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UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



Identification: The color is silvery, becoming lightly olivaceous on the back. 

 The dorsal fins are dusky, and the ventrals and anal are yellow. Spots or 

 blotches form wavy lines running up and back from the lateral line. This fish 

 is one of the gamest of sea trouts. 



Similar S-pecies: The spotted squeteague (spotted weakfish), Cynoscion nehu- 

 losus, averages 2 to 5 pounds and reaches 15 pounds. Its color is silvery with a 

 grayish blue above, and small black spots cover the back and the soft dorsal and 

 tail fins. It ranges from the Chesapeake to Texas. 



Spotted squeteague. 



Fig. 139. Charjnel hass 



CALIFORNIA WHITE SEA BASS (corbina) : Cynoscion nohiUs 



Size: Up to over 4 feet. 



Weight: Averages 5 to 25 pounds. Up to 80 pounds or more. 



Distribution: Alaska to Chile. 



Identification: The back is steel-blue, and the sides and belly silvery to white. 

 The tail is square cut. The shape is like that of the weakfishes. 



Similar Species: The shortfin sea bass, Cynoscion parvipinmis, is of a similar 

 coloration but has an S-shaped or concave tail fin and small, dark spots all over 

 the body. It is common only in the Gulf of California. 



The little queenfish, Seriphus politiis, is another bluish-to-silvery fish, but it 

 reaches only a foot in length and has an anal fin as long as its soft dorsal fin. 

 It schools in shallow water over sand from central to Baja California. 



totuava: Cynoscion macdonaldi 



Weight: This is the largest sea trout. Averages 50 to 100 pounds. Up to 225 

 pounds. 



Distribution: From the head of the Gulf to California to Mazatlan. Present 

 from October to May. Abundant in March. 



Identification: The central rays of the tail fin are longest giving the tail fin the 

 shape of a diamond. The color is a coppery or brassy silver. The shape is like that 

 of the other weakfishes. 



