The Atlantic wolffish, also known as the seawolf, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish, wolf eel, woof or sea cat, is a marine fish of the wolffish family Anarhichadidae, native to the North Atlantic Ocean. The numbers of the Atlantic wolffish in US waters are rapidly being depleted, most likely due to overfishing and bycatch, and it is currently a Species of Concern according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service.
Bycatch, in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juveniles of the target species. The term "bycatch" is also sometimes used for untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting. Non-marine species that are caught but regarded as generally "undesirable" are referred to as "rough fish" and "coarse fish".
The Nassau grouper is one of the large number of perciform fishes in the family Serranidae commonly referred to as groupers. It is the most important of the groupers for commercial fishery in the West Indies, but has been endangered by overfishing.
The crevalle jack, also known as the common jack, black-tailed trevally, couvalli jack, black cavalli, jack crevale, or yellow cavalli is a common species of large marine fish classified within the jack family, Carangidae. The crevalle jack is distributed across the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Nova Scotia, Canada to Uruguay in the western Atlantic and Portugal to Angola in the eastern Atlantic, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is distinguishable from similar species by its deep body, fin colouration and a host of more detailed anatomical features, including fin ray and lateral line scale counts. It is one of the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known length of 124 cm and a weight of 32 kg, although is rare at lengths greater than 60 cm. The crevalle jack inhabits both inshore and offshore waters to depths of around 350 m, predominantly over reefs, bays, lagoons and occasionally estuaries. Young fish dispersed north by currents in the eastern Atlantic are known to migrate back to more tropical waters before the onset of winter; however, if the fish fail to migrate, mass mortalities occur as the temperature falls below the species' tolerance.
The finetooth shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina to Brazil. It forms large schools in shallow, coastal waters, and migrates seasonally following warm water. A relatively small, slender-bodied shark, the finetooth shark can be identified by its needle-like teeth, dark blue-gray dorsal coloration, and long gill slits. It attains a maximum length of 1.9 m (6.2 ft). The diet of this species consists primarily of small bony fishes, in particular menhaden. Like other members of its family, it is viviparous with females giving birth to two to six pups in estuarine nursery areas every other year.
The narrow sawfish, also known as the pointed sawfish or knifetooth sawfish, is a species of sawfish in the family Pristidae, part of the Batoidea, a superorder of cartilaginous fish that include the rays and skates. Sawfish display a circumglobal distribution in warm marine and freshwater habitats. Their extant biodiversity is limited to five species belonging to two genera. The sawfishes are characterised by the long, narrow, flattened rostrum or extension on their snout. This is lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resemble the teeth of a saw and are used for killing prey. It is found in the shallow coastal waters and estuaries of the Indo-West Pacific, ranging from the Persian Gulf to southern Japan, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus Anoxypristis, but was previously included in the genus Pristis. Compared to Pristis, Anoxypristis has a narrower rostral saw with numerous teeth on the distal part and no teeth on the basal one-quarter. It reaches a length of up to 3.5 m (11 ft).
The devil fish or giant devil ray is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae. It is currently listed as endangered, mostly due to bycatch mortality in unrelated fisheries.
The Florida torpedo is a rare and little-known species of electric ray in the family Torpedinidae. It is known only from two specimens and a some wild sightings. Torpedoes have been recorded from three scattered locations in the Florida Straits and the western Caribbean Sea, and appear to inhabit coral habitats.
The common stingaree is a species of stingray in the family Urolophidae. The most abundant ray in inshore waters off eastern Australia, it generally inhabits estuaries, sandy flats, and rocky reefs from the shore to a depth of 60 m (200 ft). This plain brownish to grayish species has a rounded pectoral fin disc with a broadly triangular snout. Its nostrils have enlarged lobes on their outer margins and a skirt-shaped curtain of skin with a fringed posterior margin between them. Its tail bears a small dorsal fin before the stinging spine, and terminates in a leaf-shaped caudal fin. This ray can grow to 52 cm (20 in) long.
The rainbow runner, also known as the rainbow yellowtail, Spanish jack and Hawaiian salmon, is a common species of pelagic marine fish of the jack family, Carangidae. The species is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the world, inhabiting both coastal and offshore areas. The species is the only member of the genus Elagatis, which was created 15 years after its initial description, and is closely related to the amberjacks. The rainbow runner is easily distinguished by its body shape, and the brilliant colouration which gives the fish its name. It is a fast-swimming predator, taking small fish, cephalopods, and a wide variety of planktonic crustaceans. The species reaches sexual maturity around 60 cm (24 in), and spawning takes place at different times, with some populations spawning year round, while others only spawn at certain times of the year. The species is a well known game fish, taken by a variety of fishing methods, and is a well-regarded table fish. Large numbers of the species are taken as bycatch in tuna- and shark-fishing operations and marketed.
This is a glossary of terms used in fisheries, fisheries management and fisheries science.
The coastal trevally, also known as the onion trevally, Japanese trevally or bluefin kingfish, is a species of inshore marine fish in the jack family Carangidae. The species is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans, from South Africa in the west to Japan and New Caledonia in the east, reaching as far south as Australia. The species is found on deep coastal reefs, both in schools and as solitary individuals, where they prey on small midwater organisms including crustaceans, small fish and cephalopods. The species is taken as bycatch in a number of fisheries throughout its range by a number of fishing methods and is of little commercial value, but is considered to be a good table fish. A mistype in the original volume in which Eduard Rüppell named the species led to the combination Carangoides caeruleopinnatus, which has incorrectly spread through the literature.
As with other countries, the 200 nautical miles (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of the United States gives its fishing industry special fishing rights. It covers 11.4 million square kilometres, which is the second largest zone in the world, exceeding the land area of the United States.
Narcine entemedor, the giant electric ray or Cortez electric ray, is a species of numbfish, family Narcinidae, native to the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California to Panama. It is found in shallow water on sandy bottoms and sometimes adjacent to reefs. This species is closely related to the lesser electric ray from the western Atlantic, and may represent the same species. The specific epithet entemedor seems to be the Spanish equivalent of "intimidator".
In the fishery business, a bycatch reduction device is a tool designed to minimize unintended capture of marine animals, thus reducing the adverse effects of fishing on the ecosystem.
The Tasmanian numbfish is a species of electric ray in the family Narcinidae. Endemic to southeastern Australia, this common ray inhabits shallow continental shelf waters in the southern portion of its range and deeper continental slope waters in the northern portion of its range. It prefers sand and mud habitats. This species can be identified by its spade-shaped pectoral fin disc with concave anterior margins, long tail with well-developed skin folds along either side, and plain dark brown dorsal colouration. Its maximum known length is 47 cm (19 in).
The loggerhead sea turtle, is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. It was originally listed as a threatened species on July 28, 1978. The turtle's status was updated to Vulnerable (VU) on August 23, 2018. The loggerhead turtle is the most prolific species of sea turtle in U.S. coastal waters.
Torpedo mackayana, commonly known as the ringed torpedo, Western African torpedo, West African torpedo ray, McKay electric ray, or McKay's torpedo ray, is an electric ray species in the family Torpedinidae, which lives in shallow waters on the western coast of Africa. Characterized by rounded spiracles and white and brown spots, females grow to 35–50 centimetres (14–20 in) and males to 31.5–38.2 centimetres (12.4–15.0 in).
Diapterus auratus, the Irish mojarra or Irish pompano, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Gerreidae, the mojarras. Other common names for this species are the broad shad, silver perch and muttonfish. It is found in the warmer waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Conodon nobilis, the barred grunt, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean where it is a target species for some commercial fisheries.
