Spotted seatrout 



Cynoscion nebulosus 

 Adult 



8 cm 



(fromGoode 1884) 



Common Name: spotted seatrout 



Scientific Name: Cynoscion nebulosus 



Other Common Names: spotted weakfish, spotted 



squeteague, speckles, speckled trout, salmon trout, 



simon trout (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1 972); acoupa 



pintade (French), con/inata pintada (Spanish) (Fischer 



1978, NOAA 1985). 



Classification (Robins et al. 1991) 



Phylum: Chordata 



Class: Osteichthyes 



Order: Perciformes 



Family: Sciaenidae 



Value 



Commercial : Commercial landings of spotted seatrout 

 occur throughout the year along the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Fresh catch is sold in local markets. During 1992, 

 703.1 mt of spotted seatrout were landed in the Gulf 

 (Newlin 1993). Louisiana harvested over 61% (431.4 

 mt) of the total landings followed by Florida (257.2 mt) 

 and Mississippi (14.5 mt). A decline in landings has 

 been reported for Gulf coast states in recent years, 

 possibly due to over-fishing and habitat destruction 

 (Heffernan and Kemp 1 982). These reported declines 

 resulted in closure of the Alabama and Texas commer- 

 cial fishery, and an annual harvest quota of 454 mt 

 (GSMFC 1993). Runaround gill nets, trammel nets, 

 pound nets, seines, and longlines are the common 

 gear used, and occasionally bottom trawls are used. 

 However, the commercial fishery in Florida is now 

 strictly hook-and-line because of a recent net ban 

 (DeVries pers. comm.). Many spotted seatrout are 

 caught incidentally while fishing for other inshore fishes 

 (Fischer 1978, Lassuy 1983, Perret et al. 1980). 



Recreational : The spotted seatrout is one of the spe- 

 cies most often sought by anglers, and the sport catch 

 is substantially greater than the commercial harvest 

 (Tabb and Manning 1961, Van Voorhees et al. 1992, 

 NMFS 1993). Fishery information for the Gulf of 

 Mexico (except Texas) showed a total catch of 

 18,188,000 spotted seatrout in 1992 (NMFS 1993). 

 Seatrout are taken on light to heavy spinning tackle 

 from shorelines, piers and boats in beach Gulf waters, 

 inshore estuarine bays, sounds, bayous, and tidal 

 streams (Lassuy 1 983, Perret et al. 1 980). Regulations 

 for recreational fishing of this species vary among the 

 Gulf states (GSMFC 1993). 



Indicator of Environmental Stress : Bryan (1 971 ) found 

 levels of DDT in the ovaries and eggs to be 4.77 and 

 2.93 parts per million, respectively, and considered 

 these concentrations to affect the reproductive capac- 

 ity of spotted seatrout in the lower Laguna Madre. 

 However, Butler ( 1 969) indicates that successful spawn- 

 ing can occur with concentrations as high as 8 parts per 

 million in the ovaries. The presence of PCB levels 

 below the maximum permissible level in food fish has 

 been verified in spotted seatrout from the Gulf of 

 Mexico (Killam et al. 1 992). Experiments with sublethal 

 concentrations of fuel oil (0.00-1 .00 ppm) found an 

 increase in the occurrence of larvae with unpigmented 

 eyes, and a decrease in total body length and distance 

 needed to initiate avoidance responses (Johnson et al. 

 1 979). The effect of chlorine concentrations in seawa- 

 ter has been tested on eggs and larvae and found to 

 cause increased mortality (Johnson et al. 1977). 



Ecological : The spotted seatrout is a top trophic level 

 carnivore within coastal and estuarine ecosystems, 

 and probably plays a significant role as a predator in 



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