Abstract
OF late the wolf fish (Anarrhichas lupus) has been somewhat plentiful in the Frith of Forth. A specimen which lived in the Edinburgh Aquarium for a little over a week, came into my possession a few days ago, and I have thought that an account of the dental armature of this curious fish may prove interesting to readers of NATURE. The wolf fish is a near relative of the Blennies. In this fish we see the same elongated dorsal fin, and the same anal fin as in the Blennies; but the dental arrangements of the wolf fish are of a much more specific and unusual kind than are seen in the former group. The specimen dissected measured twenty-five inches from the top of the nose to the extremity of the caudal fin. It was therefore by no means a large specimen, since from six to seven feet is not an unusual length for the sea wolf to attain. Its dark grey body was faintly banded with brown, but the head was beautifully and distinctly marbled with black on a grey ground. The aspect of the mouth, provided with its well marked teeth, partakes somewhat of a feline look, and has suggested the name “sea cat,” often applied to it on these northern shores, where the fish is frequently eaten, it somewhat resembling the cod in taste. The appearance of the mouth is highly characteristic. In front of both jaws is found an array of sharp incisor teeth. The upper jaw bears five of these pointed teeth, the two lateral teeth being large, and the central three teeth small. The lower jaw possesses six teeth of similar pattern, the two central teeth being larger than the four lateral ones; and when the jaws are closed the lower teeth interlock in an exact manner with the upper. The hold or grip of a wolf fish must therefore be of a tenacious kind. Behind these incisor teeth, both above and below, are seen a few small teeth, destined by the ordinary laws of dental succession in the fish-group to replace the incisors in case of injury or loss. These front teeth are firmly anchylosed to the bones on which they are borne.
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WILSON, A. The Wolf Fish . Nature 19, 556–557 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019556b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019556b0