Florida Fish ID

[Newt]

I caught this beauty in a mangrove swamp area on the Atlantic side of central Florida. No clue what it is but hoping someone an help.

 

 

[corydoras]

I'm not sure Newt it looks like it might be some kind of Tetraodontidae (puffer fish). I would not have touched it without gloves on. It looks like it may be poisionous to me, but I'm not at all sure. Vagabond??

[Newt]

Not any sort of puffer. I did catch one of those a bit earlier and my goodness, it really did puff up.

[Paulg]

Porcupine Horned Puffer (Chilomycterus schoepfi) - and according to here http://www.seascapestudio.net/reference/fish.php?id=520 ...it's not a great one to pick up

[Vagabond]

Porcupine Horned Puffer (Chilomycterus schoepfi) - and according to here http://www.seascapestudio.net/reference/fish.php?id=520 ...it's not a great one to pick up

That's him

 

Also known as Striped Burr-fish.

 

They will inflate if the belly is rubbed (Wouldn't you ? )

 

Common on the USA east coast - preferred habitat is sea-grass, but found in mangals also.

[Phone]

Newt,

 

Newt - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- NEWT !?

 

You OK???

 

Phone

[Newt]

Doing fine Phone. The hand holding that fish was not mine but Mike's (the skipper/guide) who has been fishing these waters for over 25 years.

 

I'm sure I asked and I'm sure he told me the name but my short term memory these days is REALLY short.

 

Thanks for the info guys.

[corydoras]

So not a Tetraodontidae but still a Tetraodontiforme. I'd still not pick one up with my bare hands and I definitely would not like to tread on one with bare feet. Anything with bumps and stripes like that is just screaming "leave me alone".

 

I hope nobody ate it

Edited October 22, 2014 by corydoras

[barry luxton]

Newt,

 

Newt - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- NEWT !?

 

You OK???

 

Phone

 

 

[Vagabond]

Newt,

 

Newt - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- NEWT !?

 

You OK???

 

Phone

LOL

 

Although some puffers have quantities of tetradotoxin in their skin, they are frequently handled by anglers without ill effects, although after handling puffers I would always wash my hands carefully before handling food.

 

The main danger when handling or unhooking is the "beak" (fused front four teeth - hence the scientific name tetradont = four teeth) which is extremely powerful even in small fish. Paddlers have had toes nipped off by tetradonts !

 

As to eating puffers, even when prepared by expert chefs, eating puffer is akin to Russian roulette. Having said that, Norma and I ate Atlantic Puffer once. Here is an account from the draft of "International Angling Vagabonds"

 

 

 

 

The shore fishing south of Banjul was something I was eager to try. We made friends with Abdou, a local expert beach fisher who owned two beach rods. His tribe fished these two rods more or less day and night, as they depended on the fish to exist, especially if the weather was too rough for their canoes to go out.

The teamwork involved in fishing with two beachcasters was impressive. A team of seven men operated the two rods, with Abdou acting as leader and co-ordinator. A second man was responsible for baiting the hooks (two per rod) using some very smelly prawns he carried in a string bag. A third chap, about six feet six inches in height, was responsible for casting out. He did this by wading out until only his head and arms were visible, thus gaining about eighty yards before casting a further thirty. Each rod had someone to hold it, strike the fish, and wind it in. Man number six took responsibility for landing the fish in the surf and unhooking it. Finally, the fish caught were dealt with by a filleting wallah, and collected at intervals by the womenfolk of the village.

I fished with them, using a Moncrieff Longbow and Squidder reel, and did reasonably well, catching several Atlantic puffer fish, more croakers, a guitar ray, and some dentex sea-bream. I had said the village could have all my fish, as we were already very well fed at the hotel. Nevertheless, Abdou insisted on us sharing their communal meal, which their womenfolk had prepared. We'd noticed the filleting wallah had been very careful in trimming the puffers as soon as caught - and the villagers all looked healthy, so we thought the dangers of puffer poisoning slight.

We were a little disconcerted to find the communal meal was just that - all the villagers sat round one big pot! As Europeans, we were issued with the village's two spoons, but everyone else ate with their fingers. The meal consisted of a sort of paella – containing fish, rice, a few unidentified veggies, and lots of spice. It tasted OK, pretty good in fact. Norma was on my left, and on my right was the character whose job it was to bait up the hooks. This bait wallah had been using (very) rotten prawns all afternoon, and there he was, mining away barehanded at the paella - not even having wiped his hands on his trousers! I got to work with the spoon, leaving a wall of rice between his “catchment area” and my own. As soon as Mr Prawn Masher breached this wall, I put my spoon down and said the meal was delicious, and I had eaten enough! A meal to remember! Something we've noticed worldwide is that amongst fish-eating people, someone who can catch fish is treated with much more friendliness and respect than is the average tourist.