shore crab. In North America and South Africa, it bears the name europ ...

and

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

populations, which can become overly disruptive to habitats if left unchecked. Wolffish population success is also an important indicator of the health of other bottom-dweller populations, such as

Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.described in 1758 in the 10th edition of the ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

with its type locality given as the "northern English Ocean". When Linnaeus described it he classified it within the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Anarhichas ''Anarhichas'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes or sea wolves. These fishes are found in the northern North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Taxonomy ''Anarhichas'' was first propos ...

'' so today ''A. lupus'' is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of that genus. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''lupus'' means "

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

", one of the common names for these fishes is "sea wolf", the name being given because of the canine-like front teeth.

Characteristics

The Atlantic wolffish has retained the bodily form and general external characteristics of small

blennies Blenny (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true ...

(Blennioidei). The largest specimen recorded measured long and weighed almost . Its body is long, subcylindrical in front, compressed in the

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...

portion, smooth and slippery, the rudimentary scales being embedded and almost hidden in the skin. Atlantic wolffish vary in color, usually seen as purplish-brown, a dull olive green, or blueish gray.Bigelow, Henry B. and William C. Schroeder. "Fishes of the Gulf of Maine." Fishery Bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, 1953. v 53; p503-506. http://gma.org/fogm/Anarhichas_lupus.htm An even dorsal fin extends the whole length of the back, and a similar fin from the vent to the caudal fin, as in blennies. The pectorals are large and rounded and the pelvic fins are entirely absent. Its obtuse, eel-like body type makes the fish swim slowly, undulating from side to side, like an eel. The Atlantic wolffish's distinguishing feature, from which it gets its common name, is its extensive teeth structure. Its dentition distinguishes the Atlantic wolffish from all the other members of the family Anarhichadidae. Both the lower and upper jaws are armed with four to six fang-like, strong, conical teeth. Behind the conical teeth in the upper jaw, there are three rows of crushing teeth. The central row has four pairs of molars and the outer rows house blunted conical teeth. The lower jaw has two rows of molars behind the primary conical teeth. The wolffish's throat is also scattered with serrated teeth. Atlantic wolffish inhabit both the west and east coasts of the Atlantic. In the west Atlantic, they are present as far north as the

Davis Strait Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was named for the English explorer Jo ...

, of the Canadian territory of

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

, populating the shores of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, extending as far south as

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. Although they are seldom seen south of Cape Cod, there have been sightings in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The most dense populations are in

Georges Bank Georges Bank (formerly known as St. Georges Bank) is a large elevated area of the sea floor between Cape Cod, Massachusetts (United States), and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada). It separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

, the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...

and the Great South Channel. In the eastern Atlantic, they range from Russia's

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...

and

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

, through the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

and

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, to the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

.Muus, B., J. G. Nielsen, P. Dahlstrom and B. Nystrom (1999). ''Sea Fish.'' p. 211. A single record was reported in 1958 from the western Mediterranean Sea in the gulf of Genoa, Italy. Atlantic wolffish are primarily stationary fish, rarely moving from their rocky homes. They are benthic dwellers, living on the hard ocean floor, frequently seen in nooks and small caves. They like cold water, at depths of . They are usually found in water temperatures of . Since they can live in near-freezing waters (salt water only freezes at slightly below ), to keep their blood moving smoothly, they contain a natural antifreeze. Three related species (Atlantic,

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and spotted wolffish) occur in the north Atlantic. The northern wolffish has loose gelatinous flesh, but the other species are esteemed as food, both fresh and preserved. They are marketed in Britain as "Scotch halibut" and "Scarborough woof", or, simply "woof" in other areas of the northeast coast, and are a popular ingredient in

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

. In Iceland and Norway, the species is called ''steinbítur''/''steinbit'', which literally translates to "stone biter".

Diet

Anarhichas lupus skull Iles de la Madeleine

Atlantic wolffish use their strong jaws to eat hardshell molluscs,

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

, and

echinoderms An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea li ...

. They do not eat other fish. They are known to frequently eat large whelks (''

Buccinum ''Buccinum'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2014). Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marin ...

''), cockles (''Polynices'', ''Chrysodomus'' and ''Sipho''), sea clams (''

Mactra ''Mactra'' is a large genus of medium-sized marine bivalve mollusks or clams, commonly known as trough shells or duck clams. ''Mactra'' is the type genus within the family Mactridae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Mactra Linnaeus, 1767. ...

''), large hermit crabs, starfish, and sea urchins. They are an important predator of sea urchins and green crabs, whose populations escalate rapidly and can negatively affect the health of a marine system.

Reproduction

The manner in which Atlantic wolffish fertilize their eggs distinguishes them from many fish. Instead of the female depositing her eggs in the open ocean for the male fish to fertilize and then continue on his way, they are internally fertilized and the male wolffish stays with the nest and protects the eggs for as long as four months, until the brood is strong enough to gain independence. Their eggs are 5.5–6.0 mm in diameter, (among the largest fish eggs known), yellow tinted and opaque. The eggs are laid on the ocean floor, often in

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

water, sticking together in loose clumps, surrounded by seaweeds and stones. Atlantic wolffish mature relatively late, at age six.

Conservation status

According to data compiled by the National Marine Fisheries Service, since 1983, the landings from U.S. fishing vessels of Atlantic wolffish as bycatch has declined 95%, landing 64.7 metric tons (mt) in 2007.NMFS Landings Query Results; http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/pls/webpls/MF_ANNUAL_LANDINGS.RESULTS In 1950, when the NMFS started collecting their data, 1,098 mt of Atlantic wolffish were landed, worth $137,008. In 1970, 271.2 mt; the landings peaked in 1983 at 1,207 mt, bringing in $455,291; rapidly depleting again and by 1990 the landings were down to 400 mt, and by 2002, 154 mt. The last available data from the NMFS were in 2007 at 64.7 mt, worth a total of $100,341. Currently, the Atlantic wolffish is categorized as
Species of Concern
under the National Marine Fisheries Service. Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S
Endangered Species Act
(ESA). On October 1, 2008, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), along with Dr. Erica Fuller and Dr. Les Watling, petitioned the US NMFS for the protection of the Atlantic wolffish under the ESA. The petition called for the protection of the Atlantic wolffish and wolffish habitat throughout the US northwest Atlantic waters. It recommended a designation of critical habitat be set up to close off both commercial and recreational fishing in those areas (which would overlap closed areas for various other fishing industries for the benefit of fishermen), the development of catch and release protocols, educational programs for fishermen in the Gulf of Maine area, and possession prohibitions.Conservation Law Foundation, DR. Erica Fuller and Dr. Les Watling. "Petition for a Rule to List the U.S. Population of Atlantic Wolffish (''Anarhichas lupus'') as an Endangered Species Under the Endangered Species Act." October 1, 2008.http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Programs/Healthy_Oceans/Ocean_Life/Atlantic%20Wolffish%20Petition%20Final.pdf On January 1, 2009 the NMFS announced
positive 90-day finding
that the petition was warranted, which triggered the initiation of a status review which will result in a decision on whether to list the species under the ESA. On November 6, 2009, the NMFS issued a finding that the proposed protections were not warranted. In 2014,

HELCOM The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helsinki Commission, HELCOM) is an intergovernmental organization governing the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention). A regional ...

classified the Atlantic wolffish population in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

scale.

References

Footnotes

External links

*
NMFS Species of Concern: Atlantic Wolffish

CLF Fact Sheet on Atlantic Wolffish

Distribution, biology and management

{{Taxonbar, from=Q934761

Atlantic wolffish The Atlantic wolffish (''Anarhichas lupus''), also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel (the common name for its Pacific relative), woof or sea cat, is a marine fish of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae, n ...

Fish of Greenland