Tonguefish sp.

Hi everybody,
This fish was collected on a bottom trawl in the Mississippi Sound south of Ocean Springs, MS. This is the first Tonguefish I'd ever seen. I'm not entirely sure what species it might be though. Any thoughts?





Thanks

cool fish, ive never caught one either
It is 96% sure a blackcheek tonguefish (Symphurus plagiusa), they are very abundant in the mississippi sound area.

Edited by fundulus, 27 July 2009 - 07:45 AM.

Just out of curiosity, what morphological characteristics would I use to help me ID it as that?

Blackcheek tonguefish have 71-86 teeth covering about half length on upper jaw on the eyed side, teeth are absent from lower jaw. Color; crossbands may or may not be present. There is generally a dark spot on opercle. This species is rarely found deeper than 20 fathoms. And it is the only tonguefish reported from brackish water. It is also the most common inshore species of Symphurus. grows 8 in.
Sounds like what you got.

Ditto on ID and characters. If you are inshore (near the beach) or in the estuary, always think most common (analogy - bluegill in freshwater). There are 20 spp of tonguefish in the Atlantic and Gulf and in all my years I've maybe seen a couple of others than blackcheek and I have done a LOT of trawling. (30+ years)

Plus it has a black cheek!

Edited by fritz, 27 July 2009 - 05:39 PM.

Blackcheek tonguefish have 71-86 teeth covering about half length on upper jaw on the eyed side, teeth are absent from lower jaw. Color; crossbands may or may not be present. There is generally a dark spot on opercle. This species is rarely found deeper than 20 fathoms. And it is the only tonguefish reported from brackish water. It is also the most common inshore species of Symphurus. grows 8 in.
Sounds like what you got.

Thank you.

Ditto on ID and characters. If you are inshore (near the beach) or in the estuary, always think most common (analogy - bluegill in freshwater). There are 20 spp of tonguefish in the Atlantic and Gulf and in all my years I've maybe seen a couple of others than blackcheek and I have done a LOT of trawling. (30+ years)

Plus it has a black cheek!

Thank you.

Here's a pdf of the flatfishes found in NC waters.

Here's a pdf of the flatfishes found in NC waters.

Thank you! This is extremely helpful. Hope you don't mind if I save it and hold onto it for future reference.