Author: Linnaeus, 1758

Anarhichas lupus Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis: head large, snout blunt; jaw teeth strong, canine-like in front, rounded and frequently rather worn teeth behind; teeth on vomer large, reaching back beyond the line of palatine teeth on either side of them. Rather rounded caudal fin with 22-26 finrays. Colour: body yellowish or bluish-grey, with 9-13 darker cross-bars extending onto base of dorsal fin. Size: to 125 cm TL.

Habitat. on rocky bottoms, sometimes over sand or mud, at 1-500 m; in trawl catches: mainly at 100-150 m (less than 50 m in White Sea). Food: hard-shelled molluscs, crabs, sea-urchins and other echinoderms. Reproduction: eggs deposited in spherical clumps at about 10-120 m in July-February (May-August in White Sea), larvae hatching January-July, pelagic until 5-6 cm TL (late autumn).

Distribution. Spitsbergen southward to White Sea, Scandinavian coasts, North Sea, the British Isles, also Iceland and south-eastern coasts of Greenland. Elsewhere, western coasts of Greenland, Labrador to Cape Cod.

Eggs, larvae, and young stages. McIntosh & Prince, 1890: 671-673, 781, 874-928, pl. I, XX-XXVII | Barsukov, 1959, passim, fig. 42 (3) | Baranenkova et al., 1960: 1186-1200, fig. 2-3.
Otoliths (sagitta). Nijssen, 1964: 180-181, fig. 1 | Schmidt, 1968: 47, pl. 9, fig. 125.


Subspecies

Anarhichas lupus lupus. palatine teeth usually more than 14 (at 20 cm TL or more); lower jaw not so heavy anteriorly; no spots between cross-bars on flanks; grows to 125 cm TL, mostly to 90 cm.

Anarhichas lupus marisalbi: palatine teeth usually less than 14; lower jaw heavy anteriorly; dark spots often present between cross-bars; grows to only 81 cm TL, mostly to 50 cm.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Barsukov, 1953: 1211-1216;1959: passim.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Perciformes
Suborder Gobioidei
Family Anarhichadidae
Genus Anarhichas
Species Anarhichas lupus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Anarhichas lupus Linnaeus, 1758

Scientific synonyms and common names

Anarhichas lupus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms:

Subspecies:

Anarhichas lupus lupus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anarhichas Lupus Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1: 247 ('Habitat in Oceano septentrionali Angliae').
Anarrhichas lupus: Moreau, 2, 1881: 159-162 Thile, 1963: 275-440, fig. 1-19, pl. 1-4.
Anarhichas lupus: Poll, 1947: 315-317, fig. 204-205 Tortonese, 1958d: 1-4, 2 fig. Wheeler, 1969: 452, 2 fig. & pl. 11.
Anarhichas lupus lupus Barsukov, 1956, Probl. Ichth., 6: 130-132, fig. 1, top. (Barents Sea).
Anarhichas lupus lupus: Barsukov, 1959: 142-156 et passim, fig. 1, 12, 37(A), 38, pl. I-VI (3, 3a), IX, XII (1), XIX (3), XXI (3) Beese & Kandler, 1969: 21-59, fig. 1, 3a, 44, 9.

Anarhichas lupus marisalbi (Barsukov, 1956)
Anarhichas lupus marisalbi Barsukov, 1956, Probl. Ichth., 6: 129-135, fig. 1, bottom (Karelskiy coast near Letnyaya Rechka).
Anarhichas lupus marisalbi: Barsukov, 1959: 156-161 et passim, fig. 1(4), 2, 9 (2), 15 (A-B), 17, 37 (B), 38, pl. I-II (44a), V (4), VI (4-4a), XIX (4), XX (4), XXI (4) Mukhomediarov, 1963: 135-137.

Common names:

atlantic wolffish [En]
belomorskaja subatka [Ru]
catfish [En]
gata [Pr]
gestreifter Katfisch [De]
havkatt [Sv]
kigutilik [Esk]
loup de mer [Fr]
merikissa [Su]
perro del norte [Es]
polosataya zubatka [Ru]
sea-cat [En]
steinbit [No]
steinbitur [Is]
zebacze [Pl]
zeewolf [Ne]
havkat [Da]

Baranenkova, A. S.; Barsukov, V. V.; Ponomarenlco, L. J.; Syssoeva, T. K.; Khokhlina, N. S. 1960. Morphological pecularities, distribution and feeding of the young of Anarrhichas lupus (L.), A. minor Olafsen, A. latifrons Steenstrup et Hallgrimsson. Zool. Zh., 39 (8) :1186-1200, 3 fig. (in Russian).

Barsukov, V. V. 1953. Study of the White Sea wolffish reproduction. Zool. Zh., 32 (6) :1211-1216 (in Russian).

Beese, G.; Kandler, R. 1969. Beitrag zur Biologie der drei nordatlantischen KatfischartenAnarhichas lupus L., A. minor Olafs. and A. denticulatus Kr. Ber. dt. Komn. Meeresforsch., 20 (1): 21-59, 9 fig.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, ed. X, vol. 1, 824 p. Nantes & Pisces: 230-338. (Reprint, 1956, London.)

Mclntosh, W. C.; Prince, E. E. 1890. On the Development and Life-Histories of the Teleostean Food and other Fishes. Trans. R. Soc. Edinb., 35, Part III, (19): 665-944, 3 fig., pl. I-XXVIII.

Moreau, E. 1881-1891. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881:1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881:1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Poll, M. 1947. Poissons marins in Faune de Belgique. Bruxelles, 452 p., 267 fig., 2 pl., 2 maps n. num. (inset).

Schmidt, W. 1968. Vergleichend morphologische Studie über die Otolithen mariner Knochenfische. Arch. FischWiss., 19 (1) :1-96,184 fig., 25 pl.

Thile, H. 1963. Vergleichend-morphologische Untersuchungen über die Funktion der Nahrungserwerbsapparate von Anarrhichas lupus L. und einigen Blenniidae (Teleostei, Blennioidei). Zool Beitr., 9 (2-3): 279-440, 36 fig., 4 pl.

Tortonese, E. 1958d. Primo ritrovamento di Anarhichas lupus L. (Pisces) nel Mediterraneo (Golfo di Genova). Doriana, 2 (94) :1-4, 2 fig.

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., +392 fig. (princ. sp.)+92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps.

Barsukov, V. V. 1956. White Sea wolffish (Anarhichas lupus maris-albi Barsukov). Probl ikhtiol., (6) :129-135, 1 fig. (in Russian).

Barsukov, V. V. 1959. Wolffishes family (Anarhichadidae). Fauna USSR, 5 (5) :1-171, 42 fig., 22 pl. (in Russian).

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