odd saltwater fish (no pic)

I remembered a fish I seen caught on a saltwater trip a few years ago off Newburyport Mass. Sadly I have no pic of it but I wish I did, it was quite odd.

It was a tan fish, a foot to a foot and a half long with fanlike pectoral fins and a chunky eel-like body. (the person who caught it called it an eel but it seemed too fat for the length to seem ell-like to me despite the long dorsal fin). I don't remember if the dorsal fin merged with the tail or not. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the fish was the flat, molar-like teeth. When the guy brought the fish up to be filleted the crew threw it back into the water telling him he did not want it. I know this fish is not a saltwater cusk.

Is this description of the "semi-eel shaped" fish with the flat teeth unusual enough to get an ID?

Check this out. http://www.gma.org/fogm/Default.htm This is THE book.

On a seperate note, I remember getting this book from the library as a kid and pouring through it page by page, wishing someday I could own a copy.
Now it's a mouse click away in its entirety.

Check this out. http://www.gma.org/fogm/Default.htm This is THE book.

Wow, that's very meticulous and well organized.

Maybe a Wolf Eel?

I remembered a fish I seen caught on a saltwater trip a few years ago off Newburyport Mass. Sadly I have no pic of it but I wish I did, it was quite odd.

It was a tan fish, a foot to a foot and a half long with fanlike pectoral fins and a chunky eel-like body. (the person who caught it called it an eel but it seemed too fat for the length to seem ell-like to me despite the long dorsal fin). I don't remember if the dorsal fin merged with the tail or not. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the fish was the flat, molar-like teeth. When the guy brought the fish up to be filleted the crew threw it back into the water telling him he did not want it. I know this fish is not a saltwater cusk.

Is this description of the "semi-eel shaped" fish with the flat teeth unusual enough to get an ID?

I think an "OCEAN POUT" is what your looking for.

Maybe a Wolf Eel?

I thought wolf fish also, especially the part about the crew tossing it back. They have quite a reputation for fierceness that ships' crew like to impress on tourists by letting them bite onto the gaff or rail or whatever. Some refuse to touch them and cut the line.
They do have flat molars in the back but the canines in front are so dramatic and prominent, I would have expected them to be a main part of the description. If not for that ommision, they have my vote.

I think an "OCEAN POUT" is what your looking for.

I did a search and ocean pout looks like it. One writer said most people throw them out as trash fish but he likes the taste of them. Odd how a charter determines for people what fish they like to eat.

If you go out on a charter boat, the crew will more or less tell you what you'll like, and usually what you can keep from the catch. It's a fuzzy line of who's working for who on many charters.

If you go out on a charter boat, the crew will more or less tell you what you'll like, and usually what you can keep from the catch. It's a fuzzy line of who's working for who on many charters.

What's interesting is how public tastes change over the years, and how market forces influence them.
In the 19 century, fish harvested offshore, under power of sail, could not be marketed fresh or frozen, thus cod was mostly known salted and haddock not at all. Mackeral were harvested inshore and could be brought to market fresh. Also, an American consumer population then closer to its European roots was more familiar with the dark, strong flavored mackeral.
Toward the turn of the century when fishing was industrialized and became too efficient, mackeral were all but wiped out and the market collapsed. In the need to replace mackeral, the industry turned to cod and haddock, which with refridgeration and diesal power could now be brought to market fresh from far offshore. Over the years, the American consumer became used to the milder flavored white fleshed species and now cod and haddock are the ones being wiped out. Mackeral stocks recovered but are no longer as lucrative as being considered too strong and dark. I don't even think there is much commercial harvest of mackeral, certainly not for the fresh local market. Mostly canned for pet food I think.

I don't even think there is much commercial harvest of mackeral, certainly not for the fresh local market. Mostly canned for pet food I think.

They eat a lot of mackerel in Japan. For breakfast.
http://swfsc.noaa.go...MFS-SWR-027.PDF
(that pdf says that Japan is the #1 consumer of mackerel in the world, and the US is the #5 supplier of mackerel to Japan)

Edited by EricaWieser, 21 February 2011 - 03:14 PM.