Silver Seatrout
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The silver seatrout (''Cynoscion nothus''), also known as white trout, sugar trout, and silver weakfish, is a marine
fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
of the drum family
Sciaenidae Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...
.


Distribution

The species is found in the western Atlantic, across the eastern areas of coastal North America and in the Bahamas. It occurs in marine and brackish areas normally at depths of 2–18 m, reaching 30 m on occasion. The fish looks like a weakfish or speckled trout without specks or spots across the back. This fish is often easily confused with the sand seatrout. One of the main habitat differences between the two is that this species is more often found in relatively deeper water.


Description

Silver seatrout are largely silver with a dusky gray back and a white belly. Like many weakfish species, they have vampire-like fangs on their upper jaw, well as smaller teeth throughout the entire mouth. Their mouths are also often a bright yellow. Their fins are tinged yellow, except for the upper dorsal fin, which matches the gray color of the back. Adults have an average length of 14–17 cm, and uncommonly up to 36 cm. Individuals generally have a maximum lifespan of two years. Individuals over 36 cm have been occasionally recorded, such as the case in Texas where the state record for a silver seatrout is .


Diet

Silver seatrout diets consist of crustaceans and small fish.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2576835 Sciaenidae