Inshore Lizardfish - Synodus foetens
*Information from FAO Species Identification Guide Western Central Atlantic*
Size
Maximum size to about 40 cm; commonly to about 30 cm; world game record 0.9 kg.
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Habitat, biology, and fisheries
Inhabits shallow inshore waters in salt-water creeks, rivers, bays, and sounds and along open beaches on mud or sand bottoms; also ranges out over the continental shelf to depths of 180 m. A voracious predator that buries itself in the sand or mud to ambush prey; feeds mainly on fishes and small mobile invertebrates. Apparently a seasonal migrant in the northern part of its range. Of little importance to fisheries; taken incidentally in shrimp trawls and seldom marketed.
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Distribution
Widely distributed along the Atlantic coast of the American continents from the vicinity of Cape Cod to Brazil, including Bermuda and the Caribbean Sea.
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