Tautog (Tautoga onitis)
Description
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.
