Anarhichas
lupus Linnaeus, 1758
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his fish is technically not a catfish even although it does
goes under the common name of "Sea Catfishes" with two
other species. It is in fact related to the blennies and not to
the true catfishes (no barbels and has scales) The name Sea Catfish
gave me a good excuse to include this "only its mother would
love it" character and its other more popular name of the Wolf
Fish gives its true character away as a bit of an "ugly duckling"
but we catfish folk can put up with our charges not being too facially
challenged.
A friend of mine who lives on the East coast of
Scotland likes to reiterate the story of a local fisherman who
waded out knee deep to pull his rowing boat up to the shore and
ended up with a nasty gash in his foot and a never to be worn
wading boot again.
As you might be aware by now this is not a tropical
(cat)fish but a marine fish that is confined to the temperate
and boreel waters of the northern hemisphere. There are in fact
three species that occur in northern European seas, A.lupus,
A.minor and A.denticulatus. A.lupus has a long dorsal
and anal fin with a very small truncate caudal.
This genus does not posses ventral fins and has
huge dog-like teeth in the front of the jaws and rounded crushing
teeth in the sides and palate. These teeth are used to break up
mollusc's.
It lives close to the sea-bed in moderately deep
water with a depth range of 1 - 500m., and on occasion are caught
by sport fishermen. Its flesh seemingly is well flavoured and
firm and its skin can be prepared as leather.
Pectorals: very large , lobe-like. Gill membranes
united to isthmus. Only spinous dorsal fin present. No pelvic fins,
pelvic girdle vestigial. Small or pointed caudal fin. Jaws bearing
strong conical canine teeth at the front; large molariform teeth
at the sides.
Ground colour usually greyish-green but almost black or reddish
-brown. Body with 10-15 transverse, dark bars extended to the dorsal
fin
An aquarium fish, I don't think so!, unless some
native marine keepers know better, as it can grow to a quite considerable
size ( see size). The specimen in the photograph was pictured
in a public aquarium in the Sea-Life Centre in Oban, Argyll, Scotland.
| Sexual
differences |
It is said that the females
underside is a dirty white colour whereas the males have a
flecked pattern.
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| Breeding |
Spawns in the winter with the eggs being deposited as a ball-like
clump on the sea-bed. The larvae stay at the bottom until their
yolk-sac is used up. They are then found to swim in the mid to surface
layers of the ocean until late autumn when they retire back to the
sea-bed.
Adults and juveniles feed on crabs, sea urchins, mussels, whelks
and scallops.
| Etymology |
Anarhichas,
anarrhichesis from the Greek, to climb, the action of climbing
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| References |
Wheeler, Alwyne. Key to the Fishes of Northern Europe 1978.
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Iceland,
in the seas of Iceland and the Faroes.
Norway, in the seas
of Norway. 
United Kingdom, around the British
Isles. 
