Fish Id

[Rhino2099]

Hey Raiders caught a few of these today in pitwater and was just wondering what everyone thought they are ? I first thought they were whiting until they were in the boat and realised they weren't. could be long toms ? but the jaw and fins don't seem right. What are your thoughts

Cheers Ryan

[xtosea]

That would be your humble smelly Pike.

[PPSGT]

With the new official seafood names they are "snook"

Snook:

CAAB Code: 37 382002

Standard Fish Name: Snook

Scientific Name: Sphyraena novaehollandiae

Authority: G�nther, 1860

Family: Sphyraenidae

AQIS Code: PIK

Obsolete Names: Pike; seapike; short finned barracuda; short finned sea pike; shortfin pike; shortfinned pike; short-finned pike

They are good eating if you skin them, especially when they are big (metre plus) coat in Tandoo Southern fried Chicken coating mix

With the skin on they have a very meaty taste.

They look similar to sea pike (from the same family) , which have a thicker body, smell a bit and taste terrible. snook have a forked tail and are greeny bronze along the top, pike are more silver and have a more wedged tail

Back in Adelaide we'd target snook specifically over summer using paravanes with small metal lures,

when you found a school, you could get you bag limit of twenty very quickly

Jason

Edited October 25, 2008 by PPSGT

[Rhino2099]

Thanks guys !!!

I kept a few and might try them butterflied of the beach for a jewie one night.

Cheers Ryan

[Jigholio]

That thar would be a Striped Sea-Pike Sphyraena obtusata

Quote: "the tail itself is unmistakably yellow, giving them the commonly used name of YELLOWTAIL"...."These fish are always in demand as top-grade baits for Tailor, large Mackerel, and reef fish such as Snapper and Sweetlip"

Should be great for the Jewies

[Josh88]

Yeh i thought of it as a snook, the regular pike only have the yellow just before their tail, good baits nonetheless

[PPSGT]

its definately a snook, Sphyraena novaehollandiae I have caught them in North harbour

and they exactly the same as the ones back in Adelaide.

On the web a lot of the fish id sites have the same fish picture for both species, and the official

Australian govt fish id site has a very bad picture, my fish id book lists as a

snook in southern states, or striped sea pike but then has a picture of a snook Sphyraena novaehollandiae

without the dark bands which would make it a sphyraenella obtusata

They are pretty much the same fish, its just one likes to holiday on the gold coast,

the other heads to Melbourne

[Blackfish]

My guess would be a Long Finned pike Dinolestes lewini"

Striped Sea pike have horizontal stripes and are not as common as the old common pike. Have seen striped at Watts Reef in Botany and Terrigal.

Don't think they Get Snook AKA Short finned Sea Pike in NSW this far up.

My Tupence worth.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Blackfish

[Rhino2099]

I caught one exactly the same up in the Tweed river a couple of weeks ago and just thought it was something you get up north, but they must be everywhere if I have now caught them in Pittwater

Ryan

[andrew399]

hook them up live, especially the smaller ones, and they are good for kings, jew and tailor

[PPSGT]

I some swimming around in Sydney harbour,

they looked like snook, took a small metal slice trolled on a paravane like a snook,

and tasted like a snook, and if you displayed it in Sydney fish markets you'd legally have to call it a snook

It is the very northern limit of there range but you can get them here

And the heads are top snapper bait