SCALED SARDINE – Harengula jaguana
Family Clupeidae, HERRINGS Description: solid back with dark streaks, usually single small dark spot at upper edge of opercule and sometimes one at shoulder. Where found: N. Gulf of Mexico to Brazil Size: up to 18″ Remarks: commonly caught with strings of wire loops. Mark MayoI research and report on fishing, fishing gear/equipment, survival topics, […]
ATLANTIC THREAD HERRING – Opisthonema oglinum
Family Clupeidae, HERRINGS Other local names: gizzard shad Description: back dark blue/gray, sides silvery, belly white; small head Where found: in salt water from Cape Cod to Brazil, including Gulf of Mexico Size: up to 16″ Remarks: has scales on ridge of back before dorsal fin. Mark MayoI research and report on fishing, fishing gear/equipment, […]
AMERICAN SHAD – Alosa sapidissima
Family Clupeidae, HERRINGS Description: color of back green or greenish blue with metallic lustre; silvery sides, white underneath (colors darken when fish enters fresh water to spawn); belly with scutes forming distinct keel; one or more dark spots in a row behind operculum; lower jaw with pointed tip that fits into v-shaped notch in upper […]
BONEFISH – Albula vulpes
Family Albulidae, BONEFISHES Description: silvery color with bluish or greenish back; slender, round body; snout long, conical, aiming downward and overhanging lower jaw; dark streaks between scales on upper half of body and faint crossbands extending down to lateral line; extremities of dorsal and caudal fins shaded with black. Similar fish: ladyfish, Elops saurus. Where […]
TARPON – Megalops atlanticus
Family Elopidae, TARPONS Description: last ray of dorsal fin extended into long filament; one dorsal fin; back dark blue to green or greenish black, shading into bright silver on the sides; may be brownish gold in estuarine waters; huge scales; mouth large and points upward. Similar species: (as juveniles) ladyfish, Elops saurus. Where found: primarily […]
LADYFISH – Elops saurus
Family Elopidae, TARPONS Description: terminal mouth; slender body; small scales; last dorsal ray not elonged; head small and pointed. Similar fish: juvenile tarpon, Megalops atlanticus. Where found: INSHORE fish, in bays and estuaries; occasionally enters freshwater, occurring in tidal pools and canals; often forms large schools and harasses bait at the surface. Size: 2 to […]
SOUTHERN STINGRAY – Dasyatis americana
Family Dasyatidae, STINGRAYS Identification: disk almost a perfect rhombus, with pointed corners; ventral finfold on tail long and relatively high, dorsal finfold rows near shoulder; disk usually uniform dark brown above, grayer in young. Size: to 1.8 m (6 ft.) across disk. Where found: common in bays and estuaries. Remarks: the largest stingray along our […]
BONNETHEAD SHARK – Sphyrna tiburo
Family Sphyrnidae, HAMMERHEAD SHARKS Description: broadly widened head in the shape of a shovel; only slight indentation of anal fin; front of head not notched at midline; gray or grayish-brown in color. Similar fish: other hammerhead sharks. Where found: INSHORE species found in bays and estuaries. Size: commonly 3 to 4 feet. Remarks: matures at […]
SCALLOPED HAMMERHEAD – Sphyrna lewini
Family Sphyrnidae, HAMMERHEAD SHARKS Description: fifth gill slit shorter than 4 preceding ones and located posterior to pectoral fin base; flattened head extending to hammerlike lobes on each side; distinct indentation of the front margin of the head at its midpoint; second dorsal fin longer than tail; gray-brown to olive in color with white underbelly; […]
BLACKTIP SHARK – Carcharhinus limbatus
Family Carcharhinidae, REQUIEM SHARKS Description: dark bluish gray (young paler) above, whitish below; distinctive whitish stripe on flank; inside tip of pectoral fin conspicuously black; dorsal fin, anal fin, and lower lobe of caudal fin also black-tipped in young, fading with growth; 1st dorsal fin begins above axil of pectoral fin; snout long, almost v-shaped […]