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Unidentified Animal 10
Based on the videos below see if you can identify the specimen that was retrieved in the otter trawl.
For each question there will be 1 - 3 choices for you to decide between. To move to the next option, click "Choice A", "Choice B", or "Choice C". If you answer a question incorrectly, you will be directed to a drawing of an organism. Click the blue button below the drawing to return to the question to try again.
hogchoker
Trinectes maculatus, hogchoker
Brown on side with eyes, white on other side; up to 20 cm (8") long; occasionally found in bays and sounds, common in some estuaries.
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upper jaw projects beyond lower jaw
no space between ventral and anal fins
no pectoral fins
Pleuronectes americanus, winter flounder
Brown on side with eyes, white on other side; usually less than 35 cm (14") long; very common throughout southern New England; the sex of mature winter flounder, about 20 cm (8") or longer, can be determined by rubbing forward on the caudal peduncle on the white side. Males are rough and females are smooth. This difference is most obvious in the spring when they are spawning. American plaice. Hippoglossoides platessoides, are common in Gulf of Maine waters over 40 m (125') deep and colder than 13°C (55°F). They rarely stray into shallow estuarine waters. They can be distinguished from winter flounder by the size of the jaw.
60 - 76 rays in dorsal fin
lateral line nearly straight
caudal peduncle, on white side may fee rough (males) or smooth (females)
pectoral fins
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winter flounder
Pleuronectes ferrugineus, yellowtail flounder
Brown on eyed side, white on other side, tail fin and long fin margins are yellow; usually less than 45 cm (18") long; not common in estuarine waters.
lateral line highly arched
76 - 85 rays in dorsal fin
pectoral fins
yellowtail flounder
Scophthalmus aquosus, windowpane
Brown with dark and light spots on eyed side, white on other side; up to about 40 cm (16") long; very common throughout southern New England.
large mouth, tiny teeth
lateral line highly arched
wide ventral fin
windowpane
Etropus microstomus, smallmouth flounder
Brownish with darker blotches on eed side; up to 15 cm (6") long; not common. The Gulf Stream flounder, Citharichthys arctifrons, is nearly identical to the smallmouth flounder but rarely occurs in waters less than 22 m (72') deep. The two species have different shaped snouts.
large scales
The Gulf Stream flounder snout (right) has a bony protuberance extending horizontally. The smallmouth flounder snout (below) does not.
narrow ventral fin
lateral line nearly straight
smallmouth
Paralichthys oblongus, fourspot flounder
Brown on eyed side with four conspicuous black eye spots edged with pink; white on other side; up to 30 cm (12") long; common.
4 "eye" spots
85 - 94 rays in dorsal fin
large teeth
fourspot flounde
Paralichthys dentatus, summer flounder
Brown on side with eyes, often with darker spots, white on other side; up to 1 m (39") long; common from mid-spring through mid-fall.
72 - 81 rays in dorsal fin
large teeth
CORRECT
You have successfully identified the Smallmouth Flounder
summer flounder
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