SOUTHERN STINGRAY ((Stingray) Dasyatis americana)
◎Broad, diamond-shaped body is formed by winglike pectoral fins and a pointed head; long, whiplike tail features a barbed spine near the base of the tail; coloration is brown to grayish brown on the back with a white or off-white belly.
◎Similar Fish: closely related and very similar in appearance to the Atlantic stingray; distinguishable by pointed sides or wings (Atlantic stingray has rounded sides or wings) and placement of barbed spine (more forward on southern stingray, closer to the end of the tail on the Atlantic stingray).
◎Size: up to 175 pounds; average size ranges from 30 ~ 75 pounds.
SPADEFISH (Chaetodipterus faber)
◎Deep bodied fish with pointed second dorsal and anal fins, which give the fish an almost triangular shape; coloration is silvery gray with 4 to 6 prominent black bars running down the sides; juveniles are very dark in color; the mouth is noticeably small relative to the overall size of the fish and lacks teeth.
◎Size: up to 15 pounds; average size ranges from 1 ~ 6 pounds.
Spanish Mackerel
◎A slender fish with a deeply forked tail, caudal peduncle keel, and a mouthful of sharp teeth; coloration is green or greenish blue on top fading to silver sides and belly; a large number of irregular bright golden spots adorn the sides; front portion of first dorsal fin is jet black in color.
◎Size: up to 13 pounds; average size ranges from 1 ~ 3 pounds.
◎Season: May - October
Speckled Trout (spotted sea trout)
◎Grayish silver back (often with a bluish, iridescent tint) fading to silver sides with a white belly; distinct round black dots are present on back and sides, and they extend onto second part of the dorsal fin and the caudal fin; body is long and slender; upper jaw possesses two large canine teeth.
◎Size: up to 17 pounds; average size is 1½ ~ 4 pounds.
◎Season: April - October
SPINY DOGFISH (Sqalus acanthias)
◎Long, slender body with two dorsal fins of nearly equal size; pelvic fin on the underside of the fish is positioned between the two dorsal fins and anal fin is absent; jaw is filled with small teeth with points bent toward rear of the mouth, positioned closely together to form a continuous cutting edge; a spiracle (airhole) is positioned behind the relatively large eye; coloration is gray along the back fading to pale gray with a white belly; young spiny dogfish have numerous white spots along the back.
◎Similar Fish: closely related and similar in appearance to the smooth dogfish; distinguishable by lack of anal fin (smooth dogfish has an anal fin) and the presence of spines at the start of each dorsal fin (smooth dogfish lack spines). Also, spiny dogfish may appear similar to Atlantic sharpnose sharks, which have small white spots along the back. However, the two species are easily distinguishable by size of dorsal fins (spiny dogfish have fins nearly equal in size, while the sharpnose shark has a first dorsal fin substantially larger than the second); presence of an anal fin on sharpnose shark (none on spiny dogfish); presence of spines at start of dorsal fins on spiny dogfish (none on sharpnose shark), and presence of distinct individual teeth in sharpnose shark.
◎Size: up to 30 pounds, average size 5 ~ 15 pounds.