Yucatán Peninsula

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

The silver king — a giant, chrome, leaping gamefish that defines Florida's late-spring flats and passes. Sight-fished with bait or fly, it is a fish of a lifetime.

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

The grey ghost of the flats — a mirror-silver speedster that feeds tailing in inches of water in the Florida Keys and on Oahu, and burns off line like nothing its size.

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

The holy grail of the flats — a deep-bodied, crab-crunching phantom of the Florida Keys, and the hardest of the flats grand slam to fool.

Gray Snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Florida's everywhere snapper — gray (mangrove) snapper live under every dock and mangrove in the state, then grow bold and heavy on Gulf reefs in summer. Perfect first snapper on light tackle.

Red Grouper

Epinephelus morio

The workhorse Gulf grouper — red grouper dig into limestone potholes and hard bottom off Florida and hit cut baits with a solid, unmistakable thump. Steady, tasty and available in every month of the year.

Sailfish

Istiophorus platypterus

Florida's official saltwater fish, an offshore billfish with a huge sail-like dorsal fin that is unmistakable. Off South Florida and the Keys it is the classic winter light-tackle target. Catch-and-release is the norm — fish are kept in the water, revived and released, with no harvest promotion.

Black Grouper

Mycteroperca bonaci

The heavyweight grouper of Florida and the Keys, a solitary reef predator that bolts for its hole the instant it is hooked. Winter spawning aggregations get extra protection, so check seasonal closures before a winter trip. A prime food fish and a genuine test of heavy tackle.

Yellow Jack

Caranx bartholomaei

A sleek reef jack of South Florida and the Keys, recognised by its yellow tail and fins. Unlike most jacks it is a good table fish, and juveniles are famous for riding with stingrays and sharks over the flats and patch reefs. Long listed in the genus Carangoides; the current accepted genus is Caranx.

Mayan Cichlid

Mayaheros urophthalmus

The Mayan cichlid is a hardy Central American cichlid now widespread in South Florida canals, marshes and the Everglades. It tolerates salt water and spreads through canals, bites small baits aggressively, and makes a fine panfish. In Mexico, the same species complex is the 'tenguayaca', a valued local food fish.

Mojarra

Gerres simillimus

A complex page: in Mexico 'mojarra' covers several near-identical silvery gerreids — represented here by the Pacific yellowfin mojarra Gerres simillimus and including Eucinostomus spp. of both coasts (spotfin and relatives). Tiny hooks, lagoons and surf troughs: Mexico's classic kids' first fish and a beloved little table fish.

Western Atlantic Sea Bream

Archosargus rhomboidalis

A small, tough little porgy of lagoons, mangrove swamps and grass flats — more an inshore fish than a reef fish. It tolerates brackish water and is a regular catch around docks and grass beds.

Littlehead Porgy

Calamus proridens

One of the smallest and prettiest porgies, important commercially on Campeche Bank and common off Florida. It hugs sponge and coral bottom inshore and near shore.

Mahogany Snapper

Lutjanus mahogoni

A small, big-eyed Caribbean snapper of clear shallow reefs, reddish-brown like polished mahogany. It gathers in daytime schools and feeds at night, and is a classic light-tackle reef fish.

Palometa

Trachinotus goodei

A small, deep-bodied pompano of surf and clear bays, famous for the long black streamers on its dorsal and anal fins. It schools in the wash, feeds on sand-dwelling prey and is a favourite light-tackle beach fish.

Guachanche Barracuda

Sphyraena guachancho

A schooling, yellow-tailed barracuda of turbid inshore water and estuaries in the western Atlantic (with a separate eastern Atlantic population). It hunts anchovies and herrings in murky bays where the great barracuda is scarce.

Southern Sennet

Sphyraena borealis

A small, schooling barracuda relative of Florida and Caribbean inshore water, forever in motion over mud and reef. Taxonomy note: the fish long called southern sennet (Sphyraena picudilla) is treated by Catalog of Fishes as the same species as the northern sennet, Sphyraena borealis.

Agujon Needlefish

Tylosurus acus

The big western Atlantic needlefish, a surface hunter with a toothed beak that skitters and leaps after baitfish. This page covers the western Atlantic form (long written Tylosurus acus acus); it is more often a spectacular bycatch and bait than a target.

Sergeant Major

Abudefduf saxatilis

The Atlantic's bold little striped damselfish, in yellow-green with five black bars, swarming over shallow reef tops and around piers. Taxonomy matters here: FishBase is explicit that Abudefduf saxatilis is strictly Atlantic — the look-alike Pacific fish is a separate species, Abudefduf troschelii, so no Pacific distribution is claimed on this page.

Flagfin Mojarra

Eugerres plumieri

A striped mojarra of western Atlantic lagoons, mangroves and estuaries from South Carolina and the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil — absent from the Bahamas and most smaller West Indian islands — valued as food and as bait. Note: the accepted genus spelling is Eugerres (one 'u' after Eug-), not 'Euguerres' as in the brief.

Atlantic Threadfin (Barbu)

Polydactylus virginicus

The barbu is a small Caribbean threadfin with seven free pectoral filaments, common over sand and mud in surf and estuaries and a frequent, willing catch on small shrimp baits.

Dusky Flounder

Syacium papillosum

A small left-eyed flounder of Caribbean and Gulf sand bottoms that buries itself to ambush small fish and invertebrates, taken incidentally and deliberately on small bottom baits and jigs.

Queen Triggerfish

Balistes vetula

⚠ The queen of Caribbean reefs — a spectacular blue-streamered triggerfish that blows water to topple sea urchins; IUCN lists it as Near Threatened with declining populations, so fish responsibly, follow local rules, and release where required.

Orangespotted Filefish

Cantherhines pullus

A shy western Atlantic filefish of shallow reefs, recognised by orange spots on the rear body; mostly an incidental catch on small reef baits and best released.

Bandtail Puffer

Sphoeroides spengleri

A small western Atlantic puffer of seagrass and reef flats, recognised by the dark band at its tail base — poisonous like other puffers and always to be released, never eaten.

Puddingwife Wrasse

Halichoeres radiatus

The largest Halichoeres wrasse in the Atlantic, a colourful reef fish of the Caribbean and Florida; currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and taken only incidentally by anglers.

Redtail Parrotfish

Sparisoma chrysopterum

A common Caribbean parrotfish that grazes algae from reef and rock, keeping reef surfaces open for coral — an encounter species best admired and released, as parrotfish are discouraged as food in many places for their grazing role.

Yellowtail Parrotfish

Sparisoma rubripinne

A widespread Caribbean parrotfish — yellow-tailed as a juvenile/initial-phase fish and red-finned as a terminal male — that grazes algae off reefs and is best released to keep reefs clean for coral.