In the north of England, Atlantic wolffish, Anarhichas lupus, is offered as fillets in fish and chip shops where it might be called Scotch halibut, Scarborough woof or simply woof. You are unlikely to have seen it whole since the fish has large teeth and an off-putting ferocious appearance that accounts for its common name. It can grow 1.5 metres (5ft) long. Its powerful jaws are used for crunching up shellfish, sea urchins and starfish. Despite the fearsome appearance wolffish are shy and will hide if approached by divers.
Unusually for fish, both male and female are conscientious parents, spending months guarding the patch of seabed containing their eggs against predators.
Although wolffish used to live all round the shores of Britain numbers are badly depleted owing to the destruction of its rocky seabed habitat by constant trawling. The species takes eight to nine years to reach maturity so numbers are unlikely to recover quickly even if harmful trawling is banned.
Unlike cod and other cannabalistic fish species that have defeated attempts to farm them commercially, wolffish do not generally eat each other or suffer from stress. As a result the Swedes see a potential business opportunity and are developing a high protein food for them from fish scraps in the hope of farming the species.
