Sand seatrout 



Cynoscion arenarius 

 Adult 



8 cm 



(from Fischer 1978) 



Common Name: sand seatrout 



Scientific Name: Cynoscion arenarius 



Other Common Names: white trout (Benson 1982, 



Sutter and Mcllwain 1987); sand trout (Hoese and 



Moore 1977); sand weakfish,acoupacfesa£>/e(French), 



corvinata de arena (Spanish) (Fischer 1978, NOAA 



1985). 



Classification (Robins et al. 1991) 



Phylum: Chordata 



Class: Osteichthyes 



Order: Perciformes 



Family: Sciaenidae 



Value 



Commercial : The sand seatrout is one of the most 

 abundant fishes in estuarine and nearshore waters of 

 the Gulf of Mexico (Gunter 1 945, Christmas and Waller 

 1973). It is one of the most important species caught 

 in the industrial bottomfish and foodfish fisheries of the 

 northern Gulf of Mexico (Roithmayr 1965, Sheridan et 

 al. 1 984, Sutter and Mcllwain 1 987, Ditty et al. 1 991 ), 

 and is a major component of bycatch in shrimp trawls. 

 It consistently ranks among the top five most abundant 

 species in demersal fish surveys. Sand seatrout 

 {Cynoscion arenarius) and silver seatrout (Cynoscion 

 nothus) landings are grouped together as' "white 

 seatrout" in statistics reported by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) (NMFS 1993). The two 

 species are difficult to distinguish from one another and 

 they overlap somewhat in distribution. The Gulf region 

 reported landings of 1 31 .5 mt of white seatrout valued 

 at $154,000 in 1992 (NMFS 1993). Alabama and 

 Louisiana Gulf landings in 1 992 were 265,000 pounds 

 valued at $1 46,000. Based on 1 992, the Louisiana and 

 Alabama white seatrout fishery contributed almost 

 95% of the western and central Gulf region's white 



seatrout landings (Newlin 1 993). The majority of these 

 landings are believed to be attributable to silver seatrout 

 (Shipp 1986). The bulk of the groundfish harvest 

 comes from the deeper nearshore waters of the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



Recreational : The sand seatrout is highly prized by 

 recreational fishermen. The National Marine Fisheries 

 Service (NMFS) estimates that the recreational catch 

 was 3,243,000 sand seatrout in the Gulf of Mexico 

 during 1 992 (NMFS 1 993). The Gulf recreational catch 

 accounted for about 99% of the U.S. sand seatrout 

 recreational landings (NMFS 1 993). NMFS estimated 

 the following catches by fishing method in 1 992: char- 

 terboats-44,000; private/rental boats-2,21 4,000; shore 

 fisherman-986,000 (NMFS 1993). Shrimp are the 

 preferred bait for this fish. Sand seatrout are also taken 

 in recreational shrimp trawls. 



Indicator : Sand seatrout are not typically used in stud- 

 ies of environmental stress. 



Ecological : The sand seatrout serves as an important 

 link between estuarine and marine food webs. It 

 provides a direct link in the food chain between the 

 primary consumers and the top predators. The sand 

 seatrout feeds mostly on shrimp (penaeids), bay an- 

 chovies (Anchoa mitchilli), and Gulf menhaden 

 (Brevoortia patronus) (Moffet et al. 1979, Overstreet 

 and Heard 1982). Juvenile sand seatrout may be an 

 important food item in the diets of piscivorous sport and 

 food fish. However, the larger sand seatrouts' piscivo- 

 rous, predacious habits possibly place them in compe- 

 tition with other predators that target similar prey spe- 

 cies. 



252 



