Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range ? - 98 m (Ref. 89891). Subtropical; 43°N - 26°N, 98°W - 70°W
Western Atlantic: Massachusetts to Texas in the USA, except for southern Florida. Including Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 26938).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 16.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3702)
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 24 - 27; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 6 - 7. Colour greyish olive above, silvery white below. Back with 7 to 9 rather conspicuous dark vertical bars. Inside of opercle dark. Lower parts of pelvic fins, anal and caudal fins yellowish. A moderately small fish, body short and robust. Mouth large, strongly oblique, lower jaw projecting. Teeth very small and pointed, set in 1 or 2 rows along edges of jaws. Chin without barbels, but with 4 minute pores. Snout with 5 marginal pores and no rostral pores. Gas bladder simple, carrot-shaped, without anterior appendages. Sagitta (Large earstone) short but very thick (Ref 51721).
Occurs usually over mud and sandy mud bottoms in coastal waters to about 60 m depth, more rarely in estuaries. Feeds mainly on small shrimps.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest; bait: usually
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 14.1 - 24.7, mean 23.8 °C (based on 198 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00851 (0.00415 - 0.01744), b=3.08 (2.91 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.6 ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 1.1 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.98).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (16 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 147 [78, 328] mg/100g; Iron = 1.55 [0.80, 2.88] mg/100g; Protein = 19.6 [18.5, 20.8] %; Omega3 = 0.407 [0.223, 0.693] g/100g; Selenium = 26.9 [13.5, 55.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.6 [5.5, 58.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.981 [0.673, 1.458] mg/100g (wet weight);
