Mid-Atlantic Forage Species Identification Guide Forage Species Identification Guide Basic Morphology Dorsal fin Lateral line Caudal fin This guide provides descriptions and These species are subject to the codes for the forage species that vessels combined 1,700-pound trip limit: Opercle and dealers are required to report under Operculum • Anchovies the Mid-Atlantic Council’s Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. Find out • Argentines/Smelt Herring more about the amendment at: • Greeneyes Pectoral fin www.mafmc.org/forage. • Halfbeaks Pelvic fin Anal fin Caudal peduncle All federally permitted vessels fishing • Lanternfishes in the Mid-Atlantic Forage Species Dorsal Right (lateral) side Management Unit and dealers are • Round Herring required to report catch and landings of • Scaled Sardine the forage species listed to the right. All species listed in this guide are subject • Atlantic Thread Herring Anterior Posterior to the 1,700-pound trip limit unless • Spanish Sardine stated otherwise. • Pearlsides/Deepsea Hatchetfish • Sand Lances Left (lateral) side Ventral • Silversides • Cusk-eels Using the Guide • Atlantic Saury • Use the images and descriptions to identify species. • Unclassified Mollusks (Unmanaged Squids, Pteropods) • Report catch and sale of these species using the VTR code (red bubble) for • Other Crustaceans/Shellfish logbooks, or the common name (dark (Copepods, Krill, Amphipods) blue bubble) for dealer reports. 2 These species are subject to the combined 1,700-pound trip limit: • Anchovies • Argentines/Smelt Herring • Greeneyes • Halfbeaks • Lanternfishes • Round Herring • Scaled Sardine • Atlantic Thread Herring • Spanish Sardine • Pearlsides/Deepsea Hatchetfish • Sand Lances • Silversides • Cusk-eels • Atlantic Saury • Unclassified Mollusks (Unmanaged Squids, Pteropods) • Other Crustaceans/Shellfish (Copepods, Krill, Amphipods) Silversides Anchovies (Engraulidae) VTR CODE: ANCH (Atherinopspidae) Characteristics VTR CODE: SILNS • Translucent body Characteristics • Silver stripe on each side in the middle of the body • Silver stripe on each side • Rounded snout • Small and translucent • Large eyes • Two separated dorsal fins • Easily shed scales Silversides may be confused with Rounded snout anchovies. Silversides have two dorsal fins and a pointed jaw, while anchovies have one dorsal fin. Rough Silverside Bay Anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) Dusky Anchovy (Anchoa lyolepis) (Membras martinica) Other Common Name: Common Anchovy Max Size: ~5" Max Size: ~5" Max Size: ~4" Single dorsal fin Inland Silverside (Menidia beryllina) Max Size: ~4" Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia) Other Common Name: Striped Anchovy (Anchoa hepsetus) Silver Anchovy (Engraulis eurystole) Northern Silverside Max Size: ~6" Max Size: ~5" Max Size: ~5" 3 Sand Lances (Ammodytidae) VTR CODE: SAND Characteristics • Olive-green, bluish-green, or brown dorsally • Silver sides with white below Northern/Offshore Sand Lance (Ammodytes dubius) American/Inshore Sand Lance Max size: ~10" • Long, slender body (Ammodytes americanus) • Small head with pointed Max size: ~9" snout, protruding lower jaw, Pointed snout, protruding lower jaw, and no teeth and no teeth Argentines/Smelt Herring (Argentinidae) VTR CODE: ARGT Characteristics • Gray or white body Small mouth, large eyes • Small mouth, large eyes • Single dorsal fin • Scales easily shed Striated Argentine (Argentina striata) Pygmy Argentine (Glossanodon pygmaeus) Max Size: ~9" Max Size: ~4" 4 Halfbeaks (Hemiramphidae) VTR CODE: HALF Characteristics • Short upper jaw, longer lower jaw • Stripe down top half of body Flying Halfbeak (Euleptorhamphus velox) Balao (Hemiramphus balao) Max Size: ~11" Max Size: ~14" • Long, slender body • Scales easily shed Short upper jaw, longer lower jaw Atlantic Saury may be confused with halfbeaks. Atlantic Saury have False Silverstripe two elongated jaws, while Halfbeaks Ballyhoo (Hyporhamphus meeki) have only one (lower) elongated jaw. (Hemiramphus brasiliensis) Other Common Names: Max Size: ~14" American Halfbeak, Meek’s Halfbeak Max Size: ~7" Atlantic Saury (Scomberesox saurus) VTR CODE: SAURY Characteristics • Small dark spot above base of pectoral fin Elongated top and bottom jaws • Dark bluish-green dorsally, with silver sides and abdomen • Silver stripe on sides • Elongated top and bottom jaws Other Common Names: Needlefish, Ocean Piper • Long, slender body Max Size: ~20" 5 Herrings and Sardines (Clupeidae) Scaled Sardine (Harengula jaguana) VTR CODE: SARSC Characteristics Max size: ~7" • Blue or brown dorsal area, silver below • Moderately deep body • Faint streaks along scales • Small spot behind gills • Large eyes Large eyes Small spot behind gills Spanish Sardine (Sardinella aurita) VTR CODE: SARSP Characteristics • Iridescent blue dorsal area, silver below • Dark spot near gills, followed by light gold spot and faint Other Common Names: gold stripe Smooth Sardine, Gilt Sardine Max size: ~15" • Last two anal fin rays slightly Dark spot near gills, followed by light extended gold spot and faint gold stripe 6 Thread Herring (Opisthonema oglinum) VTR CODE: HRAT Characteristics Long, thin ray extending from dorsal fin • Long, thin ray extending from dorsal fin • Black tips on dorsal and caudal fins Other Common Names: • Body moderately deep and Hairy-Back, Spat, Bristle Herring Max size: ~12" compressed • Blue dorsally and on upper sides, silver below • Dark spot behind gill, may be followed by a row of smaller spots NOTE: The following species are managed separately and are not subject to the 1,700-pound limit: (Etremeus teres) VTR CODE: HRRD Round Herring • Atlantic Herring Characteristics • Atlantic Menhaden • Alewife • Olive green dorsal area with • Blueback Herring silver sides and ventral area • American Shad • Slender, cylindrical body • Hickory Shad • Small head with large eyes Continue to report them as required. Other Common Name: Red-Eyed Round Herring Max size: ~10" 7 Cusk-eels (Ophidiiformes) VTR CODE: CSKEEL Characteristics Fin along entire body, • Brownish-yellow, darker on top both top and bottom • Elongated bodies Chain Pearlfish (Echiodon dawsoni) • Fin along entire body, both top Max size: ~4" and bottom Fawn Cusk-eel • Chain pearlfish lack scales, while (Lepophidium profundorum) cusk-eels have small scales Max size: ~9" NOTE: Cusk-eels are not cusk Striped Cusk-eel (groundfish), which are much (Ophidion marginatum) larger (average size 36"). Max size: ~9" Lanternfishes (Myctophidae) VTR CODE: LANT Characteristics Horned Lanternfish Dumril’s • Dark brown or gray with (Ceratoscopelus Headlightfish maderensis) (Diaphus dumerilii) silver sheen Max size: ~3" Max size: ~3" • Small body with large head, eyes, and mouth • Most species have light- Jewel (Crocodile) Spotted Lanternfish producing organs on Lanternfish (Myctophum abdomens and sides (Lampanyctus crocodilus) punctatum) Max size: ~12" Max size: ~4" 8 Greeneyes Pearlsides/Deepsea Hatchetfish (Sternoptychidae) (Chlorophthalmidae) VTR CODE: HATCH Atlantic Silver Hatchetfish (Argyropelecus aculeatus) VTR CODE: GREN Characteristics Max size: ~3" Characteristics • Some species have large mid- • Large mid-body with narrow tail • Small, slender, tan body bodies with narrow tail, others • Large, upward pointing mouth and have a more uniform profile • Reflective green eyes large eyes • Thin bodied • Large mouth and eyes • Light-producing organs on lower sides of body Slope Hatchetfish (Polyipnus clarus) Max size: ~2" • Large mid-body with narrow tail Shortnose Greeneye (Chlorophthalmus agassizi) • Large eyes Max size: ~9" Atlantic Pearlside (Maurolicus weitzmani) • Small, upward pointing mouth Other Common Name: Weitzman’s Pearlside Max size: ~2" • Large, upward pointing mouth Pearlside (Mueller’s) (Maurolicus muelleri) • Laterally compressed body Max size: ~3" • Large eyes • Mostly silver with a green or blue back Longnose Greeneye (Parasudis truculenta) Max size: ~10" 9 Crustaceans (Copepods, Krill, Amphipods, etc.) VTR CODE: CRUST Copepods (Copepoda) Krill (Euphausiacea) Amphipods (Amphipoda) • Long antennae • Resemble shrimp • Laterally compressed • Most species have a single eye • Feathery gills on thoracic • Segmented body • Max size: ~less than 1/10" appendages • Max size: ~less than 2" • Max size: ~2" Isopods (Isopoda) Ostracods (Ostracoda) Mysid Shrimp (Mysidacea) • Ventrally compressed • Rounded carapace that contains • Small, translucent • Segmented body head and body • Max size: ~1" • Max size: ~1" • Max size: ~0.15" 10 • Ventrally compressed • Rounded carapace that contains • Segmented body head and body • Max size: ~1" • Max size: ~0.15" Unclassified Mollusks (Unmanaged Squids and Pteropods) VTR CODE: MOLL NOTE: Illex squid (Illex illecebrosus) and longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) are not subject to the 1,700-pound possession limit, as they are managed separately. Sharptail shortfin squid (Illex oxygonius) Atlantic Brief Squid (Lolliguncula brevis) Oceanic Squid (Todarodes sagittatus) are not subject to the possession Other Common Name: Other Common Name: limit, because they are difficult to Thumbstall Squid European Flying Squid distinguish from Illex squid. • Stout mantle with rounded tip • No light-producing organs, unlike • Max size: ~5” neon flying squid • Max size: ~24” Neon Flying Squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) Bobtail Squids (Sepiolidae) Pteropods • Long golden or silver stripe • Broad mantle (Gymnosomata and Thecosomata) along mantle Other Common Names: • Pink or maroon in color • Several small light-producing Sea Angels, Sea Butterflies organs on mantle and head • Max