Species of Fish

Swordfish (Xiphias gladius; from Greek ξίφος: sword, and Latin gladius: sword), are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood. These fish are found widely in tr...

The Atlantic Tarpon inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. The tarpon feeds almost exclusively on schooling fish and occasionally crabs. The Atlantic tarpon is also known as the silver king.   In appearance, a tarpon is greenish or bluish on top and silver on the sides. The large mouth is turned upwards and the lower ja...

The tautog or blackfish is a fish of the wrasse family found in salt water from Nova Scotia to Georgia. It lives along the bottom, in and amongst rocks, wrecks, mussel beds, bridge pilings or other bottom features.   Tautog are brown and dark olive, with white blotches, and have plump elongated bodies. They have an average weight of 1 to...

The Atlantic thread herring (Opisthonema oglinum) is a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae. It has a dark blue-gray back, silvery sides, a white belly, and a small head. Upper sides blue-green, sometimes with dark horizontal lines, lower sides and abdomen silvery; dark spot on side posterior to gill cover, about equal in size to diameter of...

The vermilion snapper is an abundant species of fish found along the North American coast of the Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Bermuda and throughout the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. The vermilion snapper is often sold as red snapper.   Vermilion snapper have streamlined bodies, are pale to silver white below and vermilion above. Na...

The wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. There are indications of seasonal concentrations off the Pacific coasts of Panama, Costa Rica and Baja California in the summer, off Grand Cayman (Atlantic) in the winter and spring, and off the western Bahamas and Bermuda in the spring and fall. It is best known...

Walleye (Sander vitreus, formerly Stizostedion vitreum) is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch. The walleye is sometimes called the yellow walleye to distinguish it from the blue walleye, which is a subspecies that can be found in t...

The weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae. A large, slender, marine fish, it is found along the east coast of North America. The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish tinge. The sides have a faint silvery hue with dusky specks, and the belly is white. The origin of its name is ba...

Wenchman is a snapper found from North Carolina to Florida, including the Gulf of Mexico, extending down to the Caribbean Sea and Brazil. This fish is a reddish to pinkish color on the top and sides and a pinkish to silvery color below. The fins are mostly semi-transparent with a light pink to red color, except for the yellow outer edges of the d...

The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (Morone chrysops) is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. It is the state fish of Oklahoma. White bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the Midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie. Some native ranges of the white...

Haemulon plumierii, the white grunt or common grunt, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Haemulidae native to the western Atlantic Ocean. It grows to a length of about 30 cm (12 in) and is a silvery-cream color, with narrow yellow and blue longitudinal stripes, but can modify its color somewhat to match its surroundings. It is closely r...

Occurs throughout the Atlantic Ocean from latitudes 35°S to 45°N, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the western Mediterranean Sea. Stray specimens have been recorded outside this range. Though this pelagic and migratory species is usually found in deep blue tropical and warm temperate waters, it frequently comes in clos...

The white perch (Morone americana) is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". White perch are silver-green to olive in color. The underside of their lower jaw is often purple. Depending upon habi...