ALLIGATOR FISH; SEA POACHER
Nothing whatever is known of the life of the alligator fish except that it is a bottom fish and that it has been repeatedly found in the stomachs of cod, haddock, and halibut although it is not “much thicker or softer than an iron spike.”[18] The Grampus and the Albatross II have trawled it both on pebbly bottom, on sand and broken shells, and on soft mud. So far as known adults never stray into water shoaler than 10 to 15 fathoms, and the deepest record for it, with which we are acquainted, is from 104 fathoms.[19] Its range shows that it is a cold water fish. Its upper temperature limit is about 50°-52°; its lower limit close to the freezing point of salt water. Its breeding habits are unknown. Probably its eggs sink like those of sculpins.
Five to seven inches long when full grown.
From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) online courtesy of MBL/WHOIhttp://www.gma.org/fogm/A_monopterygius.htm
Good Morning Gloucester 