{"id":84,"date":"2019-03-12T23:10:32","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/n3-wolfeel\/"},"modified":"2020-12-08T20:53:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T20:53:48","slug":"n3-wolfeel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/n3-wolfeel\/","title":{"rendered":"THE WOLF FISH"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

by Ben McCarty

\n<\/font><\/p>\n

THE
\nWOLF FISH<\/font><\/p>\n

Wolf fish are in the Anarhichadidae
\nfamily. There are nine species of wolf fish found in this family. They are
\nthe largest fish in the suborder of blennies. Blennies are long fish that
\nare similar to eels in appearance. They date as far back as 50 million years
\naccording to fossil discoveries. These are not bony fish; they have a cartilaginous
\nskeleton. The wolf fish lives in cold Arctic waters. They have fat heads
\nwith a large mouth filled with sharp teeth. Their skin has no scales and
\nthe dorsal fin on this fish runs the length of its body and has flexible
\nspines hut no soft rays. Some species, such as the Atlantic wolf fish, have
\ncommercial value as a food fish. The Atlantic wolf fish is grayish brown
\nin color with dark bands and has a diet that includes starfish, mussels
\nand sea urchins. When eating its prey, this fish swallows the entire body,
\nshells and all. The prey is then thoroughly chewed with its strong teeth
\nto break it into digestible bits. Munching on armored prey is tough work
\nfor wolf fish. However, a new set of teeth grows up from behind each year
\nto replace the worn ones. Powerful grinding teeth at the side of the jaws
\nare supplemented by fangs at the front, and strong cheek muscles are essential
\nwhen it comes to the crunch. Cod fishermen often find the Atlantic wolf
\nfish in their nets in large quantities When this occurs they use extreme
\ncaution when handling, as it is known to suddenly attack anything even biting
\nthrough wood with its teeth. The fishermen usually remove the head before
\nit goes to market for fear that its ugliness will scare buyers away.<\/font><\/p>\n

The wolf fish can reach lengths
\nof seven feet or longer but often averages around three feet in length.
\nIn European countries this fish is often commonly called the catfish and
\nis very popular as a food fish. The wolf fish spends its time feeding along
\nthe bottoms in deep waters. But when spring arrives, it will make small
\nmigrations inland in preparation for the spawning season. Once they have
\nreached the spawning sight they hide under large rocks, or in deeper holes.
\nThey build their nest in deeply depressed teas among the rocks near the
\nbottom. Once the eggs have been internally fertilized, the female wolf fish
\nwill deposit her large yellow eggs on the rocky floor of the nesting site.
\nThe male guards the eggs until they have hatched, while the female takes
\nvery little interest after she has laid the eggs. The young larvae stay
\nclose to the egg sac and remain near the nesting site feeding on plankton
\nfor the remainder of the larval stage. The entire period from hatching to
\nthe end of the larval stage will usually last around fourteen months or
\nlonger They will then leave the nesting site swimming out to the deeper
\nwaters to begin their adult lives. <\/font><\/p>\n

Like most blennies, the wolf
\nfish depends more on sight than vibration or smell to locate its prey. With
\ntheir fang-like canine teeth, this is a scary fish to face in the water
\nor on the surface. Although it looks extremely fierce, it is not aggressive
\nunless provoked. Most wolf fish are found in the northern waters of both
\nthe Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with species including Anarhichas lupus,
\nwhich is the North Atlantic wolf fish, Anarhichas minor, which is the spotted
\nwolf fish, and Anarrhichthys ocellatus, which is often called the wolf eel.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ben McCarty THE WOLF FISH Wolf fish are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9111,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_8.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9112,"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84\/revisions\/9112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.forsea.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}