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Mugil cephalus
This gray and yellow fish kept leaping out of the water. It would sometimes move forward while jumping to move to the other side of this inlet. Other times it landed just a short distance from where it took off and didn't jump again for a few minutes. "The maximum size the Striped Mullet may reach is approximately 120 cm, with a max weight of about 8,000 g. " - Wikipedia
Middle of the day in an inlet connecting a lagoon and the ocean. "The Striped Mullet is a mainly diurnal coastal species that often enters estuaries and rivers." They're "found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide" - Wikipedia
One of my teen nature enthusiasts helped me spot where it was jumping :)
Spotted on Jun 22, 2012
Submitted on Jun 23, 2012
9 Comments
OK, here are the documented fish in CA wetlands (beachcalifornia . com). Looks like there aren't Striped Bass.
Anchovy, Deepbody Anchoa compressa
Anchovy, Northern Engraulis mordax
Bass, Large-mouth Micropterus salmoides
Bass, Smallmouth Micropterus dolomieui
Blue Gill Lepomis macrochirus
Bullhead Ictalurus spp.
Carp, Common Cyprinus carpio
Catfish Ictaluridae
Crappie Pomoxis spp.
Goby, Arrow Clevelandia ios
Goby, Bay Lepidogobius lepidus
Goby, Shadow Quietula ycauda
Goby, Tidewater Eucyclogobius newberryi
Goby, Yellowfin Acanthogobius flavimanus
Grunion, California Lauresthes tenuis
Halibut, California Paralichthys californicus
Killifish, California Fundulus parvipinnis
Molly, Sailfin Poecilia latipinna
Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis
Mudsucker, Longjaw Gillichthys mirabilis
Mullet, Striped Mugil cephalus
Pipefish, Bay Syngnathus leptorhynchus
Sculpin, Pacific Staghorn Leptocottus armatus
Steelhead trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri)
Stingray, Round Urolophus halleri
Sunfish, Green Lepomis cyanellus
Topsmelt Atherinops affinis
Turbot, Diamond Hypsosetta guttulata
Thank you both! The Striped Mullet also looks correct :) I'll start searching for documented spottings in the area and update.
I'm terrible at ID'ing birds and fish. Somebody on the commuter train once commented on the mullets being the fish that seemed to be jumping a lot. Good luck with the ID.
I was making a suggestion. You maybe right and I didn't think of mullet as being one of the choices since I didn't notice any other striped fish in the area. Thanks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugil_cepha...
Awesome capture. I just assumed that most of the fish jumping in the salt water lagoons were all mullets. I'm not sure on the ID.
Still thinking Striped Bass lets see what others think
Thanks Janet. I just cropped the first image to show more of the fish. Does that help any?
Plus I also just notice the other two fish I mentioned don't have the right type of tail.
There I think are about 3 fish it could be, California Corbina, Yellowfin Croaker, but my guess would be the Striped Bass. They are salt & fresh water fish. I can see a little bit of stripping on the fish