Fish ID

Kelney

Well Known Member
I poked around Mexfish to try to ID this fish but had no luck. I caught this unique fish in about 60 feet of water off Pelican Point. Unique features on it are large eyes that I would associate with a deep water fish, a unique black and white pattern around its large mouth. It was maybe only 11" long and had a slender body. It tasted like chicken. Any ideas?


Just kidding on the "taste like chicken". He swam away with only a stretched lip.

 

Jungle Jim

Well Known Member
BIG MOUTH BASTARD....

It's a Jawfish. They live in self dug burrows in the shell and gravel bottom all over that area. Put on some scuba gear and go down and check em out!

JJ
 

Jungle Jim

Well Known Member
Big Mouth Bastard=Finespot Jawfish

There are colonies of dozens of them all over the bottom out there. Do a dive in that area and get some real entertainment as the males lunge out of their burrows at you with huge wide open mouths flashing brilliant white with black chevrons.

They use that big mouth to move some really large rocks and shells. They are easy to find as around each burrow is a heap of rock and shells that they drag out and and make into a ring like structure that's easy to spot against the darker algae covered bottom.

Still trying to teach myself how to post photos, no luck as yet. The link above is a shot of my little tuna boat "Hammer Time"at Km Post 90 between El Golfo and Penasco last Friday.

JJ
 

Jungle Jim

Well Known Member
Sr. K.......

If you do decide to do a dive out there don't ever get the urge to stick your finger down one of their burrows! Those suckers will bite. They have super strong jaws and some nasty viper like teeth further down the gullet. I know cuz I dun did it.

The areas where they live are also the habitat of the Pectin or Swimming Scallop. There are thousands of them down there and you can just pick em up by the sack full. They are the sweetest tasting of all bivalves around RP.

Beware, doing that dive is one of the most dangerous dives around RP as the incoming and outgoing currents from Bahia Adair will rip the regulator right out of your mouth and toss you around like rag doll in a hurricane.

JJ
 

audsley

Well Known Member
We've caught a lot of those around Puerto Lobos, though not on purpose. At first we ate them and they're okay, but anymore they end up as bait or get tossed back. I should add that a local in Lobos told us they were called monk fish. An internet search shows very different fish under the label "monk fish" so I'll dismiss that as an anomaly. Fish species names are confusing enough without a language barrier in the mix.
 

Hillbeartoe

Well Known Member
Big Mouth Bastard=Finespot Jawfish

There are colonies of dozens of them all over the bottom out there. Do a dive in that area and get some real entertainment as the males lunge out of their burrows at you with huge wide open mouths flashing brilliant white with black chevrons.

They use that big mouth to move some really large rocks and shells. They are easy to find as around each burrow is a heap of rock and shells that they drag out and and make into a ring like structure that's easy to spot against the darker algae covered bottom.

Still trying to teach myself how to post photos, no luck as yet. The link above is a shot of my little tuna boat "Hammer Time"at Km Post 90 between El Golfo and Penasco last Friday.

JJ
Hey JJ, when you upload to Photobucket, go to the picture you want to post and on the right there are 4 links I believe. One says image url. If you left click that link it will automatically copy that URL and then paste it into your post. Then it will show the image in the post.
 
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