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''Cynoscion nebulosus'', the spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
from Maryland to Florida. While most of these fish are caught on shallow, grassy flats, spotted seatrout reside in virtually any inshore waters, from the surf of outside islands to far up coastal rivers, where they often come for shelter during cold weather. Contrary to its name, the spotted seatrout is not a member of the trout family (
Salmonidae Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...
), but of the drum family ( Sciaenidae). It is popular for commercial and especially recreational fishing in coastal waters of the southeastern United States. Adults reach 19-37 inches in length and 3-17 pounds in weight.


Distribution

Spotted seatrout live in the top of the water column and are most numerous along the coasts of the southeastern states, such as Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida. They are also common along the coasts of North and South Carolina and Virginia. Estuarine coasts are prime settlement areas. They are uncommonly seen north of Delaware Bay and along the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.


Characteristics

Spotted seatrout is the common name endorsed by the American Fisheries Society. However, this fish has many other common names, including speckled trout, speck, speckles, spec, ''truite gris'' (Louisiana French), ''trucha de mar'' (Mexican Spanish), spotted weakfish, spotted seateague, southern seateague, salmon, salmon trout, simon trout, winter trout, seatrout, Nosferatu fish, and black trout. Particularly large ones are nicknamed gator trout. The spotted seatrout has prominent canine teeth. Like other fish of the family Sciaenidae, it has an elongated, soft dorsal fin with scales; it is separated from the spinous dorsal fin by a deep notch. It usually has two anal spines and the lateral line extends to the tip of the caudal fin. The back has distinct spots scattered on it, including on the dorsal and caudal fins. Unlike some other members of the family Sciaenidae, the spotted seatrout does not have any chin barbels. In stained water, this fish's background may take on a golden hue. Its shape and coloration is reminiscent of a
brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
. This fish is closely related to the weakfish, ''Cynoscion regalis''. The average size of spotted seatrout is 0.5-1.0 kg (1-2 lb), but in most areas fish up to 2.5 kg (5 lb) are fairly common. Fish weighing 3.5-4.5 kg (8-10 lb) are rare. The world record is 7.9 kg (17 lb 7 oz).


Food

Small trout eat large amounts of shrimp and other crustaceans. As they grow larger, their diets shift toward fish, the larger, the better. Studies in Texas and Mississippi show that really big trout strongly prefer to feed on mullet; a large trout will find the largest mullet it can handle and try to swallow it. Often the mullet is half or two-thirds as large as the trout.Horst, J. Speckled Trout Fact Sheet
SeaGrant Louisiana. 2005 p. 1-2


Reproduction and growth

Like all members of the drum family, mature males make a "drumming" sound to attract females during the spawning season. Spotted seatrout have a long spawning season from spring through summer. Larval seatrout reach 5–7 mm in length about two weeks after hatching, and 170–200 mm within about seven months. It takes between one and two years for seatrout to reach 300 mm (about 12 inches) and between two and three years to reach 400 mm in length (about 16 inches). The maximum age of spotted seatrout that have been caught is estimated to be 12 years old, though that is rare, and the oldest fish caught on a regular basis are closer to four or five years old.Murphy, MD and McMichael, RH. Age determination and growth of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus (Pisces: Sciaenidae). In Bortone, S.A., ed., Biology of the Spotted Seatrout. CRC Press, 2003 By the end of the first year, spotted seatrout are about 250 mm long and about half of them are mature enough to reproduce. They reproduce in shallow, grassy areas of estuaries. As spotted seatrout grow longer, they increase in weight. The relationship between weight and length is not linear. The relationship between total length (in millimeters) and weight (in grams) can be expressed by an equation of the form: W = cL^b\!\, Invariably, b is close to 3.0 for all species, and c is a constant that varies among species. The coefficient c and the exponent b are found by fitting an equation of this form to measured weight-length data. For some fish, including spotted seatrout, the weight-length relationships vary with the seasons and with gender. Jenkins reported slightly different relationships for male and female spotted seatrout, and for fall and spring: ''Fall/male: W = 0.00000534L3.093'' ''Spring/male: W = 0.000011535L2.989'' ''Fall/female: W = 0.000006252L3.066'' ''Spring/female: W = 0.000007834L3.035'' Only the relationship for male spotted seatrout in the spring appears noticeably different from the others on a graph.


Fishing

While spotted seatrout are caught by both commercial and recreational fishermen, recreational fishing represents the vast majority of the catch. Almost all spotted seatrout are caught with hook and line, as many places have banned fishing for them with
gillnets Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...
. According to the
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
, spotted seatrout are in the top ten species for recreational fishing in the United States. From 1993 – 2003, recreational fishermen in Louisiana harvested more than 6 million spotted seatrout each year. Along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia, more than half a million speckled trout were caught by recreational fishermen each year between 2005 and 2008.North Carolina Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. March, 2010 Nevertheless, because they reproduce so well, spotted seatrout is listed as a “best choice” for sustainable seafood in Louisiana and Florida by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch.


Management

The management of the species is limited to size and possession limits, but programs have been initiated to gather more information on their overall health and abundance.


References


External links


Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, FL page on spotted seatrout. Blanchet et al. The spotted seatrout fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, United States. A Regional Management Plan.
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. Publication 87 March, 2001 * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3751557 Sciaenidae Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Fish described in 1830 Fish of North America