Vertebral and Dorsal Fin-ray Numbers in Atlantic Wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) of the Northwest Atlantic

• Main Author: Wilfred Templeman
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Greenland; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.470.7499; http://journal.nafo.int/J05/templeman5.pdf

From collections of Atlantic wolffish in the Northwest Atlantic (West Greenland to the Scotian Shelf) during 1950-67, mean vertebral counts increased gradually from the colder northern to the warmer southern areas (74.19 off Labrador to 75.29 on the southern Scotian Shelf). This is the reverse of the usual pattern in other fishes of the region with pelagic eggs. The pattern for mean dorsal fin-ray counts was similar, but the area coverage and sample sizes were less extensive and the differences were less significant than in the vertebral data. The overall ranges in counts were 72-78 for vertebrae and 71-77 for dorsal fin-rays. Dorsal fin-ray and vertebral numbers were moderately well correlated in a limited number of specimens.