Inshore Lizardfish

Inshore Lizardfish - Synodus foetens

*Information from FAO Species Identification Guide Western Central Atlantic*

Inshore lizardfish

Size

Maximum size to about 40 cm; commonly to about 30 cm; world game record 0.9 kg.

Habitat, biology, and fisheries

Inhabits shallow inshore waters in salt-water creeks, rivers, bays, and sounds and along open beaches on mud or sand bottoms; also ranges out over the continental shelf to depths of 180 m. A voracious predator that buries itself in the sand or mud to ambush prey; feeds mainly on fishes and small mobile invertebrates. Apparently a seasonal migrant in the northern part of its range. Of little importance to fisheries; taken incidentally in shrimp trawls and seldom marketed.

Distribution

Widely distributed along the Atlantic coast of the American continents from the vicinity of Cape Cod to Brazil, including Bermuda and the Caribbean Sea.