Sandy Hook fish - Bluesfish, striped bass, seahorse, puffer, hake, cod, bunker, menhaden - Gyotaku - "Dave Grant" Sandy Hook, NJ - Brookdale College Ocean Institute

Pelagic Fish
Sharks & Rays | Groundfish | Pelagic fish
See a pair of video clips of a puffer fish inflating
Learn more about the fish of Sandy Hook Bay.

	About 70 species of fishes regularly caught in Sandy Hook Bay. (Left) Bluefish (Pomatomous) are one of the most popular with fishermen because they put up such a strong fight. They are apex predators and are known for their dense schools and sharp teeth (Below, left). (Below, right) Shiners (Menidia) are one of their main food sources in the bay.


	(Above) Some of the winter fish caught in our area include Cod, Haddock, Hake and Ling. Seahorses (Hippocampus) are most likely caught in the nets in April and September, although they are rarely this big. We release all of the fish on our boat trips, and put tracking tags on some of the most interesting ones. (See data at bottom of page)
	One of the most favorites catches is the puffer (Spheroides). Besides having a very interesting defense mechanism of puffing up with water or air, they are popular game fish. The prepared meal is called Sea Squab (And this is no fish tale) because they really do taste like chicken. Click here to see a puffer inflating

Puffers or "blowfish" have beautiful green eyes and strong, sharp teeth. They need them for attacking one of their favorite foods - crabs.
	The tiny stickleback hides in the eelgrass beds in shallow water where it also builds a nest to lay eggs. The Hawaiian cast net is a good tool for catching them.
The menhaden (Brevoortia) or moss bunker, or simply bunker to the fishermen, is one of the most important fish in the bay. Besides being an important bait fish for fishermen, menhaden FPC (fish protein concentrate) is an important food additive for chickens and other farm animals. Menhaden oil is used for a great variety of products like margarine, crayons, paint and other oil-based products. Even the scales can be used as glitter in paint and cosmetics. This "peanut" bunker is only few months old but can grow to over one-foot long if it survives the bite wound in its side. To read more about bunkers, click here.
	A popular activity and Japanese art form used to study fishes is Gyotaku - Japanese fish printing. To see more student activities involving fishes, click here. and to see odd fishes we sometimes catch, click here.
The relationship between age, length and weight of the bluefish. This information was collected from tags recovered from recaptured fishes. Growth peaks at about 14-years, 35-inches and about 18.6-pounds; however bluefish can grow to over 35 pounds! (From NOAA-Sandy Hook - Stuart Wilk, August 1977)
Try your luck identifying fish with our fish key.	Hint: This dried specimen was tossed on the sand by a fisherman who considered it a bait stealer. It's skeleton is cartilage and it makes a great, but somewhat smelly, dog toy at the beach.