Home › Volumes › Fishes › The Greenlings
Greenlings
Images coming soon.
BODY elongate, covered with small ctenoid or cycloid scales; head conical, scaly, the cranium without spinous ridges above; preopercle more or less armed, sometimes with entire edges; third suborbital developed as a bony stay articulating with the preopercle; mouth large, with acute teeth in jaws, and usually on vomer and palatines; nostril single on each side, the posterior opening reduced to a minute pore; pseudobranchiae well developed; dorsal fin continuous or divided, the anterior half of many slender spines; anal fin long, with or without spines; lateral line present, sometimes several series of pores developed.
Carnivorous fishes, mostly of large size, living in kelp and about rocks in the North Pacific; some of them highly valued as food.
Of the 5 genera found in American waters, only 3 contain food-fishes of any importance.
The most interesting species of the family is the Atka mackerel, or Atka-fish, Pleurogrammus monopterygius.
This interesting fish is the most important species of the family. It occurs in the North Pacific, chiefly among the Aleutian Islands. It is not common about Unalaska or the Pribilofs, but about Atka and Attu it is abundant. It is somewhat erratic in its movements, and its most eastern record is Belkofski. It is usually found in kelp in 3 to 40 fathoms in spring and early summer, retiring to deeper water later.
Of all the saltwater fishes found about the Aleutian Islands the Atka mackerel is the most interesting to the angler. It takes the hook readily and makes a good fight. The usual method of taking it is by "jigging." On May 28, 1892, we had excellent sport catching these fish near the mouth of the bay at Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutian Islands. We used 3 hooks tied together in a bunch, just above which was tied a piece of white muslin. The line was weighted so that the hooks would descend quickly. When they had reached the bottom, or near it, they would be jerked up and down and the fish, striking at the muslin, would be hooked or would catch the hooks in their mouths. The lines would be let down through the kelp in 15 to 25 feet of water. The fish were in schools and it was easy to get great numbers; in fact, one would be kept very busy hauling in the fish and taking them off the hook. Usually the fish were near the bottom when we began fishing but they soon became excited and would come near the surface where they could be seen swimming about as if greatly disturbed and evidently searching for the piece of white muslin which had attracted their attention. When first hooked they would come up very readily, in fact they seemed to swim upward until near the surface when they would become alarmed and dart back and forth in their efforts to free themselves. Then the sport was very exciting. During 4 hours' fishing 9 persons with 26 lines took 585 fish, or 17 fish to each line per hour. And as our ship was out of fresh meat of every kind, all these fish were soon eaten by the officers and crew.
The average weight of this catch was about 2 1/3 pounds, the maximum being 3 1/2 pounds. The average length was about 18 inches.
The Atka mackerel is one of the most handsome fishes found among the Aleutian Islands. There are 2 patterns of colouration. In one the ground-colour is pale yellowish, the side crossed by 5 nearly jet-black crossbars all continued upon the dorsal fin; anal fin black. In the other the ground-colour is pale chrome-yellow, the vertical base not so dark. Some individuals are dirty gray and the bars are not well defined.