NL·0257Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Anarhichas lupus
- Family
- Anarhichadidae
- Native to
- North Atlantic from Cape Cod to Greenland and from the White Sea to the Bay of Biscay
- Habitat
- Continental shelf, Rocky reef, Cold temperate seas
Atlantic wolffish
Anarhichas lupus
Also calledSeawolf · Steinbit (Norwegian) · Loup de mer (French) · Steenbolk / Zeewolf (Dutch) · Hlýri / Steinbítur (Icelandic)
A cold-water bottom fish with a craggy face and tusk-like canines that crush crabs, urchins and whelks. Its blood carries antifreeze proteins that let it live in near-freezing water.
The Atlantic wolffish, also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel, woof or sea cat, is a marine fish of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae, native to the North Atlantic Ocean. The numbers of the Atlantic wolffish in US waters are rapidly being depleted, most likely due to overfishing and bycatch, and it is currently a Species of Concern according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iProduces antifreeze proteins that keep blood from freezing near 0 °C
- iiReplaces its teeth every year
- iiiFertilisation is internal, and the male guards the egg mass for months
- ivUses powerful molars and canines to crush hard-shelled prey
In the field
Field marks
- aLong, eel-like body with a single long dorsal fin
- bLarge head with protruding canine 'tusks'
- cBlue-grey to olive with 10–15 dark vertical bars
- dNo pelvic fins
- Not to be confused with
- Spotted wolffish (A. minor) has dark spots rather than bars; northern wolffish (A. denticulatus) is uniformly dark brown and lives more pelagically.
- Where to see it
- Cold-water dives at Eastport, Maine; Gulf of St. Lawrence; Norwegian and Scottish coasts; Gulf of Maine aquariums
- When
- Year-round resident
Life & habits
- Diet
- Crabs, sea urchins, whelks, sea stars, clams
- Habitat
- Rocky seabeds 20–500 m, living in crevices and caves
- Size
- Up to about 1.5 m and 20 kg
- Lifespan
- Over 20 years
Lives a mostly solitary, cave-dwelling life; after internal fertilisation the pair guards a ball of eggs through winter.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
North Atlantic from Cape Cod to Greenland and from the White Sea to the Bay of Biscay
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Anarhichas lupus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Its Icelandic and Norwegian names (steinbítur, steinbit) mean 'stone-biter', after its habit of crushing shells; it has long been dried and eaten in both countries.
Curiosity
Despite its fearsome teeth, the wolffish is no threat to divers and is often described as docile.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 213519.