Fish

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  1.   1.  Types
    1.   1.1  Catadromous
    2.   1.2  Anadromous
    3.   1.3  Freshwater
    4.   1.4  Saltwater
    5.   1.5  Other
  2.   2.  Speech
  3.   3.  Uses
  4.   4.  More
  5.   5.  'Souls
Icon(s) Fish Fish Fish Fish Fish Fish Perch Codfish Bluefish
Flounder Bass Bass Bass
Snapper Snapper
Trout Trout Trout Trout Trout
Rainbow Trout
Eel Eel

American Eel -- dad_and_clint@Flickr
Alewife fish -- Wikimedia Commons
American Shad -- Wikimedia Commons
Striped Bass -- Tim Van Vliet@Wikimedia Commons
Lake Trout -- Brandon Schroeder, Michigan Sea Grant@flickr.com
Atlantic Mackerel -- NOAA@Wikimedia Commons
White Perch -- NOAA@Wikimedia Commons

1.  Types

  • Iteroparous: These fish migrate from salt to freshwater to breed, but they do survive breeding, return to the sea and then return to freshwaters to spawn several more times. Iteroparous fish are able to change from salt to freshwater and back again, but may not survive repeated spawnings.

1.1  Catadromous

Fishes which spend most of their lives in fresh water and migrate to the sea to breed.

American Eel

  • Description: The American eel has a slender snakelike body that is covered with a mucous layer, which makes the eel appear to be naked and slimy despite the presence of minute scales. Variations exist in coloration, from olive green, brown shading to greenish-yellow and light gray or white on the belly. Eels from clear water are often lighter than those from dark, tannic acid streams. American eels can grow to 1.22m in length and to 7.5 kg in weight.
  • About: The eel lives in fresh water and estuaries and only leaves these habitats to enter the Atlantic ocean to start its spawning migration. The eel dies after spawning. Eels are bottom dwellers. They hide in burrows, tubes, snags, masses of plants, other types of shelters. They are found in a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, and muddy or silt-bottomed lakes during their freshwater stage, as well as oceanic waters, coastal bays and estuaries. During winter, eels burrow under the mud and enter a state of torpor (or complete inactivity) at temperatures below 5°C.
  • Other: Edible, used as bait

1.2  Anadromous

Fishes which spend most of their lives in the sea and migrate to fresh water to breed.

Alewife

  • Description: "The alewife, like the herring, is grayish green above, darkest on the back, paler and silvery on sides and belly. Usually there is a dusky spot on either side just behind the margin of the gill cover (lacking in the herring) and the upper side may be faintly striped with dark longitudinal lines in large fish. The sides are iridescent in life, with shades of green and violet." "The alewife grows to a length of about 15 inches, but adults average only about 10 to 11 inches long and about 8 to 9 ounces in weight." [1]
  • About: "Alewives are decidedly general in their choice of streams, running indifferently up rivers as large as the St. John."[2] Alewives are iteroparous. When they enter salt water, most fish typically remain near to coasts and freshwater.
    • It is consumed, usually smoked. It is caught (during its spawning migration upstream) using large dip nets to scoop the fish out of shallow, constricted areas on its migratory streams and rivers.
    • Adult alewives are preferred bait for the spring lobster fishery.
  • Other: In Atlantic Canada it is known as the gaspereau. More locally, in southwestern Nova Scotia, it is called a kiack (or kyack).

American Shad

  • Description: Adult shad weigh between 3 pounds (1.4 kg) and 8 pounds (3.6 kg). "Dark bluish or greenish above, white and silvery low on sides and on belly." "The Gulf of Maine rivers to which shad are known to resort regularly today are the Annapolis, Petit Codiac, Shubenecadie, and St. John, tributary to the Bay of Fundy; perhaps the St. Croix." [3]
  • About: The shad spends most of its life at sea, but swims up fresh rivers to spawn. Northern populations are iteroparous. Thousands are often seen at the surface in spring, summer, and autumn. They are hard to find in the winter, as they tend to go deeper before spawning season. Shad are iteroparous.
    • They have a delicate flavor when cooked. It is considered flavorful enough to not require sauces, herbs or spices. It can be boiled, filleted and fried in butter, or baked. Traditionally, a little vinegar is sprinkled over it on the plate.
    • American shad are very high in omega 3, and in particular contain nearly twice as much per unit weight as wild salmon.
    • Roe shad (females) were prized for the eggs, considered a delicacy.

Atlantic Salmon

  • Description: This is a fairly large salmonid, with average adult specimens measuring 71 to 76 cm (28 to 30 in) long and weighing 3.6 to 5.4 kg (7.9 to 12 lb). While they live in fresh water, they have blue and red spots. While they mature, they take on a silver-blue sheen. When adult, the easiest way of identifying them is by the black spots predominantly above the lateral line, although the caudal fin is usually unspotted.
  • Other: Atlantic salmon do not require salt water. Numerous examples of fully freshwater (i.e., "landlocked") populations of the species exist.

Brown Trout

  • Description: The brown trout is a medium-sized fish, growing to 20 kg or more in some localities, although in many smaller rivers, a mature weight of 1 kg (2 lb) or less is common. Freshwater brown trout range in colour from largely silver with relatively few spots and a white belly, to the more well-known brassy brown cast fading to creamy white on the fish's belly, with medium-sized spots surrounded by lighter halos.
  • About: Cover or structure is important to trout, and they are more likely to be found near submerged rocks & logs, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation. Structure provides protection from predators, bright sunlight, and higher water temperatures. Access to deep water for protection in winter freezes, or fast water for protection from low oxygen levels in summer are also ideal. Trout are more often found in heavy and strong currents.
  • Other: Some of these fish spawn in freshwater; the spawning behaviour of other brown trout is similar to that of the closely related Atlantic salmon.

Rainbow Smelt

  • Description: The body of the rainbow smelt is slender and cylindrical. It has a silvery, pale green back and is iridescent purple, blue, and pink on the sides, with a light underside. When full grown, the rainbow smelt is between 7 and 9 inches (18 and 23 cm) long and weighs about 3 ounces (85 g). Individuals over 12 inches (30 cm) long are known.
  • About: Rainbow smelt occur in rivers, coastal areas and ponds. In their anadromous territories, they spend the summers along the coast, normally in waters no more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and no more than 1 mile (1.6 km) from shore. They overwinter under the ice in estuaries. In the spring, they spawn at night in small streams, often ones that go dry in the summer.
  • Other: Smelt are also capable of completing their life history exclusively in freshwater. Landlocked adult rainbow smelt spawn shortly after ice-off at night in the lower reaches of streams.

Striped Bass

  • Description: Has a streamlined, silvery body marked with longitudinal dark stripes running from behind the gills to the base of the tail. Maximum size is 200 cm (6.6 ft) and maximum scientifically recorded weight 57 kg (125 lb). Common mature size is 120 cm (3.9 ft).
  • About: Found in the Minas Basin and Gaspereau River in Nova Scotia, Canada. Although they have been successfully adapted to freshwater habitat, they naturally spend their adult lives in saltwater. One of the only landlocked striped bass populations in Canada is located in the Grand Lake, Nova Scotia.

1.3  Freshwater

Atlantic Whitefish

  • Description: The Atlantic whitefish has a typical salmonid body shape and is silvery on the sides and underside with a dark blue to dark green back.
  • About: It is known to survive only in the Petite Rivière watershed as landlocked populations.

Brown Bullhead

  • Description: Bullheads do not get as large as the other US native catfishes, with averages sizes in the one to two-pound range and world record sizes well under 10 pounds. Bullheads can be confused with other catfishes by novice anglers. Both have the squared tail, and can have a mottled, brown appearance (in the case of the brown bullhead), but the flathead lower lip protrudes farther than its upper lip and it has a flat or "shovel" head.
  • About: The brown bullhead thrives in a variety of habitats, including lakes and ponds with low oxygen and/or muddy conditions. These fish are opportunistic bottom feeders. They spawn only after the temperature of the water has reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 °C) (cooler in the northern US) in June and July.

Chain Pickerel

  • Description: The chain pickerel has a distinctive dark chain-like pattern on its greenish sides. The average size for chain pickerel is 24 inches and 3 pounds.
  • About: The chain pickerel feeds primarily on smaller fish which it ambushes from cover with a rapid lunge and secures with its sharp teeth. Chain pickerel are also known to eat frogs, worms, mice, crayfish, and a wide variety of other foods. It is not unusual for pickerel to leap out of the water at flying insects, or even at dangling fishing lures.
    • Chain pickerel are considered good eating by many, but due to many small bones preparing the fish can be difficult. However, the meat is very white and flaky with a mild flavor as the pickerel is a lean fish (not being oily such as salmon or trout).

Lake Whitefish

  • Description: Their coloration is typically silver to white with an olive to pale-green or brown dorsal hues. The ventral fins are white and the tail has a dark posterior edge. The tail fin of the lake whitefish is severely forked, making it a fast swimmer. On average, the lake whitefish weighs only 4 pounds. They can grow to 31 inches (79 cm) and commonly reach 20 inches (51 cm).
  • About: Lake whitefish are cool water fish. They are found in a large number of inland lakes, and they have been known to enter brackish waters. Lake whitefish spawn from September through January in water two to four metres in depth during the night. In the autumn, mature lake whitefish enter the shallows to lay their eggs on shoals of rubble and gravel.

Lake Trout

  • Description: Lake trout are large; the record weighed almost 46.3 kilograms (102 lb) (netted), and 15– to 40-pound fish are not uncommon.
  • About: Lake trout inhabit cold, oxygen-rich waters. The lake trout is prized both as a game fish and as a food fish.

Rainbow Trout

  • Description: Rainbow trout are typically silver-green with black spots and a diffuse red stripe.
  • About: Most Rainbow Trout are freshwater, living in lakes and rivers. The steelhead is a sea-run rainbow trout (anadromous) usually returning to freshwater to spawn after two to three years at sea; rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species.
    • It has tender flesh and a mild, somewhat nutty flavor. Trout taken from certain lakes have a pronounced earthy flavor which some people find unappealing.

Brook Trout

  • Description: This species is green to brown in basic colour, with a distinctive marbled pattern (called vermiculations) of lighter shades across the flanks and back and extending at least to the dorsal fin, and often to the tail. A distinctive sprinkling of red dots, surrounded by blue haloes, occur along the flanks. The belly and lower fins are reddish in color, the latter with white leading edges. Often, the belly, particularly of the males, becomes very red or orange when the fish are spawning. The species reaches a maximum recorded length of 86 cm (33 in) and a maximum recorded weight of 6.6 kg (14.5 lb).
  • About: The brook trout inhabits small streams, creeks, lakes, and spring ponds. S. fontinalis prefers clear waters of high purity and a narrow pH range in lakes, rivers, and streams, being sensitive to poor oxygenation, pollution, and changes in pH caused by environmental effects such as acid rain.
  • Other:

Smallmouth Bass

  • Description: The smallmouth bass is generally brown (seldom yellow) with red eyes, and dark brown vertical bands, rather than a horizontal band along the side. Males are generally smaller than females. The males tend to range around two pounds, while females can range from three to six pounds. River water smallmouth that live among dark water tend to be rather torpedo-shaped and very dark brown to be more efficient for feeding. Lakeside smallmouth bass, however, that live in sandy areas, tend to be a light yellow-brown to adapt to the environment in a defensive state and are more oval-shaped.
  • About: The smallmouth bass is found in clearer water than the largemouth, especially streams, rivers, and the rocky areas and stumps and also sandy bottoms of lakes and reservoirs. The smallmouth prefers cooler water temperatures than its cousin the largemouth bass, and may be found in both still and moving water.
    • Smallmouth bass are taken for the table, with filets of white, firm flesh when cooked.
  • Other:

White Sucker

  • Description: It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. The fish is commonly known as a "sucker" due to its fleshy papillose lips that suck up organic matter from the bottom of rivers and streams.
  • About: Since the fish is a bottom feeder and has no preferential food options, it is highly adaptable to different habitats and changing environmental influences. Generally, however, they are found in small streams, rivers, and lakes.

Yellow Perch

  • Description: Yellow perch is often recognized by its dark vertical stripes and gold or yellow body color. Adult sizes typically range from 3.9–11.4 in (10–30 cm); though have been known to grow larger. The yellow perch has a laterally compressed body with an oval, oblong shape.
  • About: Yellow perch spawn once a year in spring using large schools and shallow areas of a lake or low-current tributary streams. They are found in both large and small lakes, but also inhabit slow-moving rivers and streams, brackish waters, and ponds. The perch are most abundant in lakes which may be warm or cool and are extremely productive in smaller lakes where they can dominate unless controlled by predation.

1.4  Saltwater

These fish do not migrate into fresh water.

Atlantic Mackerel

  • Description: "The upper surface is dark steely to greenish blue, often almost blue-black on the head. The body is barred with 23 to 33 (usually 27 to 30) dark transverse bands that run down in an irregular wavy course nearly to the mid-level of the body, below which there is a narrow dark streak running along each side from pectoral to tail fin. The pectorals are black or dusky at the base, the dorsals and caudal are gray or dusky. The jaws and gill covers are silvery. The lower parts of the sides are white with silvery, coppery, or brassy reflections and iridescence; the belly silvery white. But the iridescent colors fade so rapidly after death that a dead fish gives little idea of the brilliance of a living one." [4] One to one and a half pounds is common size for a mackerel.
  • About: "The mackerel, like the herring, has the habit of gathering in dense schools of many thousands. It is not known how long these schools hold together; it would be especially interesting to know whether they do so through the winter when our mackerel are in deep water." "The mackerel is a fish of the open sea; while numbers of them, small ones especially, often enter estuaries and harbors in search of food, they never run up into fresh water. Neither are they directly dependent either on the coastline or on the bottom in any way at any stage in their lives. They are often encountered far out over the outer part of the shelf of the continent." [5]
    • Atlantic mackerel are sought after for food either cooked or as sashimi. It consists mostly of red meat and has a strong taste desirable to some consumers.
    • Atlantic mackerel is extremely high in vitamin B12. Atlantic mackerel is also very high in omega 3 (a class of fatty acids), containing nearly twice as much per unit weight as does salmon.

1.5  Other

White Perch

  • Description: Generally silvery-white in color, hence the name. White perch have been reported up to 49.5 cm (19.5 in.) in length and weighing 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs.).
  • About: Although favoring brackish waters, it is also found in fresh water and coastal areas.
    • The raw meat is of a somewhat pinkish hue, but when cooked, it is white and flaky.

2.  Speech

According to our Speech Guide, this creature has no known method of communication and cannot understand high or low speech.

3.  Uses

  • Meat

4.  More

  1. GMRI

5.  'Souls

  • Something!


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