HaddockFri, Nov 29, 2013 2:43 PM
The haddock is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially.
The haddock is easily recognized by a black lateral line running along its white side (not to be confused with pollock which has the reverse, i.e. white line on black side) and a distinctive dark blotch above the pectoral fin, often described as a "thumbprint" or even the "Devil's thumbprint" or "St. Peter's mark".
Haddock is most commonly found at depths of 40 to 133 m (130 to 436 ft), but has a range as deep as 300 m (980 ft). It thrives in temperatures of 2 to 10°C (36 to 50°F). Juveniles prefer shallower waters and larger adults deeper water. Generally, adult haddock do not engage in long migratory behaviour as do the younger fish, but seasonal movements have been known to occur across all ages. Haddock feed primarily on small invertebrates, although larger members of the spec
SnookFri, May 12, 2023 3:10 PM
The common snook is a species of marine fish in the family Centropomidae of the order Perciformes. This species is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, from southern Florida and Texas to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The dorsal surface is a dull gray color with a yellow to green tint, and is separated from the ventral surface by a well defined black lateral line. The pectoral fins, pelvic fins, second dorsal fin, and the dorsal lobe of the caudal fin are all a bright canary yellow; however, some river specimens may be considerably darker in color than those from coastal waters.
Other identifying characteristics of this species: Second anal spine does not reach vertical from the caudal base; nor do the pectoral fins reach vertical from the tip of the pelvic fins. The maxillary reaches to or beyond the vertical as measured from the center of the eye. Meristic Counts: Lateral Scales: 70-77 &am
TarponTue, Sep 26, 2023 11:08 PM
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 jaw contains an elongated, bony plate. The last ray of the dorsal fin is much longer than the others, reaching nearly to the tail.
The Atlantic tarpon is found in the Atlantic Ocean, typically in tropical and subtropical regions, though it has been reported as far north as Nova Scotia and the Atlantic coast of southern France, and as far south as Argentina. As with all Elopiformes, it is found in coastal areas; it spawns at sea. Its diet includes small fish and crustaceans.
Since tarpons are not commercially valuable as a food fish, very little has been documented concerning their geographical distribution and migrations. T
Vermilion SnapperTue, Apr 19, 2022 2:47 PM
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. Narrow yellow-gold streaks, some horizontal and others oblique, occur below the lateral line. The dorsal fin is rosy colored with a yellow margin. The caudal fin is red , but has a faint black margin.
The vermilion snapper is found in tropical waters of the western Atlantic from Cape Hatteras to southeastern Brazil, including Bermuda, the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. The preferred habitat is irregular reeflike bottom in waters ranging in depth from 80-350 feet. In some areas, the species is replaced by its close relative, the yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, which occupies the same type of habitat. All v
Mutton SnapperMon, Jul 08, 2013 2:00 AM
The mutton snapper is a fish of the Lutjanidae family. Largely a Caribbean species, they can be found from North Carolina to South America. They prefer low-relief reef structure searching for fishes, shrimps, crabs, squid, and snails. In the Florida Keys, they may be encountered in shallow water, over coralline bottom. In that habitat, they are very colorful with olive-tinted backs and red sides. In deeper water, they can easily be mistaken for red snapper (L. campechanus). Also a favorite of spear fishermen, the mutton snapper is an often difficult target, as they do not allow close approach.
Mutton snapper are a highly prized fish by saltwater anglers; they can be caught on a variety of baits, but are most commonly caught on live or frozen shrimp, whole or cut squid, minnows, and smaller bait fish (such as live or dead pinfish). Mutton snapper have been caught on artificial baits, but seem to prefer live bait. They can generally be found in deeper (50 to 200 ft or deeper) water, al
Black Sea BassMon, May 29, 2023 12:09 PM
The black sea bass is a type of Grouper (Serranidae) found more commonly in northern than in southern ranges. It inhabits the coasts from Maine to NE Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. There are three large biomass populations of black sea bass—the Mid-Atlantic stock, from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the South Atlantic stock, from Cape Hatteras to the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, and the Gulf of Mexico stock, from the southern tip of the Florida peninsula to Texas.
They can be found in inshore waters (bays and sounds) and offshore in waters up to a depth of 130 m (425 ft). They spend most of their time close to the sea floor and are often congregated around bottom formations such as rocks, man-made reefs, wrecks, jetties, piers, and bridge pilings.
The sea bass spawns when it is mature, at 190 mm (7.5 in), in middle of May to end of June. The buoyant eggs are 0.95 mm (0.03 in) in diamet
Red GrouperMon, Jul 08, 2013 1:10 AM
The red grouper is a species of fish in the Serranidae family. It is found in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, coral reefs, rocky shores, sandy shores, estuarine waters, intertidal flats, intertidal marshes, coastal saline lagoons, coastal freshwater lagoons, and karsts.
The Red Grouper is an opportunistic feeder and a top predator in the reef community. The diet is varied but commonly
Grey TriggerfishTue, Mar 07, 2023 8:45 PM
The grey triggerfish is a triggerfish of the western Atlantic, found from Nova Scotia to Argentina. It is also reported from the Mediterranean sea and off Angola on the west coast of Africa.
In its appearance and habits, the Gray Triggerfish is a typical member of the Balistes family except for its drab, uniformly gray coloration. It is a relatively small fish, usually less than 2.3 kilograms (5 pounds) in weight. The Gray Triggerfish is a notorious bait stealer, found over hard bottom in 20 to 40 meter (60 to 120 foot) depths off the Atlantic Coast of the US and often in association with Black Sea Bass and Red Snapper.
As a diurnal predator, the gray triggerfish feeds primarily on benthic invertebrates such as shrimp, crabs, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and bivalve mollusks. During one study, triggerfish were observed displaying an interesting feeding behavior. They moved away from their reef home, out over sand, and assumed a vertical
Brown TroutTue, Aug 30, 2022 8:34 PM
The brown trout is an originally European species of salmonid fish. It includes both purely freshwater populations, referred to Salmo trutta morpha fario and S. trutta morpha lacustris, and anadromous forms known as the sea trout, S. trutta morpha trutta. The latter migrates to the oceans for much of its life and returns to freshwater only to spawn. Sea trout in the UK and Ireland have many regional names, including sewin (Wales), finnock (Scotland), peal (West Country), mort (North West England) and white trout (Ireland).
The specific epithet trutta derives from the Latin trutta, meaning, literally, "trout". The lacustrine morph of brown trout is most usually potamodromous, migrating from lakes into rivers or streams to spawn, although evidence indicates stocks spawn on wind-swept shorelines of lakes. S. trutta morpha fario forms stream-resident populations, typically in alpine streams, but sometimes in larger rivers. Anadromous and nonanadromous morphs coexistin
Coho SalmonFri, May 19, 2023 3:05 PM
The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers".
Coho spend approximately the first half of their life cycle rearing and feeding in streams and small freshwater tributaries. Spawning habitat is small streams with stable gravel substrates. The remainder of the life cycle is spent foraging in estuarine and marine waters of the Pacific Ocean. Some stocks of coho salmon migrate more than 1,000 miles in the ocean, while other stocks remain in marine areas relatively close to the streams where they were born.
During their ocean phase, coho salmon have silver sides and dark-blue backs. During their spawning phase, their jaws and teeth become hooked. After entering fresh water, they develop bright-red sides, bluish-green heads and backs, dark bellies and dark spots on their backs. Sexually maturing fish develop a light-pink or rose shading along the belly, and the males
Little TunnyWed, Aug 04, 2021 2:49 PM
The little tunny (Euthynnus alletteratus) is the most common tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. It is found in warm temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; in the western Atlantic, it ranges from Brazil to the New England states. Occurring in large schools and weighing up to 30 pounds, it is the smallest member of the tuna Scombridae family. Little tunny average 10-12 pounds, but are not rare over 20 pounds.
Found in tropical and subtropical waters on both sides of the Atlantic , including the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, the little tunny often forms large, elliptical schools which cover up to 2 miles on the long axis. Adult little tunny school according to size with other scombrid species at depths ranging from 3-490 feet (1-150m). However, during certain times of the year the schools break apart with individuals scattering throughout the habitat. Juveniles form compact schools offshore.
Individuals of the sp
BonitoTue, Feb 16, 2021 4:14 PM
The Atlantic bonito is a large mackerel and tuna like fish of the family Scombridae. The range of Sarda sarda extends from Norway to South Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea in the eastern Atlantic, and from Nova Scotia to the northern Gulf of Mexico in the western Atlantic. While it generally does not appear in the Caribbean Sea, it has been found in Colombia and Venezuela (Collette and Nauen 1983). This species has not been recorded in northeast and central Brazil but occurs in south Brazil to Argentina.
This is a small and quite streamlined tuna. It is the only tuna with longitudinal stripes on its back. The skipjack tuna has longitudinal lines, but they are on the belly rather than the back. The back and upper sides are steel-blue. Common to 2 feet and 4-5 pounds. It can occasionally reach 12-15 pounds in weight, and rarely over 20 pounds. Atlantic bonito are relentless predators from the time they hatch. Adults eat all types of