Yellowfin have a dark blue back with a yellow lateral band on the upper sides. The lower sides and belly are silvery-gray, often with chains of white vertical lines and spots. The 2nd dorsal and anal fins are yellow, and the finlets are yellow with a narrow black margin. They have small eyes and head and longer second dorsal and anal fins than any other tuna. The pectoral fins usually reach beyond the origin of the second dorsal fin but not beyond the end of its base.

Size

Can range from 16 to 67 inches and weigh from a few pounds to more than 200 pounds.

Habitat

A warm-water species, yellowfin is the most tropical species of tuna. They are found on the surface and at mid-depths in the open oceans and near dropoffs. Yellowfin are often found mixed with other species, especially skipjack and bigeye.

Range

In the Atlantic from Massachusetts to Brazil. In the Pacific from Point Buchon, California to Chile.

The color of the fish is steel blue above and pale blue below the lateral line. There is a series of 25 to 30 irregular, blackish-blue, vertical bars on the sides. The stripes are less noticeable in larger specimens, but may become more prominent when the fish becomes excited. A distinguishing characteristic is is the toothy, movable upper jaw. Also, gill rakers are absent in this species.

Size

The maximum reported size for the wahoo is 98 inches total length, with a maximum weight of 182 lbs. Typically, individuals attain a size of 39 to 66 inches.

Habitat

The wahoo is pelagic, living in solitary or forming small, loose aggregations. They congregate near drifting objects including sargassum. Wahoo move with the changing seasons, traveling into cooler waters during warm summer months.

Range

Its range is worldwide in tropical, warm temperate waters where it prefers temperatures of 70 to 86° F.

The tautog is a stout fish with a blunt nose and a thick-lipped mouth that has large conical teeth in front and flat crushing teeth in back. The single dorsal fin originates over the gill slit and runs back nearly to the tail. The anterior three-quarters of this fin possess a series of stiff, sharp spines, and the paired pelvic fins have one spine each. The color of the tautog’s dorsal area ranges from dark green to black, with these shades mottling a lighter background color of the sides. The belly is only slightly lighter than the sides. The white chin characteristic of large tautog has led to many anglers to call this fish the “white chin.”

Size

Tautog can grow to 3 feet in length and to around 22 pounds in weight, but their average size is closer to 2 to 4 pounds.

Habitat

Tautog are reef/structure reliant and typically found within several miles of the coast and in water not deeper than 100 feet. Rocky reefs, sea walls, jetties, sunken wreckage, and pilings are typical tautog habitat.

Range

This species lives along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to South Carolina, with the greatest number lying along inshore waters from southern Cape Cod to the Delaware Capes.

As with other true basses, the dorsal fin is clearly separated into spiny and soft-rayed portions. Striped bass are silvery, shading to olive-green on the back and white on the belly, with seven or eight uninterrupted horizontal stripes on each side of the body. Younger fish may resemble white bass. However, striped bass have two distinct tooth patches on the back of the tongue, whereas white bass have one tooth patch. Striped bass have two sharp points on each gill cover, and white bass have one. Additionally, the second spine on the anal fin is about half the length of the third spine in striped bass, and about two-thirds the length of the third spine in white bass.

Size

Striped bass vary considerably in size, ranging from 18 to 55 inches in length and 3 to 70 pounds in weight.

Habitat

Striped bass are rarely found more than several miles from the shoreline. Anglers usually catch stripers in river mouths, in small, shallow bays and estuaries, and along rocky shorelines and sandy beaches. The striped bass is a schooling species, moving about in small groups during the first two years of life, and thereafter feeding and migrating in large schools. Only females exceeding 30 pounds show any tendency to be solitary.

Range

The striped bass is a coastal species that moves far upstream during spawning migrations in coastal rivers. The native range is along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains from New Brunswick south to Florida and west into Louisiana.

The body is very compressed laterally and the right side is white and eyeless. The left side has both eyes and is olive brown in color with dark and white spots. Flounders, like other fish, hatch with one eye on each side of their head. Movement of the right eye to the left side of the head begins when the fish is a to half-inch in length and is complete when the fish is 3/4 to 1 inch in length. At this same time, the left side develops its dark color and the right side turns white.

Size

Up to 3 feet in length and 20 pounds, but most fish caught are 1 to 5 pounds.

Habitat

This common fish is found on mud, and to a lesser degree, sand bottoms, from shallow, low-salinity estuaries to near shore and shallow offshore waters. Southern flounders commonly enter fresh water and have been found 100 miles up rivers.

Range

Southern flounder are found in rivers and estuaries along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to northern Florida, and from Tampa Bay, Florida along the Gulf coast into southern Texas. Their distribution is discontinuous around the southern tip of Florida.

The body is elongated and strongly flattened from side-to-side. They are green above with silver sides, heavily marked with oval yellow or golden-olive spots. This species closely resembles the cero in color, however the spots on the cero are arranged in a row and the cero has 1 or 2 longitudinal stripes that are the same color as the spots. Both species have a pronounced black spot on the front of the dorsal fin.

Size

Spanish mackerel can grow to 27 inches long and 12 pounds, although the average is less than one-third of that. Smaller fish are more common inshore.

Habitat

They prefer open water but can be found over grass flats and reefs near the surface.

Range

The species forms immense, fast-moving, surface schools that are distributed from New York to Mexico depending on the temperature of the water, with 68°F being the preferred minimum. Schools occur off North Carolina in April, off Chesapeake Bay in May and off New York in June. In late summer and early fall, they move slowly southward to spend the winter and early spring along Florida’s southern coast. Unlike the king, Spanish mackerel do not appear to move freely around the Florida Keys. This creates two separate populations, one in the Gulf and the other off the southeastern states.

This is an easy fish to identify, with its very broad body, boldly marked with 5 to 7 wide, grayish-black vertical bars set on a light gray or white background. Any confusion can be set aside by inspecting the teeth, which look a great deal like human (or sheep) incisors. The dorsal and anal fins have large, very sharp spines.

Size

Sheepshead are common from 2 to 8 pounds, but can reach 20 pounds.

Habitat

Sheepshead are found primarily in saline to near-fresh estuarine waters. They are very common near rock jetties, piers, pilings, and weirs. They are also found in nearshore waters outside the beaches during the spawning period of February to April.

Range

Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia, Canada, and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. They are absent in the Bahamas, West Indies, and Bermuda.

The red snapper is rosy red overall. Their canine teeth are less prominent than those of most other Snappers. They have a red eye and their anal fin is triangular. The Caribbean Red Snapper is very similar in appearance and is found in the northwest and central Caribbean.

Size

Common from a pound to about 6 or 8 pounds. Usual maximum is about 20 pounds, although the Red Snapper can rarely run as high as 30 or 40 pounds.

Habitat

Along the Panhandle, Red Snappers are sometimes found in fairly shallow water off the beaches and even in deep holes of the larger bays. They are found offshore on the continental shelf and are more plentiful off the Panhandle than in south or middle Florida.

Range

A temperate fish rather than tropical, the Red Snapper is rare in South Florida, although caught occasionally. It is standard bottom-fishing fare, however, offshore of the Atlantic Coast from about the center of the Peninsula northward, and in deep waters of the northern Gulf.

Red grouper is a brownish-red fish with scattered pale blotches, black dots around the eyes, and dark-tipped dorsal, anal, and tailfins. The membrane between the dorsal spines is not notched, and the tail fin is squared off.

Size

They may grow to 3 feet in length and average 10 pounds, though some reach as much as 40 pounds.

Habitat

Red grouper are bottom dwellers. They stay near sea grass, muddy bottoms, limestone reefs, and rocky areas. Young grouper will stay in shallow waters and move deeper as they age. Throughout their lifespan, red groupers will range from 6 to 400 feet of water.

Range

Red grouper are found in the subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. This area runs generally from North Carolina to Brazil and includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and Bermuda. However, red grouper are seen in fewer numbers in the Caribbean and around Florida and the Bahamas due to extensive fishing. Red grouper are most common in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mutton snapper color is olive green on back and upper sides and all fins below the lateral line have a reddish tinge. There is a bright blue line below the eye. The anal fin is pointed, and there is a small black spot below the dorsal fin. They have V-shaped tooth patch on roof of mouth.

Size

Inshore average is 1 to 2 pounds. On reefs and in deeper water, the average is 5 pounds or more, with individuals up to 15 pounds not uncommon.

Habitat

Mostly found near shore around grassbeds, mangroves, and canals. Larger adults are occasionally found offshore on reefs.

Range

The mutton snapper inhabits warm, temperate and tropical waters of the western Atlantic, with distribution ranging from New England to southeastern Brazil, including the Bahamas and Gulf of Mexico. Mutton snapper are most abundant in the waters around southern Florida, the Bahamas and the Antilles.