Stenotomus chrysops

Body and head deep and compressed. Dorsal profile of head usu ally with a slight concavity above eye. Posterior nostril slit-like. Mouth terminal and sm all, the maxilla not reaching to below an- terior margin of eye; in both jaws, teeth in front in a row of narrow, close-set incisors; behind front row are villi form incisors; 2 rows of molari form teeth on sides of both jaws, the outside row sm aller and more round. Dorsal fin with 12 spines preceded by a sm all forward-directed spine (that is a projection of the fin-spine sup- port bone), and 12 soft rays; anal fin with 3 spines and 11 soft rays; caudal fin forked. Scales in lateral line 49 to 54. Colour: greyish silvery, usu ally with 5 or 6 faint dark bars on upper sides, and 12 to 15 indistinct stripes; faint blue irregular spots on head, sides, and fins.

Body shape: short and / or deep.

Nova Scotia to Florida, but r are south of North Carolina. POLYNEMIDAE Threadfins by R. M. Feltes, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA Diagnostic characters: For species in the WCA area. Perci form fishes with a range of maximum size from 33 to 46 cm, specimens commonly reaching size of 16 cm; oblong, somewhat compressed body. Eye c overed by adipose, eye diameter greater than snout length. Conical snout protruding anteriorly past mouth; mouth large, subterminal, extending posteriorly past eye; upper lip thin; lower lip moderate. Supramaxillae absent; maxilla posteriorly broadened to varying degrees. Cardi form teeth on premaxillae, pal- atines, and ectopterygoids; tooth patch on vomer a wide “v” shape to a rounded triangle in large adults; premaxillary, dentary, palatine, and ectopterygoid tooth patches all moderate to wide; no wide gap separating teeth on opposing premaxillae. Branchiostegal rays 7. Maximum number of gill rakers from 22 to 38, of moder- ate length. Two widely separated dorsal fins; second or third spines of first dorsal fin longest; margins of sec- ond dorsal fin and anal fin variously concave, anterior soft rays longest; first dorsal fin with 8 spines, first spine very sm all; second dorsal fin with 1 spine and 11 to 13 soft rays; anal-fin insertion ventral to anterior part of sec- ond dorsal-fin base, anal fin with 3 spines (first spine very sm all) and 11 to 15 soft rays; base of anal fin longer than base of second dorsal fin; snout to second dorsal-fin origin greater than or equal to distance from snout to anal-fin origin; caudal fin deeply forked with pointed lobes, 17 principal caudal rays; pectoral fins insert low on body, pectoral fins reach to 3/4 of pelvic fin to past end of pelvic fin; 7 to 9 separate pectoral filaments below 14 to 16 normal pectoral-fin rays, extending to 3/4 of pelvic fin or past origin of anal fin; pelvic fins abdominal, inserted behind bases of pectoral fins, with 1 spine and 5 branched rays, reach near or past anus. Body, most of head, and much of fins c overed with finely ctenoid scales; lateral line continuous, extending to the cau- dal-fin margin and typic ally bifurcates on caudal fin with branches terminating between first and second medial rays of both upper and lower caudal-fin lobes; lateral-line scales 54 to 73; scales above lateral line 6 to 9; scales below lateral line 10 to 14. Nasal bones anterior with lateral aspects surrounding anterior of nasal capsules. Ventral section of the coracoid with foramina and anterior margin of this section greatly exp anded; long posterior process of coracoid extends dors ally, medial to pectoral radials. Fourth pectoral radials elon- gate. Basipterygia not in direct contact with cleithra, but in ligamentous contact with second postcleithra. Precaudal vertebrae 10 and caudal vertebrae 14. Swimbladder simple, elongate, and usu ally moderate to large in size. Colour: silvery, golden, or light brown dors ally to yellowish or whitish ventr ally; dark silvery spot on opercles; fins usu ally off white, yellow, and often dusky or to varying degrees of black. first dorsal-fin spine very short mouth inferior separate, filamentous lower pectoral-fin rays Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Polynemids often inhabit s and and mud flats. Some species enter estuaries or rivers. Development is without marked metamorphosis. No external sexual dimorphism. Some o ther spe- cies in family are hermaphrodites. Recorded life span from 1 to 8 years. Most species feed largely on poly- chaetes, fishes, and crustaceans, especi ally prawns. No fishery statistics are reported by FAO for this family in Area 31. Represents little commercial value in the Western Central Atlantic. Some species of eastern Atlantic of more commercial signifi cance as are several o ther species in Indo-Pacific areas. Usu ally marketed fresh. The swimbladders of some o ther polynemids have also been valued for isinglass. Perci formes: Percoidei: Polynemidae 1579

In coastal wa- ters mostly over hard bottoms. Feeds on a variety of hard benthic invertebrates including crabs, sea urchins, bivalves, and gastropods. Caught mostly by otter trawl but also by pound nets and haul seines; signifi cant recreational catches.

Maximum to 46 cm, common to 25 cm; world game record 1.87 kg.

Occurs usually in schools inshore in summer and offshore in winter. Feeds on amphipods, worms, sand dollars and young squid (Ref. 4926). Utilized fresh, smoked and frozen; eaten pan-fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988). Exported to Japan (Ref. 9988)

IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2011-05-26. Resilience: Medium (K=0.17-0.23; tmax=19).