Wolffish – One Ugly Fish

I'm not sure if they come any uglier than this! Check out this Wolffish landed by the F/V Victoria on Monday, July 26th

Photo Patricia Schimpf

This wolffish was estimated to be 3 feet or longer by Patricia Schimpf, sternman on the F/V Victoria. Schimpf is also Miss Maine for America Strong

According to Wikipedia, a wolffish is also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel (the common name for its Pacific relative), woof or sea cat, and is a marine fish of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae

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The Atlantic wolffish's distinguishing feature, from which it gets its common name, is its extensive teeth structure. Both the lower and upper jaws are armed with four to six fang-like, strong, conical teeth. Behind the conical teeth in the upper jaw, there are three rows of crushing teeth. The central row has four pairs of molars and the outer rows house blunted conical teeth. The lower jaw has two rows of molars behind the primary conical teeth. The wolffish's throat is also scattered with serrated teeth.

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