YELLOWFIN TUNA – Thunnus albacares
Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS Description: pectoral fin moderately long, reaching point below beginning of 2nd dorsal fin; 2nd dorsal fin and all finlets yellow; no white rear edge on caudal fin; golden stripe on side; 2nd dorsal and anal fins become much longer with age (to about 1/5 of total length); eye small; 26 […]
LITTLE TUNNY – Euthynnus alletteratus
Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS Description: diagonal, sometimes wavy, dark bars on bare areas on each side of back; 4 to 5 dark spots below pectoral fin; no dark stripes on belly; dorsal fins connected at base; pectoral fin short. Size: to 1 m (3.25 ft.) and 12 kg (26 lbs.), but usually much smaller. […]
WAHOO – Acanthocybium solanderi
Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS Description: body slender; elongate jaws form a pointed beak; dark bluish above, with about 30 dark wavy bars; whitish below 1st dorsal fin long and low, with 21 to 27 spines; no gill rakers. Size: to 2.1 m (83 in.) and 83 kg (183 lbs.). Where found: offshore Gulfstream; bluewater […]
SPANISH MACKEREL – Scomberomorus maculatus
Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS Description: color of back green, shading to silver on sides, golden yellow irregular spots above and below lateral line; front of dorsal fin black; lateral line curves gently to base of tail. Similar fish: cero, S. regalis; king mackerel,. cavalla. Where found: INSHORE, NEARSHORE, and OFFSHORE, especially over deep grass […]
CERO (cero mackerel) – Scomberomorus regalis
Family Scombridae, MACKEREL AND TUNAS Description: color of back iridescent bluish green; sides silvery; yellow spots forming lines above and below a bronze stripe from pectoral fin to base of the tail; front of first dorsal is bluish black; lateral line curves gradually to base of caudal fin. Similar fish: Spanish mackerel, S. maculatus; king […]
KING MACKEREL – Scomberomorus cavalla
Family Scombridae, MACKERELS AND TUNAS Description: color of back iridescent bluish green, sides silvery; streamlined body with tapered head; no black pigment on front of the first dorsal fin; lateral line starts high and drops sharply below the second dorsal fin; young fish often have yellowish spots like those of Spanish mackerel. Similar fish: cero, […]
GREAT BARRACUDA – Sphyraena barracuda
Family Sphyraenidae, BARRACUDAS Description: gray, with a greenish cast above, whitish below; many irregular, small black blotches on lower side; 18 to 22 diagonal dark bars on upper side (not always evident); caudal fin dark with white tips; 75 to 87 lateral line scales; no fleshy tip on jaw. Young (not shown): dark stripe on […]
BAY ANCHOVY – Anchoa mitchilli
Family Engraulidae, ANCHOVIES Description: body relatively deep; head short; snout very short, only slightly overhanging mouth; silvery stripe narrow, often faint or absent toward front; stripe fades after death; body grayish, with few melanophores above; dorsal fin far back – the only U.S. species in which that fin begins above or only very slightly in […]
STRIPED ANCHOVY – Anchoa hepsetus
Family Engraulidae, ANCHOVIES Description: snout length somewhat less than eye diameter; silver stripe on body narrow –width less than eye diameter or snout length throughout; back greenish; some yellowish about the head; melanophores outline all dorsal scales, especially those behind the dorsal fin; dorsal fin begins above a point well in front of anal fin, […]
STRIPED MOJARRA – Diapterus plumieri
Family Gerreidae, MOJARRAS Description: body dark olive above; tan to silvery on side, often with a metallic sheen; conspicuous blackish stripe along center of each scale row, except toward belly; all fins except pectoral fins dusky in large adults; and anal fins sometimes dark orange; pelvic spine and first 2 anal spines pale; dorsal and […]